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As the flock turns...
Feb. 11th, 2010 06:34 pmAfter much agonizing, I've decided to split up my cohabiting interspecies parrot pair, Gavin and Kaya.
This hasn't actually been as traumatic as I had worried. The reason for the almost inevitable separation is not the most obvious probability of Kaya growing into a typical poicephalus and realizing that she could and even should kick Gavin's obsessive and hyper conure butt into next Wednesday, but that Gavin in his, uh, ardor, decided to start picking Kaya's nape feathers out. That just won't fly, so to speak.
Having borrowed![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
illucian's spare cage (birdy thanks to her and kynekh_amagire for the loan) until I've found more permanent quarters that will suit both the spazcon and my upcoming house reorganization, the conure has been moved. It was a bit emotional for both of us; after all, this is not a week after one of the most adorable things I've ever seen a bird do, Gavin burying his face in her chest fluff and muttering "pretty, pretty, pretty" in a totally blissed-out voice. It definitely stressed him, and he picked out a bunch of his chest feathers the next day...but I guess if he is going to pluck, I'd rather he do it to himself than the incredibly laid-back Kaya.
Things seem at least a little bit better now, though. He seems to like his new cage and toys and not spending ALL the time hanging on the edge of the cage next to her headbobbing frustratedly. Although he's spending markedly more "quality time" with his plastic ball now. I grant you, spring IS springing 'round here, and they don't use birds in that old metaphor for nothing. (I don't get the bees, though; only one pair in the whole colony usually ever gets to have sex, at least in honeybees...)
Kaya, for her part, doesn't seem to care. She doesn't seem stressed at all, and seemed more likely to fly off the tree away from Gavin after the cage split. So, I've only been letting them loose one at a time for now, with the other in a cage nearby because they still shriek if separated visually. We'll see how it develops; I'm actually kind of hoping the separation will ease Gavin's plucking eventually. I gather that pair-bonded GCCs are much more cuddly and joined-at-the-hip than poicephalus pairs, though I don't have much direct experience with either. They're parrots of very different genera and native habitat, and while their relationship attests to the flexibility and complexity of such beautiful and alien little minds, it seems like there were some miscommunications there, some different expectations, some ruffled, nay, plucked feathers.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I hope it's best for both. Keeping highly intelligent wild animals happy in captivity is not an easy task, and there are unclear choices to be made.
This hasn't actually been as traumatic as I had worried. The reason for the almost inevitable separation is not the most obvious probability of Kaya growing into a typical poicephalus and realizing that she could and even should kick Gavin's obsessive and hyper conure butt into next Wednesday, but that Gavin in his, uh, ardor, decided to start picking Kaya's nape feathers out. That just won't fly, so to speak.
Having borrowed
illucian's spare cage (birdy thanks to her and kynekh_amagire for the loan) until I've found more permanent quarters that will suit both the spazcon and my upcoming house reorganization, the conure has been moved. It was a bit emotional for both of us; after all, this is not a week after one of the most adorable things I've ever seen a bird do, Gavin burying his face in her chest fluff and muttering "pretty, pretty, pretty" in a totally blissed-out voice. It definitely stressed him, and he picked out a bunch of his chest feathers the next day...but I guess if he is going to pluck, I'd rather he do it to himself than the incredibly laid-back Kaya.Things seem at least a little bit better now, though. He seems to like his new cage and toys and not spending ALL the time hanging on the edge of the cage next to her headbobbing frustratedly. Although he's spending markedly more "quality time" with his plastic ball now. I grant you, spring IS springing 'round here, and they don't use birds in that old metaphor for nothing. (I don't get the bees, though; only one pair in the whole colony usually ever gets to have sex, at least in honeybees...)
Kaya, for her part, doesn't seem to care. She doesn't seem stressed at all, and seemed more likely to fly off the tree away from Gavin after the cage split. So, I've only been letting them loose one at a time for now, with the other in a cage nearby because they still shriek if separated visually. We'll see how it develops; I'm actually kind of hoping the separation will ease Gavin's plucking eventually. I gather that pair-bonded GCCs are much more cuddly and joined-at-the-hip than poicephalus pairs, though I don't have much direct experience with either. They're parrots of very different genera and native habitat, and while their relationship attests to the flexibility and complexity of such beautiful and alien little minds, it seems like there were some miscommunications there, some different expectations, some ruffled, nay, plucked feathers.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I hope it's best for both. Keeping highly intelligent wild animals happy in captivity is not an easy task, and there are unclear choices to be made.
