Advice on Getting a Second Bird

[Milletman]

To give you some background, I had two Cockatiels and lost my male bird Buddy last month. My remaining bird, Baby Tiel, never really seemed to like him too much, as he was somewhat aggressive. Now that she is alone, she seems to be getting along fine as an only bird. I originally brought Buddy home as a companion to her. I was worried that when I am at work or travel, she would be alone for too long.

Baby Tiel has a huge cage all to herself (about the size of a large refrigerator), and I am thinking perhaps it would be good time to adopt a rescued bird. I have read several books on pet Cockatiels, and some suggest a single pet bird may actually be happier alone with just a few mirrors as companions.

I don't want to put her though any stress, especially after losing Buddy, but am thinking a female bird might be a good companion and would be less threatening than Buddy was. Baby Tiel is six years old and was alone the first year I had her and again since last month.

Any thoughts/advice/words of wisdom on this from the Cockatiel community?

[Joel]

If you think you will want to breed down the road, then my advice would be to get a young immature male now. If you do not want to breed, then another female would be best. If the resident female attacks the newbie, then place them together into a new or different cage that neither has occupied before. I would get rid of all mirrors. In my opinion and experience they are too frustrating to any bird. I don't personally feel any bird should be kept without a playmate or mate of it's own species.

[clawnz]

Milletman. Another Tiel to keep Baby Tiel company! i am glad you are getting over the lose of Buddy. It is hard loosing a mate.
Introducng a new Tiel into the mix is a hard thing. So many things can go wrong. You need a back up plan in case it does not work out. If you do a rescue, they may be able to take it back if it does not work out?
I admire you for considering a Re-Home / Rescue, but this may not be a good idea, as they may have behaviour issues you need to deal with.
Putting a stranger in to Baby Tiels cage can cause trouble. as it is Baby Tiels home.
If it was me I would go for a young female, for company. Young male if you want to take a chance on them breeding later.
I went thorough this with Tweety, as I did not like to see her on her own for long periods
and she was courting me. But she seemed very happy just to have me around. You know they a flock birds and I think need company.
My thoughts were that two Tiels would mean I would have to curb some of the things I let Tweety do.
It has not been the case with Henry & Tinkerbell, as yet they have been perfectly well behaved.
Quarantine needed, plus two cages to start with then I would totally redo Baby Tiels cage before putting them together.
Good luck, keep us informed.

[Peanutbutter]

note on mirrors: I've read multiple times that they can cause hormonal issues/ aggression so I do not buy toys with mirrors.

I have 2 tiels & have to keep them in separate cages w/ separate play times. They get agressive towards me if I let them out together-- Holly acts SCARED of Meena so she reacts out of fear anytime Meena comes near. Meena wants Holly as a mate, so he gets nippy being protective of her-- and chases her around from one place to the next until she goes back into her cage for safety.

I think they enjoy both being in the same house, but its not like I wanted them to be... same sex, same cage, being nice, not in isolation all the time, preening/playing together, etc... Just saying- 2 doesn't always work out. It's a gamble.

[Milletman]

Thank you everyone for your advice and thoughts! This board is a great source of information on Cockatiels.

I didn't realize that I couldn't just put another bird in the same cage, so I very much appreciate the advice (and Baby Tiel probably appreciates it more than I do).

I work at home most of the time and give her a lot of attention, so she is definitely the Diva of the household. I just worried about her being alone on occasion when I travel, but perhaps I can board her at the vet or get a house sitter. I will probably not get her a companion quite yet unless the right opportunity presents itself, and even then I would need to get another cage and do it gradually.

Here is a photo I took of Baby Tiel this afternoon enjoying having her cage to herself:

Baby Tiel.jpg

[Akara Crystal]

Originally Posted by Milletman

Here is a photo I took of Baby Tiel this afternoon enjoying having her cage to herself:

Attachment 37606

That's a very nice cage. I wish I can buy a cage like that for my 2 cockatiels.

[Milletman]

Originally Posted by Akara Crystal

That's a very nice cage. I wish I can buy a cage like that for my 2 cockatiels.

Thanks! I bought it because the stainless steel is much easier for cleaning up. In the past, some of the painted cages I have owned tended to rust. While this was a little expensive, I thought it might be cheaper in the long run since I wouldn't have to replace it anytime soon. She seems to enjoy the extra space to stretch and flap her wings (blowing bird dust and feathers all over my living room).

[tiel4me]

What's the bar spacing on that cage? It looks awfully big for a cockatiel. I would keep a close eye to see that heads can't get caught.

but it is a beautiful cage...

[Milletman]

Originally Posted by tiel4me

What's the bar spacing on that cage? It looks awfully big for a cockatiel. I would keep a close eye to see that heads can't get caught.

but it is a beautiful cage...

Thank you.

The bar spacing is no more 5/8" or smaller. When I bought it, I made sure I ordered it with the proper spacing for a Cockatiel. The bars are also definitely too close together for her to get her head through them.

I originally bought it with two birds in mind, but since Buddy passed, she has the whole thing to herself and seems to like it.