Bringing a New Bird Into The Family

[BirdBrain'd]

What is the standard practice for introducing a new bird into a family that already has a bird? We've had Shelby for a year and she's bonded well with me and my husband although she still hates kids lol With the addition of Rafael to the family I'd love to be able to let both birds out at the same time, but am not sure how to go about getting them used to each other. Right now Shelby is not impressed and wants to fuss with him. I'm afraid one of them (or both!) will wind up getting hurt

Any suggestions or tips? I know it's really too soon as we've only had Rafael for a couple of days now really but Id kind of like to know what to expect and how to go about this the best way so it's smooth. I realize they may never be buddy buddy but is there hope that they will at least be tolerant of each other?

[bb100]

Just my personal experience:

Two Parrotlets:

* Moved the cages side by side. Kept them like that for 10 days.
* Took the existing parrotlet (Chuckie) out & let Daisy see the interaction.
* Finally, Hold your breath & let them out together on seperate stands.
* They beaked a little but after a week they fell in love..

Result, they are completely bonded..

Spoiled CAG vs Cranky Amazon:

* Moved an empty cage into Max's Kingdom. Yes he suspects badness is afoot.

* I'll let you know after X-mas. I expect it wasn't what my CAG Max had in mind for a present. My take - a not so great meeting by his royal brat my male CAG and mister Crankpot our male rehome.

[BirdBrain'd]

Beaked? C'mon help out the newb lol

[bb100]

Beaking is when they both go at each other by biting at each other beaks. It will look scary to you when you first see it. Kinda like medieval jousting without the swords (lol).

I'll try & find a link for you to view.

[bb100]

Here's the link of two Macaws beaking it out in their first intro...

They Meet!

[BirdBrain'd]

Awesome thanks :) Does it get worse than this? How do you know when it's gone from simple beaking to a full out fight? Is there a way to break up a fight without getting mangled in the process?

A friend here at work suggested putting the cages closer together, close enough that they could talk but not reach toes or get a good bite in.. I'm worried about the Conure being heavier than the IRN and possibly hurting her with strength tho i don't underestimate her cunning lol Would this let them "talk" a bit more without being able to reach for a good all out fight?

[bb100]

So you wanna know the darkside of intro's...

* Yes it can get worse alot worse. If somebody doesn't back down it can escalate. When they start going for other areas I promptly remove the aggressive one.

* I only removed Chuckie physically after the first intro when he stopped beaking & went for her feet a few times. Daisy's feet are deformed from a birth defect so I didn't want to risk more damage. However, I did try again on another day.

* My husband plans on having a small grey towel for Max in case it get's ugly. Me I'm braver or stupid-er...I'm going in with a small loud bell to distract & bare hands. I may end up without a digit.

* My rehome is flighted my existing CAG is flighted so I expect someone's going to jump off or take flight in their first meeting.

* You have the same concerns I have meaning my CAG is much larger than my Lilac Crown Amazon so I'll be standing there along with my hubs when it happens.

[BirdBrain'd]

Shelby is fully flighted and I like for them to be able to fly.. she does enjoy her swoops through the house. Rafael is clipped... should I take Shelby and have her clipped (she's gonna hate that) at least until they are acclimated to each other so she can't fly over there and nitpick?

[bb100]

No don't clip your flighted bird. Now this is just my opinion but I believe in my heart that is safer if one can at least get away. Your IRN is flighted she is smaller & should have the opportunity to fly away from your bigger Conure.

Again just my experience.. I feel safer with my Parrotlets knowing they can out fly Max & have the ability to get away when they are all out supervised.

However, only you know how your IRN is (have no experience) so if she is going to go after him than you have to make the decision as to what's best. I would see how it goes first before the clipping discussion.

[BirdBrain'd]

I will keep that in mind. Right now she's the instigator and flies to his cage to pick a squabble lol