What companion for a cockie?

[archie]

Hi there,

Archie is an 8 y/o sulphur crested cockatoo, hand reared by me. As such he is very bonded to me, he use to like my wife, but now his hormones seem to be kicking in, he is starting to get a bit jealous of her. That is an issue but not the main problem.

Just a few days ago, our pet galah, Pip, was killed by a hawk. As you can understand we are very upset and so is Archie. He has lived with Pip for eight years (4 yrs on weekends/ the last 4 yrs 24/7). Now Archie has no-one there during the day, he has a big 4m x 4m aviary all to himself. My wife and I are having a baby in a few months, so we though Archie would need another companion because our time will tied up looking after a newborn.

What I would like to know is opinions on what other parrots would be able to have a relationship with Archie. It was about 6 years before Archie would let Pip actually preen him, they were good company for each other.

We were thinking of a long billed corella, even though he would be scared of it for a while. We breed Eclectus and have had young Eclectus in the aviary with him, but he doesn’t seem to relate to them. I know an Eclectus would make a great pet for us but it needs to be a good companion for Archie more so because they will spend the majority of time together because of the newborn.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

[billspets]

hello archie
and welcome to aussie birds
i would reccomend that you stick with the lager birds
like the galahs corellas (slender and short billed) aven another sulphercrest as they done seem to get on to well with the smaller birds and if they decide to hurt them they will do serious damage to them
hope this helps
regards
bill

[AussieBirds]

Hi Archie,
I would go with another Sulpher Crested. If that's a problem then stick with the larger birds as bill said.

John

[fischer]

Hi Archie, Welcome to the forum ;D

I'm with Bill and John here, I would get another Sulphur Crested if you can, a bird of the same species is far more likely to form a bond with the one you have now, another bird such as a Corella or Galah could take years to be accepted, if at all.

If this is not possible, a new bird would have to be, at least, equal in size to the Sulphur.

Hope we have helped....Cheers Tony

[ollie]

I too would go for sulphur crested. I have a long billed corella which I've had for many years as a pet. It is very tempermental and one day great company next day feral. I have other friends who say the same about l/b corellas. That wouldn't be much good for the bonding process.
If he is used to a galah maybe another galah would be an option if cockatoo is not available.
Good Luck with whatever you get!

[archie]

Thanks for your replies, keep em coming.

I did consider getting another sulphur, a female because im quite sure he is a male, not with the direct intent to breed but if it was to happen then i wouldnt stop it.

However, i have read a number of accounts of male aggression causing death to the female, this kind of put me off a bit. Also, how much bond to me would archie lose, would he become protective of her and want attack me.

Then my wife and i were read the "mytoo" site, they are heavily against breeding, that futher put us off. i can agree with some of their thoughts, but definately not all, i think they're a little extreme.

We have managed to control archie's screeming, would 2 cockies be louder, or would they keep each other busy so that they would actually be resonably quiet.

[billspets]

hello archie
as far as the "mytoo" site its a case of each to there own
to breeding a piar of sulphers your male is only just hitting maturity and even given a female it may take anothe several years before they even look at breeding yes archie will lose some of his affection towords you and the werst time will be breeding season but as long as you dont distance yourself from him you will be fine as far as killing females it does happen but i have found it to be rare
and as for tiels no they are not as noisy as a sulpher crest
hope this helps
regards
bill

[AussieBirds]

Why are they against breeding, Ill bet it's an American site, I agree with everything Bill has said they will be a long time before they are ready too breed and to be honest with you I can't see a major problem getting a female for your Archie.

[archie]

I have another question now. Would it be better to get a female closer to Archie's age so there was less of an issue of him pressuring her to breed or would it be better to get a young handreared female that could grow up with archie and that we could train and mold. in terms of bonding, my thoughts are that a young one would bond easier.

Archie has his full wings and flies around the backyard to get places, not for fun (very controversial issue in the States). he did not learn to fly until a late age, however he is reasonably good at it now. he does not like to leave the boundary of the house and is very aware of it. I often have to put him into a tree to play, otherwise he will sit on the decking railing trying to watch my every move through the windows unless ofcourse he is busy chewing up the decking (another issue!!!).

Getting a baby female would allow me to train her to do the same. I dont like to keep them locked in the aviary all the time if i can help it. if i get an older one that i cant trust as much, then she will have to stay in when archie comes out.

My question regarding noise, is will two sulphurs be noiser than one or will they occupy each others attention so they will be quieter than just 1 bird.

Thanks.
Matt.

[AussieBirds]

I have a Sulpher and while he is alone he is noisy but if he has company we never hear a peep out of him except if a starnger comes around then he lets us know in no uncertain terms. If it were me I would go with the young female and let Archie bond with the younger bird, however I'm sure others will give you advice on this point.
John

[fischer]

A male Sulphur killing a hen would have to be extremely rare, I don't think that should be a worry Archie, especially as the bird you have is years from wanting to breed,

Again, I agree with everything Bill And John have said. I do think, however, that the noise quoto may increase a little, but only for short periods ;D ;D.

Cheers Tony

[billspets]

matt
there are some issues with getting a young bird one being that she wount be ready for breeding for some time wicht in causes a problem in the fact that archie might try pressure her to be and may even kill her witch one way around that is to seperate them into different cages during breed season until she is at least 8 years old but the down size to that is the male will call her and it can get noisy (wich it will bedoing breed season any way ) most of the time they will be ok with noise in the morning and at night and they are reasonable quiet during the day
as fo letting them out to fly areound the yard i am cautious of doint that as all it will take is one scare and they will go and may not come back
hope this helps
i think at the end of the day you need to way up weather the incovienance and noise an keeping both in a large cage up against a hand reared bird
regards
bill

[archie]

Thanks for your opinion John.

[fischer]

I think a youger bird would be best too ;D

Tony

[archie]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Im in two minds. i do think a younger bird is better for bonding, however, i agree with Bill in that the age difference could pose future problems. Im happy to keep Archie as a hand reared pet, but im concerned i wont be able to spend as much time with him and since he doesnt have any other companion any more, the screaming may increase substantially.

Does anyone have any different suggestions to this dilemma.

[billspets]

matt
the other think you may look at is setting a a play gym area in an avery for him that way he will ocupie himself and as long as you can spend a little time during the week with him he should be fine
regards
bill

[fischer]

Since you say the bird spends a lot of the time out of his cage when you are there why not consider moving him into a smaller cage either on the deck or even in the house, that way he would be closer to you, and is less likely to make noise when you are not there.

Only a suggestion....Cheers Tony

[Smiley]

Hello archie,
well looks you have already have been given some great adivce already...good one guys...Have you ever throught of adopting one..There are zoos out there,that get a lot of unwanted and lost cockatoos...I have taken in a few of these my self...and am so happy with them all...just a throught..


Natalie