I have a young Alexandrine who i think was abused before i got him, after 4 months i feel as though we are getting somewhere together. I have always had a thing about African Greys and am hopefully going to look at 1 tomorrow, however im concerned about Billy, i like to keep his cage open during the day and if i get an African Grey would like to do the same for him, I hate to see them caged, but am concerned Billy will get picked on, he is my main concern and would never do anything to harm him but really would love an African Grey. What do i do?

Can you put them on opposite sides of the room? Those large cargo nets can make a nice barrier between two birds so they don't fly into each others space.

They will have their own "bedrooms" at the opposite end of the room for a while to keep them seperate but eventually hope to let them out most of day together, i can leave Billys door open whether im in or out because he is happy to be inside through choice. The difference in size of them worry me, Billy is only small in comparison and dont want to jeopardise him in any way. Dont want to find myself in a position where i have to choose between them as things are not right for one or the other of them.

Greys in the wild and even the companion grey are not birds that commonly socialize or mingle with other bird species. They generally stick to their own kind and have no interest in others. However, I have a cag that came to me with his buddy, a cinnamon green cheek conure. They lived in the same cage until I got them. They are still buddies on occasion but no longer live together. Believe me this is a rarity.

I really don't think you are going to have a problem as far as a grey attacking the other though I certainly would not expect them to hang out together on a mutual perch.

I would recommend giving them each personal time separately and in a place out of sight of the other otherwise jealousy may develop.

Billy is not a sociable guy, i cant see him getting jealous of another bird. Im hoping that another one will bring him out of his shell and encourage more interaction.

I wouldn't do it - but that's me. I think with all the progress you're making with Billy I'd just stick to it.

I bird sat a Grey recently & had a lot of fun. There are probably lots of people looking for a reasonable bird sitter. Having Bunny here for almost 2 weeks was very entertaining but it was nice to get back into our routine afterwards.

I often think it is a scary thing mixing species. You can get lucky - Greys seem to be more reserved than most. On the other hand, Bunny called out to my Budgies a lot & even flew down the hall one day to see if she could find them.

I didnt get the grey i was supposed to be looking at today, they never got back to me, as it happened there was a new posting on internet for a 12 wk old hand raised only 3 miles from me. Shes now sat on my chest very content and struggling to stay awake. Billy has come out for once and is sat on curtain pole observing. Not sure whats going through his mind but hes not usually out for so long. Am hoping one day he will join us for a cuddle. Will make sure hes always acknowledged first and hopefully he will soon realise he will always be my number one guy.