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From: rapp@beach.csulb.edu (Lorraine Rapp)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Indoor: companion for parrot?
Message-ID: <1991Jun7.050644.26965@beach.csulb.edu>
Date: 7 Jun 91 05:06:44 GMT
References: <11508@xenna.Xylogics.COM> <7029@male.EBay.Sun.COM>
Sender: rapp@beach.csulb.edu
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
Lines: 34

In article <7029@male.EBay.Sun.COM> dlp@zule.EBay.Sun.COM (Dan Pritchett) 
writes:
>In article <11508@xenna.Xylogics.COM>, rollo@xerxes.Xylogics.COM (Dena Rollo) 
> writes:
>|> 
>|> So here's the question: I'd like to get her a companion, but I'm not sure 
>|> which way to go. 
>
>If you do consider another bird, I highly recommend a Grey. I think Grey's
>are a nice combination with Amazon's because they are not highly affectionate.

Actually, I have a red lored Amazon and an African Grey whose
personalities are precisely the reverse--the Grey loves to be held
and cuddled (he will flop over onto his back and dig his claws into
my hand to avoid being returned to his playpen), and the Amazon is
rather aloof and will condescend to only very rare head-scratching.

But I went through the same dilemma when the Amazon hit puberty and
got cranky--hence the addition of the Grey to my household. If you
do decide to acquire a parrot of a different species, be forewarned
that your original bird may suffer a bout of depression--my Amazon
refused to play with his toys and just generally moped around for
several weeks after the Grey arrived, in spite of my best efforts
to keep him from feeling neglected. Now, several months later, the
two are good buddies and will sit on top of their respective cages
facing one another and talking for hours (keeping them together
turned out _not_ to be a good idea, as the Grey would chase the
Amazon around the cage shrieking, "I'm going to get you, Paco!").

In any case, I'd be inclined to think that another bird would
make better company for a bird than a dog...

Lorraine Rapp
rapp@beach.csulb.edu