Friend For Goffin - Good or Bad?

[vinografia]

Hi All! I have a mix of 5 small parrots (green cheek, cockatiel, etc) in a cage together who get along great, and then there is Chloe, my female Goffin who is 20 years old -- I've had her for over 5 years (she was a rehome). I think she could really benefit from having a bird friend and I heard a Macaw may be a possibility. Is this idea feasible? Or is she better off alone? And I do understand that if I were to do this, they would need to be kept in separate cages to see how they get along (or if they get along).

 

[April]

I absolutely recommend against a Macaw and a Cockatoo being in the same room They very easily get Pulmonary Hypersensitive disease from the dustiness of Cockatoos,Cockatiels and African Grey's. We've sadly have a member here who's beloved Macaws have passed away from this. @Holiday (she may not respond because it's so painful but I urge you to look up her threads)
It's just not worth the risk you'd be better off with another cockatoo but there's no guarantee they'd even be able to safely be out together or that another Too wouldn't put your littles at risk. But I do absolutely understand the desire to get her a friend so I do hope you'll be able too.

@faislaq @Macawnutz @Mizzely @Toy @Icey

 

[vinografia]

I hadn't known about the dust problem with the Macaws! I'm actually open to any bird that's a similar size to her -- what bird breeds would have the best chance of getting along with a 20 yr old female goffin? (And I know it may never work out, but I've got hope in my heart!

 

[Toy]

If you want a "friend" for your G2 I'd suggest getting another G2. I'd try to find another female. If you get a male it may throw her into egg laying. Check all the bird shelters. Macaws & Cockatoos don't generally get along. Add in the issue with the bird dust.

 

[faislaq]

Our goffins girls tolerate one another. One wants a companion more than the other & gets chased off when she gets too close, but it's still been good having them around to see and hear each other.

We'd still like to get a better friend for our first girl to give her the opportunity to preen and be preened she clearly wants so badly. Our second girl just prefers people. So like you, we're looking too. We're open to any dusty female, except for any of the larger cockatoos. I know they could be friends, but we worry about beak size.

 

[Mizzely]

The best chance would be another cockatoo of some sort. For the health reasons alone I wouldn't mix them with any species from South America at all.

An African Grey maybe? But they are often not friendly with other species, even in the wild.

 

[Tanya]

Another medium cockatoo would be my recommendation, and it would be a good idea for them to have separate cages. In the wild if you don't get along with somebirdy, you can fly to another tree and get some time to cool off. That really isn't possible if they live in the same cage with you. Sadly, there's no guarantee they will even like one another after years together.

Our two have been living in the same room for nearly 9 years. Lemmy loves Rhubarb, knows her name and during hormonal times has to have his wings clipped slightly so she can get away from his "Pick me as your mate!!!" dances and displays. He can be quite persistent when he's in a mood. And this is with us in the room with them while they are out of their cages!

Rhubarb for her part wants basically nothing to do with him. She is extremely human focused. We brought them into our lives to be our companions and to be in the same room as one another when we were out of the house. He is definitely calmed by her presence, but she mostly ignores him in favor of whatever human is in the room.

An important consideration is beak size. It is something I didn't realize when we got Lemmy. The two are within 20 grams of one another on either side of 300g, but where she is shaped like a ball with a small head and feet he has a thin little body with a large head and big feet. His big head has a proportionally big beak. It is unsafe for us to ever leave them unsupervised together. A nip from her to him might wound his pride or even do a little damage to a toe, but a bite from him to her could very easily shear off her beak. Having been bitten by both I can say that his beak packs a walloping punch with all that extra jaw muscle behind it.

You are probably right that your G2 could benefit from an avian companion, especially if she likes the new cockatoo when they get to know one another after quarantine. I appreciate that you are taking the time to chat with us old timers before taking the plunge. And welcome to Avian Avenue!

 

[vinografia]

Thank you guys for the dose of reality!!!! The logical, realistic part of my brain knew it probably wasn't a good idea (if they didn't get along, then I would 2 parrots to entertain, instead of just 1!!). But, every now and then, the dream of a bird utopia (where all my parrots have best buddies) will come over me and I need a good dose of reality to snap me out of it! I think Chloe is just fine without me adding another parrot to the equation. Thank you so much!

 

[sunnysmom]

So, I think there's "friends" and there's a "flock mate". My goffin, Elvis, seems to have no desire for a bird friend. I have had him around other cockatoos- and he looks at me like, why are you doing this to me? But I did notice a big difference when I started fostering my cockatiel Scooter, who I eventually adopted. They're never allowed out together but during the day are in the same room in their cages. Elvis, who is pretty hyper in general, seemed to calm down a lot having Scooter around. I didn't plan on adopting a second bird, but we did in general fall in love with Scooter, and then the Elvis factor closed the deal. But having 2 birds that can't be out together is twice the work, twice the time commitment, etc. So, I think it depends on what you want.

 

[faislaq]

he looks at me like, why are you doing this to me?

 

[Tanya]

I have sometimes wanted to take Rhu and Lemmy to live at a rescue for a year while I volunteered there every day... Then I could adopt whoever they chose for themselves. With my luck though, Lemmy would probably choose an umbrella cockatoo with a death wish for all human fingers and Rhubarb would pick whichever human has the longest blond hair!