what is the maximum number of Pacifics per cage - non breeding

[ArtS]

Hi,

I've just joined this forum (and one other - hopefully someone will be able to help).

We have two Pacific Parotlets, a hand raised brother and sister from the same clutch. They are coming up on 8 years old and are still as sweet and fun as when we first got them.

We have two issues with them:
1. 99.5% of the time they get along, 0.5% they fight (looks like thumb-wars).
2. Over the years the have plucked themselves or each other (funny to see, because when they sit together, the plucking patterns line up!). Presently, the girl - MeMe is plucking the boy Sparky.

One of my thoughts is to change the dynamic by introducing another female. My thought is that these birds naturally flock and another female would not cause the kinds of problems multiple males would.

I've seen lots of commentary about keeping 2 birds together being problematic but I have not found this to be the case with our birds(we have a 5.5'X3'X3' cage and spend plenty of time with them).

I have also seen commentary stating that more than 2 birds in a cage is a no-no but the reference is usually associated with breeding, which we are not intending to do.

I have seen pictures with multiple Parotlets in a cage but cannot find any info about the do's and don'ts. Does anyone here have experience with more than 2 Pacific Partotlets in a cage? If so, i would love to hear your experience.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Art S.

Here are a few old pictures of the beasts:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/Suckewer/2-20-06_MeMeOrchid_6-small.jpg
MeMe posing with her flowers

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/Suckewer/IMG_1359-small.jpg
Sparky and MeMe checking out one of their old cages during disassembly for cleaning

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/Suckewer/IMG_0636-small.jpg
a little kiss (note: their plucking patterns have changed since this picture was taken)

[memmey]

Hey Art, I think everyone is enjoying the New Year, they will be back to help you. All I could tell you is my little p'let Bitsey Jo is alledged to have killed her cage mate. It's hard to believe, she's so sweet( and bossy). I think your gonna have to do some serious research, the pattern of plucking that your little birds have is curious to me. There are some people here that have experience with that, I hope they post for you. I wonder is the plucking a result of stress? I don't know but Iwould be curious. I'm gonna be watching this thread for the info. Again welcome...

[Margie]

Art, welcome to our group. We have had Josephine for 5 years. About 1 year ago we got another parrotlet, Sophia. Our vet advised separate cages. We kept the cages open and allowed each of them to go back and forth. However they did not seem to want to interact with each other. Personally, I would not introduce another parrotlet into the same cage as the two you already have.

[ArtS]

Thanks for the replies! I'm still doing research and will not get the other bird unless my wife and I are comfortable we can give the bird a very good home. I've heard of lots of horror stories including not keeping 2 birds together. We have had our birds for almost 8 years without any serious problems. We had the birds in adjacent cages for a year or two early on - they were usually kept fully flighted and generally hung out together on top of their cages but would always try to sneak into the same cage at night. After a while we let them and have not had any real problems. Either we are doing something right or we just got lucky with our bird's personalities - I'm not sure which.

About a month ago we bought them a new Laviva cage. It is 5' 4" wide; the other dimensions are roughly 3' high (plus the stand) by 2.5' deep. It is powder coated but otherwise is very basic. It has half inch bar spacing and a removable center divider. We are very happy with it! The birds took to it almost immediately and seem more relaxed in it. In fact, even though the cage is normally open, they spend most of their time inside. I am creating a Plexiglas center divider to use instead of the bar type provided with the cage, but thus far we have not had to separate the birds - they have enough room to fly away from each other if they need to.

Regarding the plucking: we've had the birds checked regularly by a highly recommended avian vet. They always get a clean bill of health. The owner of a local bird shop (who is doing some breeding as well) suggested that the plucking is a breeding behavior (apparently parrotlets will pluck their or their mate's feathers to use as nest lining. I don't know if this is true but is seems like a reasonable explanation.

Regards,

Art S.

[ArtS]

I noticed that Berrys has three birds, are they kept together or in separate cages?

Art S.