Hi all,
I am new here. Hoping someone may have some experience with this question.

I have a pair of Pacific Parrotlets (Buttons male and Bubbles female) in a large breeders cage (I haven't been breeding them ... just wanted them to have lots of room). They are a year and a half old.

I have two questions please:

1 - Buttons has started to preen Bubble to the point that her head is almost bald. I have changed their toys thinking maybe they were bored. I have put in a preening toy but it has not helped. Nothing has changed in the household, so I don't understand why he is doing this.

2 - A friend's Borke parakeet has had babies and is asking me if I want one of the babies after it has been weened. I don't know if it's a good idea or not to put them together. I could test it out by putting the barrier in the cage to separate them and see how they react ... but I don't want to stress out Buttons and Bubbles and I don't want it to cause the new parakeet stress either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

First, Welcome to PC!!!
Parrotlets can be very aggressive. They are known as the smallest Parrot and I believe are related to Zons. I would not chance putting another bird in with them, especially a baby.

Thank you grandma. Oh no, I would NEVER just put the baby in with them. Their cage can be divided ... so it's like putting up a wall halfway in the big cage. I was just wondering if that way maybe they could get used to each other without having total access to each other.

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with "co-habitating birds of a different breed" like this. I would prefer if eventually (not while the parakeet was still a baby) all of them could live in harmony together but I would never want to see them not get along.

A male preening head and neck areas bald of the female is a sure sign of bonding, it is not bad like plucking is. At a guess you can rule out any chance of ever having a third bird even of the same species in the same cage.

Welcome to PC!!!

Personally, I would not put a bird of a different species into a cage that a bonded pair has already been living in, reguardless of species. P'lets are quite the little bullies, especially when it comes to their cages. (Ok, so Cricket and Benji are the exception here...) But I would have a seperate cage all together. I've heard of birds biting off other bird's toes through the divider...Just a thought!

AWWWW ... tooo cute ... Angie your little guy is ADORABLE. Dominique, all of your little buddies are BEAUTIFUL.

Bonding is good. Ouch, biting off toes is bad.

Thanks so much for helping me Grandma, Angie and Dominique. I kinda thought the "mix" would probably not be a good thing but a couple of people had told me "Oh no as long as you introduce them slowly they'll be fine".

I would love to have the baby parakeet but I REALLY had my doubts that it would be compatible with Buttons and Bubbles and of course I would never want to do anything that could possible harm any of them ... thus my search to find the answers I needed.

I'm really thankful I found this site. I'm hooked ...

LOL! Well thank you!

I would bet that over time, they would become more compatible. If you search 'Cricket and Benji' you will find the two most adorable examples of compatibility in the world. It just takes time and knowing the personality of your birds. Some are more dominant than others and some are more passive

Cricket and Benji while different species are both bossy type species and probably bonded or will be in the absence of suitable pair bonds. A bond does not have to be male/female.

Welcome to pc and enjoy it. Check out the chat room every once in a while if I am signed in then I am normaly in there. ~Jenna

Hi & Welcome

- I thought I replied to this one - hmmmmmmmmm - Bourkes are lovely - should be Ok in their own area. Many see them as an aviary bird so you will need a fairly large cage or let them out a lot. They are very laid back - not good companions to P'lets.

Keep us posted.