Should Parrots Share a Cage?

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“I also would like to know if birds should be in separate cages? I believe that I’ve made a mistake, by putting two blue and gold macaws together. Before they used to love me and now that they have been together all they do is attack any body who comes near the cage. don’t know what to do, when we separate them they scream and scream. can you help me? i love them both” – Marie

This is very common with birds. They often become more attached to one another than the human in the household. However, the problem is not the cage and the fact that they are sharing it with one another. The issue is the motivation – right now they see more motivation to stay in the cage and be with one another than they have motivation (or reason) to come out and be with you. Why is this?

The benefit you have to have two birds is that you can use “observational learning” to your advantage. We use this a lot when working with multiple birds as it speeds up the learning process for the bird falling behind.

For example, if you decided to touch train these macaws, they would learn faster because they would have one another to learn from. It took me one training session to train my rose breasted cockatoo, Bandit, to touch train. The reason it took only one session is because I used my other cockatoo, Bondi, who already knew how. Once he saw her earning a reward for touching the stick, he wanted to do it too! Even if one of your macaws doesn’t already know touch training, you can still use this technique to speed up the learning curve. Once one bird is interested, the other will follow.

To learn how to touch train your parrot, check out our Taming, Training and Tricks course where the FIRST THING we teach you is how to touch train your parrot and use it to train many other behaviors as a way to positively tame your bird while having fun in the process!

If you give one bird a reason to think you’re great enough to come out the cage for, the other will realize the same. This works in many different areas of training – including flight!

You can use the touch training method and begin INSIDE the cage… slowly working your way out and getting them to step up. Once you get them out of the cage where they are in training mode and earning treats, you can begin putting natural behaviors on cue (a great way to interact and teach a behavior that’s fun for your bird to learn) as well as trick training with or without props. The more fun and interactive you are with your macaws outside of their cage, the more they will long to come out and enjoy your company.

You don’t always have to train, either. Once they enjoy your company you can take them out merely to play or just be on your hand or shoulder. I love spending cuddle time with my parrots – they enjoy it and I enjoy it. So vary it up and make sure every interaction you have with your birds is positive because every time you handle or interact in any way with your birds, you are literally training them. They are paying attention to things and interpreting things through what happens on a daily basis.

And don’t feel bad if one bird seems to be more interested than the other – this is natural. Reward the bird that is showing more interest in you and if one steps up nicely and the other refuses, leave the refusing one in the cage while the other gets one-on-one fun time with you. If you are doing something this bird enjoys doing, he won’t scream back to the other bird when he is doing it. When I take one bird from my aviary, they will call back and forth because they want to know where the other is going. But once the bird I take out is cuddling or training with me, he doesn’t return the birds’ in the aviaries calls. This teaches the refusing bird that he misses out if he doesn’t willingly step up, but it never ever forces him to do what he clearly doesn’t want to. This makes coming around and nicely stepping up his choice, and builds his comfort in knowing you will never make him do something he doesn’t want to do.

Make sure you know what you are going to use for their motivation; there are many types from food treats to training to activity. Birds work for different rewards. If you feel your parrots need some independence, you can try “howdying” them which just means putting them in separate cages next to one another. However, I really don’t think it’s necessary if you create the right environment and motivation for them to interact with you and really set them up for success throughout the entire process.

PS! If you can’t tell, I have 3 macaws in that photo above cuddling with me and they all share a large aviary together. I actually house all 4 of my macaws together in one aviary full time and they still interact with me (and Dave) this way. The 4th was with Dave when this image was taken!