u/Curmudgeonly-IT-Guy

Hello fellow conure fanciers. Some will remember I got a flock friend (Sunny) over the weekend for Tiki who's been with us about a month. I broke all the rules and introduced them early because Sunny came with a veterinary health certificate and there are only 20 days to return her if things didn't work out.

As you can see things are working out well. They seek each other out and play, snuggle and preen. Tiki, the larger Jenday, also feeds Sunny, the smaller Sun Cheek, a lot.

Sometimes Tiki gets aggressive, mostly in the form of foot grabs and holds. Sunny responds in a way it's clear she doesn't like it. At first I would give a firm No and separate them, putting Tiki back in her cage and leaving the room for 5-10 minutes. But Tiki quickly learned to evade me after a No. And since she's on the high ropes and can fly, she wins. I felt like she was now being rewarded with a fun game of tag after bad behavior. Also, by the time I got her, the time-out was no longer connected to the foot grabs.

So I switched to spritzing Tiki with water from a spray bottle. This seems very effective. she stops, flies away, and screams at me, incredulous. Sometimes I clock an aggressive approach, or preening turning to what appears to be dominance, and can reset her just by picking it up.

She doesn't seem to hate me for it yet. Still comes to me for play, snuggles, treats, etc. Any concerns with the spritzing? Will she learn from it and stop the foot grabs?

Is this form of dominance an expected result of pairing a sun cheek with a Jenday or is it normal new bird pecking order establishment that will pass? If it's likely to persist, and I don't want to have to manage them so closely for 20 years, should I return Sunny and get a Jenday for a friend?

Edit: in case I'm overstating the aggression/dominance, this seems like love at first site, with occasional nips, basically.

I've been thinking about getting our 4 month old jenday conure, Tiki, a flock friend. Tiki is very tame and loving. I had hoped to keep her cage central on the main floor of the house, but one of my dogs is obsessed with her (prey drive.) Also, if she's in her cage and we're in the same room she paces in the bottom of her cage and calls to get out.

So I set her up in a bird room. We spend a lot of time with her in there and bring her out when we can put the dogs out for a bit. I spy on her when she's alone in the bird room and haven't seen her pacing. She plays with toys and I put on cartoons on the Echo device so I think she's quite happy alone vs. in a cage in the same room with us where the pacing feels frantic.

But since she's alone up there for 2-3 hours at a time I thought I'd get another bird. I don't feel like I need one that needs as much attention from us as she does. It's a lot! And cost is a consideration too, so I'm looking at petco where I can get a sun cheek conure who seems scared of people for $700, compared with $1375 for tame ones from the bird shop where we got Tiki.

We did try the local rescue but they did not reach back out after the zoom call. My son and I answered we wouldn't want a plucked bird or a bird with special needs and were looking for a family bird. Also it's 4 visits, an hour away, and they have to visit your house. I think the rescues work against their own goals.

So the petco sun cheek has it's wings clipped. It is 5 months old. Tiki is fully flighted and 4.5 months. Both girls. Do you think this could be an okay pairing with the flight disparity and the way the room is setup? Will a 5-month old with clipped wings learn to fly? I let Tiki free roam in the bird room unless we leave the house. Would I have to stop doing that if I got another bird? Does anyone think Tiki might be fine with her life as is and I don't need another bird?

Note if we do add a bird we will quarantine and introduce slowly.

Edit: just realized a sun cheek is a green cheek not a sun. will probably keep looking to find a jenday, sun or other similarly sized conure.