Ask Lafeber

Conure rescue situation

I have a conure that i rescued a year and a half ago, we were bonded and so close. I had to rescue a conure couple and my conure seems lost because they are a couple and he is alone, they preen each other and play sometimes but I feel like my connection with my first one is fading and he seems very uninterested in spending time with me and that makes me so sad, don’t know if I’ve made a bad decision Rescuing the two and I don’t think I can break their hearts and rehome them after they’ve been at a store for the longest time and had no social interactions and have not been handled or fed properly. Please advise

Hi Esra,

It sounds like the other two birds are allowing the single conure to interact with them? Do you know if the two are a male & female? As a rule, odd numbers do not work out. Even if they are all the same sex, two tend to pair and eventually they will bully the odd bird. If the two are a bonded male and female, they may be tolerating the single bird for now, but hormones will kick in at some point and the single bird is going to get pushed away. It’s best for the single bird to be your companion and only have some limited contact with the pair. I really do not see this threesome working out for very long. It’s natural for the single conure to be interested in the other birds, but again, I think he will get bullied at some point. Typically adult parrots have one close companion, their mate, and the rest of the flock is there more for protection than as companions. Instead of letting the single bird try to join the other two, you should work more on interacting with him as you did before. He probably seems lost because he isn’t being fully accepted by the pair, and he isn’t going to be more likely. Find ways to interact with him, as well as making sure he has plenty of toys and also look into some foraging activities for him. Parrots are an exotic pet with wild instincts, so it’s natural for him to feel drawn to other birds, but he’s going to feel a lot more lost if they start to reject him entirely.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda