conure living with parakeet. advice needed.

[duke]

Hello everybody,

so i have been offered a baby green cheek conure by a breeder friend of mine, in a few months when they are ready.

I have always wanted one, but my problem is, I already have a Bourke's parakeet. my bourke doesn't have a cage (he always hated cages) he just roams and flys around the house, mainly hanging out in his little area that is set up for him, he is a very friendly bird he loves attention, being handled and played with...

so i was wondering if bringing a baby green cheek conure into this situation would be a good idea? will the conure bully or kill the Bourke?
will the conure be able to be out of a cage with the Bourke? (i dont want them to be caged very often). will bringing another bird in negativity affect my relationship with my Bourke?

also, i have had a decent amount of experience with birds, i grew up with Indian ring necks around, i have had cockatiels, budgies and grass parakeets, so training the conure shouldnt be a problem.

Any advise will be appreciated, Thank you

[Marrie]

Bourkes are small and have a reputation for being docile. They supposedly do well with tiels, but a conure has a reputation of being a little more playful and spunky. A size difference of 20-35g between the two species on average. So there is potential for injury if they do not get along. Without cages, it would be a bit like having them together in an aviary, which can handle cross-species better than smaller cages. But I am not sure how well the two species would mix. There is always a risk when you bring in a new bird, that it will not get along with your current one and you may have to have alternating play times.

Would your breeder friend be willing to take the green cheek back if it did not work out at your home? Could you maybe do a trial basis if you really want to see if they get along?

[duke]

Bourkes are small and have a reputation for being docile. They supposedly do well with tiels, but a conure has a reputation of being a little more playful and spunky. A size difference of 20-35g between the two species on average. So there is potential for injury if they do not get along. Without cages, it would be a bit like having them together in an aviary, which can handle cross-species better than smaller cages. But I am not sure how well the two species would mix. There is always a risk when you bring in a new bird, that it will not get along with your current one and you may have to have alternating play times.

Would your breeder friend be willing to take the green cheek back if it did not work out at your home? Could you maybe do a trial basis if you really want to see if they get along?

Thanks for your advice.

I may be able to convince my friend to a trial, he usually doesn't like to take birds back once he sells them, he said they usually come back with bad behavior problems. He might make an exception for me though.

Do you think the fact that my bourke is an adult and the conure will be quite young when i get it ( i will be getting it as soon as it can feed it self) will affect the birds attitude toward each other?

[Marrie]

Babies usually are easier to bond with things, so it may help. It's really hard to say since birds are so unique in their personalities.