Stressed out Nande Conures started to stress out my mom...

[alwaysaangel]

Sorry for the long post, I want to give some background about these birds before I get to the problem.

My parents have always had a few birds, and since we live in California and the weather is nice we take their cages outside to let them enjoy the outdoors. This has brought us quite a few new birds... I guess domesticated birds recognize our birds singing and recognize the cages and food. We've caught at least 4 of our birds that way.

Well one day a Nande Conure (sp?) showed up in our backyard. We caught her and my parents tried to find her rightful owner. When none showed we kept her (Ziggy). She wasn't fully tamed but tolerated being handled. Shortly thereafter, someone who had seen my mothers post about finding a lost parrot contacted her asking if she would like another Nande...thinking it would be nice to have a companion for Ziggy my mother said sure. We were told the new one was also a female (Zoey).

Zoey was even better than Ziggy - spoke a few words, and was very friendly. That quickly changed once she spent time in a cage with Ziggy. They became very protective of each other (especially Ziggy), and then started pruning each other excessively so they started having bald spots. They've also become more prone to biting and screech far more than they used to.

We took them to the vet and found that Zoey was actually a male (now Joey) and they were pulling their feathers because they were sexually frustrated. The vet said nothing could be done.

So they have continued and they become worse everyday. At this point they both look like plucked chickens from the front. They have a nice big cage (but not an avery) and they get lots of attention - but they're just not happy.

My mother has debated on what to do...if anyone knows anything that would help these parrots be happy, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Should we separate the male and female (I've suggested it to my parents but they say no since they enjoy each other's company so much)? Give them to a sanctuary where they can have more space? My mother took these on basically because they were homeless birds and like always she felt bad - but with how they're behaving they're really starting to stress my mother out. They're not happy - she's not happy - its just a very bad situation all around.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. My family is really worried about these birds and we can use any help anyone can offer.

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Do the birds have a large enough cage? You said it's not an aviary but is it large enough for two birds?

Also, it is extremely important that you give the birds plenty of toys (and change them out, rotate them so the birds don't get bored), and, if possible, plenty of supervised time outside of the cage. Our Nanday will sit atop his cage, look out the windows, play, and jump down and walk over to where we are if he wants company.

With respect to food, a varied diet of fresh fruits and veggies supplemented by seeds and pellets is best. In addition to a few different meals a week, our three birds share an egg a week and they not only love the hard-boiled treat but they also love peeling it. Creative foraging for food is a boredom blaster. A simple box of raisins entertains for an hour.

Also, the birds are wherever we are in the house. If we go somewhere the cages don't go, the birds either ride on our shoulders or perch nearby.

Hope this helps. You may be doing all of these things. In that case, not sure what to suggest. Please let us know how things are going for Ziggy and Zoey! Best to you, your parents and your flock.

[alwaysaangel]

Originally Posted by CrazyforCockatiels

Do the birds have a large enough cage? You said it's not an aviary but is it large enough for two birds?

I don't have the exact measurements but it should be enough for both of them - I mean they can't fly around it (they're clipped anyway), but its probably like 4'X3'x3'? And if anything thats an underestimate (I suck at distances)

Also, it is extremely important that you give the birds plenty of toys (and change them out, rotate them so the birds don't get bored), and, if possible, plenty of supervised time outside of the cage. Our Nanday will sit atop his cage, look out the windows, play, and jump down and walk over to where we are if he wants company.

Well my mother usually gives them lots of new toys but they don't really play so much since they're together- I don't know if she rotates them out. I'll suggest that to her. And we give them lots of time outside the cage - hours everyday. They spend it playing on top of their cage or in the HUGE cage we have outside (6x5x4?).

With respect to food, a varied diet of fresh fruits and veggies supplemented by seeds and pellets is best. In addition to a few different meals a week, our three birds share an egg a week and they not only love the hard-boiled treat but they also love peeling it. Creative foraging for food is a boredom blaster. A simple box of raisins entertains for an hour.

I'll get my mom to try the raisins - but as far as general food goes -they're pretty spoiled, lots of fruit, treats and birdy breads.

Also, the birds are wherever we are in the house. If we go somewhere the cages don't go, the birds either ride on our shoulders or perch nearby.

We can't really do this since they bite. When we take them out of the cage we have to do it one at a time of the female comes at us for touching her mate. But my father is retired and almost always in the living room (about 10' from them) and my mother is usually reading in the same room when she's off work. So someone is with them almost all day long.

Hope this helps. You may be doing all of these things. In that case, not sure what to suggest. Please let us know how things are going for Ziggy and Zoey! Best to you, your parents and your flock.

Thanks so much! I'll talk to my mother and see which ones might help her. I don't do much with the Nandes since they don't like me. But I'll talk to her about some new toys, some possible food fun. And it sounds like a lot of people on another board are suggesting we put them in separate cages just next to eachother to avoid the pruning so I don't think the cage space thing will be an issue anymore.

I'll let you guys know how it goes...

[CrazyforCockatiels]

It sounds like you're doing everything you can (short of placing them in separate cages) and I applaud you for being so conscientious regarding the health and welfare of your birds.

I think separate cages would be worth trying if this is doable for you.

Also, with respect to toys, since we don't spend hundreds of dollars each time we buy new toys for the birds as they are expensive and can add up, we buy a new one here or there when we see something the birds might like and of course there are sales and we buy during those.

If the birds are in separate cages, you will have double the number of toys you have now since you can place some in one cage and some in the other and switch them out.

Keep us posted.

[Monica]

Curious... what is their diet? (please details) Do you have a picture of their setup? How often are they bathed? How often do they go outside? Pics of their outside area? What do they do outside?

[Tiki]

My Nanday, Ixchel is very sweet natured and gets along with everyone. She craves attention which she gets plenty of. Most Nandays I have met are like this, they are friendly, outgoing birds. I would be reluctant to separate them if they really like being together. Are you sure the plucking is from sexual frustration? Have they been tested for giardia?

I agree they need lots of room to play and lots of toys, they are very active little birds.

[alwaysaangel]

Originally Posted by Monica

Curious... what is their diet? (please details) Do you have a picture of their setup? How often are they bathed? How often do they go outside? Pics of their outside area? What do they do outside?

Well, once I talk to my mom I can give better details, and I'm not home to take pics but I will take some this weekend when I go visit.

As far as I know their diet is seed, birdie bread, fruit, and some parrot treats (I will ask my mother about details).

The indoor set-up is a fairly large cage inside a room that looks out to the backyard. They are near our other birds. (pics later)

The outdoor set-up is in the back-yard. Its a cage about twice the size of their indoor cage and they mostly do the same thing out their that they do inside. Sit next to each other and prune....thats really all they ever do. They haven't played much since they found each other.

And the vet said it was sexual frustration but I'll ask my mom if they've been tested. Can giardia cause them to prune too much? We're sure they do it to each other - we've seen em' do it.