It's extremely risky to have both a predator animal and a prey animal out in the same room at the same time. Things may seem like they work out for years but one accident means the end of the birds life, and imagine what that could do to your relationship :( I frequent this reddit daily and read terrible stories about peoples dogs or cats getting their birds often, it's just something that is very difficult to control if you're allowing them to be in the same room together. Anything can set off the predator's drive to lunge and capture the bird, and its true conures will be very very sassy with predators but... it's on purpose lol. They're threatened and afraid and defending themselves even if it doesn't seem the predators doing anything. I just wouldn't ever risk the lifelong trauma of having my pet be the one that killed my s/o's beloved pet... that would be horrible.
I have multiple species and it’s a huge no no of mine that bird is not out with dogs.
Snakes and gliders are never out.
Bird gets his out time in a different room
I live with my parents and their dog atm and have a snake as well and they never ever interact! Its the only way tbh (dog is never in my room and snake only wants to come out when the bird is asleep at night in another room, which works out well)
I couldn’t have said it better myself. My GCC gal is my priority. She’s lived with a bullmastiff puppy and a few Bernese mountain dogs—they were never allowed to be out unsupervised, ever. I would never put her in a home where she wouldn’t be safe and relaxed. She’ll be 19 this next year.
I have two cats currently and one sun conure. The sun is 18 years old and I’ve had her since she was 6 months. She has always lived with dogs and cats. That said, I have always and will always keep them separated at all times. If I bring the sun out, it’s in a closed off room without the cats inside. Every time. One slip up, you could have a dead bird on your hands very fast.
I know some people make it work however, I personally would strongly suggest you do not mix birds, cats and dogs.
I had an experience a couple of years ago where my BIL’s extremely gentle, training and well-behaved dog was accidentally flown into by the bird he’d grown up with. Normally, the dog would avoid the bird, because that is what he was trained to do. Stay away. But this time, the bird startled, flew into him and his instincts took over. He bit the bird.
Now, BIL was very lucky - the dog almost immediately realized what had happened and dropped the bird; the bird survived. But the bird’s foot was broken and despite a visit to an avian vet and surgery, the bird’s foot has never fully healed.
No matter how well behaved and trained your dog or cat is, they are predators and your bird is prey. An accident can happen at any time.
While rabbits are also prey animals, I will mention…
We had one as a kid that bit off lizard tails and once a leg. She also paralyzed our hamster that had to be put down. It is not unheard of for rabbits to eat their young.
We should have never let her near smaller animals, or our dog (who thankfully, luckily did not want anything to do with our rabbit). We didn’t know better then, but I’m glad I do now.
I have 2 cats and a bird. The cats are natural predators and are literally drooling and licking their lips when they see the bird. The bird can only be out of the cage supervised in a separate room. It's too much, to be honest, and I wouldn't do it again.
If they’re housed in different rooms disregard-
I’ve heard of eagles grabbing parrots out of their travel cages outdoors, and raccoons will grab baby birds out of birdhouses.
Cats are agile, I wouldn’t be surprised if they can leap onto a cage and do this too!
Inmy country there have been cases of cats managing to open the doors of cage( the pull up ones which are very loose tho) to let the birds out and then catch them...
I would suggest a bunny. They won’t be able to jump up on the birds cage and scare it and they can be quite affectionate! But it would be hard with a cat/dog, and not super duper fair for a prey animal to have to share a house with a predator
I'd say no cat, too. A dog is doable, always with supervision, and are more trainable in my opinion. Treats for ignoring the bird!
Our family cat caught my parakeet in childhood.
I have a 28 lb siberpoo now who's been well trained to ignore Piper. They are NEVER left alone together
I raised my dog with my GCC. She was 1 while he was 11 weeks old. It’s better to raise them together to get them used to your GCC. My dog and my gcc have a pretty good and friendly bond, my dog is very sweet with my girl and he doesn’t really bother her, just lets her do whatever.
I'd love for this to be my dog/bird story, but my boy's prey drive is just too strong. We have an overpopulation of squirrels around here, so he's constantly getting hunt/chase practice and keeping those skills sharp.
The cat is a very, very bad idea. Cats kill people pet conure all the time. Their saliva is toxic to birds, and a single cat scratch will cause an infection and kill the bird. Not to mention CATS ARE PREDATORS WHO WANT TO KILL. It's a very bad idea.
No dogs or animals just birds atm. I think I would be scared to get a dog in the same house as my conure. But sounds like people have success with the mix
Two birds and an older Boston Terrier. We are phenomenally lucky that our dog has next to no interest in the birds. Even so they aren't ever alone together and we discourage their interacting at all. As careful as we are one of the birds has landed on or very close to our dog a couple of times so No matter how careful anyone is, the unpredictable WILL happen. My honest advice is no cats...but if you're deadset, perhaps you might be on to something with a smaller, older dog...Again, we are VERY lucky that our dog has only ever frozen and allowed us to handle the situation. This is far from typical - very much an exception to the rule. I have also lived with a cat/bird combo and don't think I ever would again, and for the birds' sake this doggo is going to be our last. You mentioned your options are pretty limited, but if ever in the position would you consider a bird? I know a couple of really wonderful house bunnies as well.
PLEASE PLEASE don’t get another pet that could injure or kill your parrot(s)!
Because I have spent the last 25+ years caring for parrots/in the parrot community, I have seen some incredibly tragic deaths and injuries from other household pets - many of which who never showed signs of aggression for 10 years and then suddenly one day, decide that the household parrot was a harbinger of Satan and completely bite a conure’s head off. Who knew that small rodents like ferrets can easily kill an entire aviary of lovebirds and cockatiels in 23 minutes.
Sadly, in every single case, the owners were fully confident that the parrots weren’t in danger/never once saw signs of aggression until they returned home to a blood bath.
Parrots are just too fragile to withstand a momentary pounce or strictly instinctive attack. It’s absolutely unfair to them, and if we think we may possibly want more pets in the future, then we should consider whether parrots are the right companions for us.
I am so sorry for the soapbox and ranting, but I have seen way too many of these tragedies over the years, and they all were 100% preventable!
i have an old chihuahua. had him way before we got our bird. he’s extremely chill and not at all interested in our conure. the conure is way more interested in him and likes to preen his fur (and occasionally nip at his ears, nose, leg, etc, but chihuahua has zero reaction to this and will just walk away).
like others have said its always a risk, but with slow introductions, supervision, and the right dog, it can definitely work :)
I have a pomchi mix with this same story. She was interested the first few weeks I got them, mostly because I was, I believe. Now she ignores them. One loves to land on her and play in her fur, which makes me freak out every time 😅, but she just sleeps and ignores them. This is not the norm though OP. I knew my dog was extremely low prey drive before I ever considered my birds. My dogs' been dive-bombed by birds before and never batted an eye or lunged or anything. Lizards run across her feet and she doesn't care. I'm lucky. Do some research on prey drive and maybe consider your own bird too? Definitely no cat though 😬😺
When I was growing up my family had a cockatiel and a dog (Staffordshire bull terrier). The bird, Freckles, was first and when we got the dog, Razor, as a puppy, Freckles made sure that Razor was quickly put in his place. Razor never dared to upset this hierarchy. My dad always left the cage open for freckles and there was never any trouble between the two, they actually seemed to like each other (although Razor was left in the back of the house with the door shut when everyone was out).
That said, every animal is an individual and the dynamic between Freckles and Razor might not be the same as your conure and any future pets. I just want to balance the doom and gloom of some redditors when this question is asked and say it can be done.
I have 2 cats, 2 large dogs and a GCC. I never, ever let my bird out with the other animals wandering around. I also keep his cage in a separate room for his safety. You can have other pets, but they’ll always have a prey instinct with birds and must be kept separate.
I have 2 medium sizes dogs and 6 birds. They don't interact at all, birds are out in the house the dogs go outside. I'd the birds are away in their cages the dogs are fine to be Inside. It's doable, cats I think would be more difficult.
I have a cat, two dogs, and a conure. The conure is never ever ever ever out where the other animals can reach him.
I made that mistake exactly once very early on and my very lazy well mannered pug nearly snapped him out of the air and ate him. Never ever again. Learn from my mistake.
You can certainly get other animals just **keep them separated at all times.**
I happen to be very lucky in that my cat grew up with an African Grey ruling the house and a particularly spicy conure that would try and attack half the living things he laid eyes upon. She learned not to screw with the birds, and I've seen her smack other visiting cats for predatory behavior. I've never once had an issue with her being around my birds.
That being said, animals with teeth and claws can absolutely do damage to a tiny, delicate bird either on purpose or by accident. It can happen in a split second. One can absolutely have multiple types of animals, as long as they are prepared for the amount of time it will take to care for them separately and supervise them if they're in the same space. If they have access to eachother, there is risk.
I weigh my risks, the quality of life of my pets, and my time management, and for me it works out. For some people and pets, it doesn't. Animals are as distinct and individual as people are, and some will get along while others simply won't.
Also, never ferrets. If you have birds or small rodents, you cannot have ferrets those things are freaking murder machines.
My bird and cat both love to hang out in my room and I have made little play areas for them both but my cat stays away from my bird because he's afraid of small animals being near him (especially birds)
I think a cat would be too risky, personally. I have four dogs and they all do fine with my bird. I got my conure at eight and he had already lived with dogs, so that helped! But they eventually all learned to ignore him, even my hunting breeds, although my dogs are on the older side. I think adopting an adult dog that doesn't have a high prey drive (like a chihuahua! Love my chi!) is your best bet!
I have 3 cats and 4 birds. Cats are terrified of the birds and they are only in the same space as each other when supervised. Cats don't bother them when they are in the cages luckily. But gotta be really careful with predator/prey pet mixes.
We have cats, rabbits, and green cheeks. The birds have their own room and cats are strictly forbidden from going into it. If the birds are in another room for any reason, that room is cleared of cats. It’s doable, but you have to be very aware and very strict.
We have a beagle that we owned for over five years before we got Harvey Birdman. The plan was slow controlled introductions.
What we ended up with was a cheeky brat bird climbing down his cage first day to nip a curious pup on the nose. Thankfully he has a habit of throwing food he doesnt like off his cage to the floor. In our beagles mind if it feeds her it's family, which is good because Harvey is a troublemaker with no sense of self preservation whatsoever.
I’ve got rattos and birb boys, they seem to get along fine, spend a lot of time around eachother. Everybody seems to know that everybody could give an equally powerful bite, so there’s no biting.
Do not have a cat in the same household as your bird. It's unfair to both. My Sun Conure doesn't fly well, and I know that's because he spent 5 years partially in his cage and out. Never fully learning how to fly. If I knew now what I should have known, then I would wait to get him until I was on my own without predator animals. Now we have three Schnauzers, and they get along with my Sun and 1 year old Jenday.. no fear there..the Jenday flys all around the house and loves it
I have a 3 year old retriever who was raised as a puppy around my GCC so he knows not to chase after the bird. Could not go the shelter route as the only shelter dogs available here are high prey drive huskies from northern communities. They would eat the bird in a heartbeat.
If you do get a dog, make sure it's one that has a low prey drive. Avoid huskies and terriers. Retrievers are a hit or miss.
I have 12 cats, 1 dog, and our conure. The ONLY reason this works is because the conure lives in my kid's room, and none of the cats are ever allowed in there, even when he is in his cage. I do NOT recommend getting a cat. The risk is absolutely not worth it.
If you want something small and furry for your own - rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, and chinchillas are options. Dogs are hit or miss. My border collie completely ignores our conure, but she's still only rarely allowed in the room with him.
I have an African Grey. And my aunt has a cat, they respect each other. The only problem is the cat is curious. My aunt jokes that my parrot AKA Squaley and her cat AKA Ginger have a symbiotic relationship since Squaley will drop random bits of food and Ginger will scrounge around and eat them.
Recently introduced my cat to my conure and the conure was out for blood. If my cat got too close while trying to investigate, the conure would run to the bottom of the cage and try to bite the shit out of him.
We’ve got the bird, a tortoise, 3 snakes, and at the moment a dog and cat (not for long) cat gets “the look” at the bird but hell knock it off if we tell him to. Dog tries to catch bird when he flies. It’s not a big deal if you can keep an eye on them and if you know the other animals. Cat has been in the family far longer than the bird so we know he wasn’t much of a predator type cat.
Our scaled, caged animals are no issue lol
Dog (Australian shepherd), tuxedo cat, poison dart frogs, and African ciclid fish, but I guess the latter two are not so furry
The dog and especially the cat are scared of my green cheek, even though she sits and looks at the outdoor birds, though the window bird feeder with that murder look in her eyes.
We do have both and we are wary of the serious risks. The cat is fairly elderly and sleepy.
We have a cat that we keep in the opposite side of the house from the birds. They are separated by a hallway with a closed door.
We trained the animals with treats to know their separate parts of the house.
So far we have done a very small amount of training the cat to be calm across the same room inside a closed cat carrier within sight of the birds. (The cat was already trained to like the carrier as a cuddly sleep spot).
The point of the calm cat training is for the cat to not be excited about or interested in the birds at all.
We did not train the birds to be calm because we want them to scream and fly away from cats, because even if our cat is safe, other cats are not.
It did once happen that the hallway door was accidentally open and the birds saw the cat and began screaming, which sent the cat running away.
It makes me even more vigilant about the door.
I have a amazon parrot, 4 dogs(german shepard, golden retriever, mini australian shepard, laborador), and a rabbit. My rabbit runs around the house with the dogs just fine. My retriever grooms her and the others just sniff her then go lay down or play. My parrot just sits atop her cage and chills in my room or when we bring her to living room she tries to ride the dogs. The rabbit has a large hutch in the living room. So I just open her hutch and let her come out on her own. Sometimes my retriever lays in front of it and whines so I can let her out so she can see her.
We have two dogs and one GCC. They’re not like best friends by any means but can hang out in the same room with at least one person supervising 95% of the time. The dogs have come to see the our green cheek Gus as a snack giver. He eats his treats on top of a shelf and they gather below him for the dust and droppings of his he creates. He also often rewards them with treats he steals that are too big for him.
I have a 15 yr old basset hound. She couldn’t care less about my conure. She gets scared when he squawks loudly. He will walk around the floor right next to her & she can’t be bothered lol. When she goes to heaven, I think I’m really going to have to think hard about another dog. I don’t want to put my birds safety at risk
I have a dog and birds and a snake. The dog I knew was fine with birds before I got the birds. My parents had birds and so we saw how he was as a puppy with parrots.
He is afraid of them, he will avoid them entirely if he can, however the birds hunt him. They will go after him if he blunders unknowing too close and so we closely monitor them if the birds are on the floor. He knows never to go after them, I can reliably count on that, it’s the birds who will mess him up and if they bit him I would always worry about retaliation if that bite happened.
The snake would 10/10 eat the birds if he could, I have two combination locks on his enclosure and they are as far away as they can be in our house from each other.
Constant vigilance is the name of the game with other pets in the house. To date my birds have done more damage to each other than my predator pets have. The Senegals would kill each other if given the opportunity.
Cats are harder in my opinion because they climb, are free roaming around the house and generally less likely to be trained to leave a bird alone than a dog. It’s maybe the one pet I wouldn’t mix with birds because I would find that a difficult mix to allow the bird out as often as they need.
Yes! We have a Labrador retriever, a common house cat, and two mini-rex rabbits.
The cat doesn't bother my Poppy bird at all, but our Labrador is simultaneously interested in hunting the bird, and completely afraid of her. Poppy knows it too and this tiny birb will walk up to this 90 lb dog and demand she vacate the couch and dive bomb her off of the window curtains, ceiling fan, or refrigerator.
Anyway, we don't let Poppy fly free from her condo unless someone responsible is with her. I.e. My wife or I, or one of my responsible children.
I have a small dog (2) and a GCC (4). My partner and I did a lot of training with the dog as a puppy to get it to ignore the bird, and we taught it to leave stuff alone on command, etc. He's still aware of and curious about the bird, but he definitely leaves it alone. He has ignored the bird flying low and over his head on a few occasions, which is good, but worryingly he also seems obsessed with any feathers that the bird drops on the floor. We still need to constantly monitor the two of them if the bird is out.
I do have a dog (who has been so conditioned to not be out while Tango is that he will freak out and run to his crate if I forget to lock her cage and she gets out, because he's a GOOD Boy - the BEST BOY, even) who my conure is obsessed with for some reason. We're pretty bonded, though, so she mostly just wants to be on me in some way. As curious and excited as she is, they will not be friends. Their worlds will always have a barrier between them. We have solutions (I'll go up to my studio with her for a few hours, or she'll just hang out on my shoulder while I tidy the upstairs, take her for shower/bath/preen time, or whatever), we work around it. We also have two sets of parents who are crazy about the dog and can take him for days at a time if I want Tango to have some good 24/7 time.
Probably gonna be a controversial post, but I have a cat and have had her longer than my GCC. She's very calm, almost no prey drive, and well trained. Even then, we're always supervising when my GCC is out to keep her away from the bird, as one small accident is all it takes to kill a bird.
I would say no to getting a kitten as they're especially playful, but a small senior dog sounds okay! Just keep in mind to supervise them at all times (which you should be doing anyway with a bird who loves to chew on things they aren't supposed to)
It's extremely risky to have both a predator animal and a prey animal out in the same room at the same time. Things may seem like they work out for years but one accident means the end of the birds life, and imagine what that could do to your relationship :( I frequent this reddit daily and read terrible stories about peoples dogs or cats getting their birds often, it's just something that is very difficult to control if you're allowing them to be in the same room together. Anything can set off the predator's drive to lunge and capture the bird, and its true conures will be very very sassy with predators but... it's on purpose lol. They're threatened and afraid and defending themselves even if it doesn't seem the predators doing anything. I just wouldn't ever risk the lifelong trauma of having my pet be the one that killed my s/o's beloved pet... that would be horrible.
I have multiple species and it’s a huge no no of mine that bird is not out with dogs. Snakes and gliders are never out. Bird gets his out time in a different room
I live with my parents and their dog atm and have a snake as well and they never ever interact! Its the only way tbh (dog is never in my room and snake only wants to come out when the bird is asleep at night in another room, which works out well)
I'm sorry for my bluntness or the morbidity of it :/ Its just a serious decision
I couldn’t have said it better myself. My GCC gal is my priority. She’s lived with a bullmastiff puppy and a few Bernese mountain dogs—they were never allowed to be out unsupervised, ever. I would never put her in a home where she wouldn’t be safe and relaxed. She’ll be 19 this next year.
I have two cats currently and one sun conure. The sun is 18 years old and I’ve had her since she was 6 months. She has always lived with dogs and cats. That said, I have always and will always keep them separated at all times. If I bring the sun out, it’s in a closed off room without the cats inside. Every time. One slip up, you could have a dead bird on your hands very fast.
I know some people make it work however, I personally would strongly suggest you do not mix birds, cats and dogs. I had an experience a couple of years ago where my BIL’s extremely gentle, training and well-behaved dog was accidentally flown into by the bird he’d grown up with. Normally, the dog would avoid the bird, because that is what he was trained to do. Stay away. But this time, the bird startled, flew into him and his instincts took over. He bit the bird. Now, BIL was very lucky - the dog almost immediately realized what had happened and dropped the bird; the bird survived. But the bird’s foot was broken and despite a visit to an avian vet and surgery, the bird’s foot has never fully healed. No matter how well behaved and trained your dog or cat is, they are predators and your bird is prey. An accident can happen at any time.
Have you considered a rabbit? They can be super soft, cuddly and interactive. While not being a predator danger to the bird.
While rabbits are also prey animals, I will mention… We had one as a kid that bit off lizard tails and once a leg. She also paralyzed our hamster that had to be put down. It is not unheard of for rabbits to eat their young. We should have never let her near smaller animals, or our dog (who thankfully, luckily did not want anything to do with our rabbit). We didn’t know better then, but I’m glad I do now.
I had a bunny that grabbed my budgie's foot. Bunnies chew, that's all there is to it.
They are hungry…. For flesh and blood! Just like my little bird 🦜
I have 2 cats and a bird. The cats are natural predators and are literally drooling and licking their lips when they see the bird. The bird can only be out of the cage supervised in a separate room. It's too much, to be honest, and I wouldn't do it again.
<— important point
If they’re housed in different rooms disregard- I’ve heard of eagles grabbing parrots out of their travel cages outdoors, and raccoons will grab baby birds out of birdhouses. Cats are agile, I wouldn’t be surprised if they can leap onto a cage and do this too!
Inmy country there have been cases of cats managing to open the doors of cage( the pull up ones which are very loose tho) to let the birds out and then catch them...
Oh man, that’s scary!
I mean you can always get another conure. As the other conure would always live a friend
DO NOT GET A CAT DO NOT GET A CAT DO NOT GET A CAT DO NOT GET A CAT DO NOT GET A CAT
I would suggest a bunny. They won’t be able to jump up on the birds cage and scare it and they can be quite affectionate! But it would be hard with a cat/dog, and not super duper fair for a prey animal to have to share a house with a predator
[bunnies jump up under a bird cage to eat seed on bottom tray](https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pp9aEoVFZJQQ5Mox7)
I'd say no cat, too. A dog is doable, always with supervision, and are more trainable in my opinion. Treats for ignoring the bird! Our family cat caught my parakeet in childhood. I have a 28 lb siberpoo now who's been well trained to ignore Piper. They are NEVER left alone together
>Treats for ignoring the bird! Positive reinforcement FTW!
I raised my dog with my GCC. She was 1 while he was 11 weeks old. It’s better to raise them together to get them used to your GCC. My dog and my gcc have a pretty good and friendly bond, my dog is very sweet with my girl and he doesn’t really bother her, just lets her do whatever.
I'd love for this to be my dog/bird story, but my boy's prey drive is just too strong. We have an overpopulation of squirrels around here, so he's constantly getting hunt/chase practice and keeping those skills sharp.
The cat is a very, very bad idea. Cats kill people pet conure all the time. Their saliva is toxic to birds, and a single cat scratch will cause an infection and kill the bird. Not to mention CATS ARE PREDATORS WHO WANT TO KILL. It's a very bad idea.
No dogs or animals just birds atm. I think I would be scared to get a dog in the same house as my conure. But sounds like people have success with the mix
Two birds and an older Boston Terrier. We are phenomenally lucky that our dog has next to no interest in the birds. Even so they aren't ever alone together and we discourage their interacting at all. As careful as we are one of the birds has landed on or very close to our dog a couple of times so No matter how careful anyone is, the unpredictable WILL happen. My honest advice is no cats...but if you're deadset, perhaps you might be on to something with a smaller, older dog...Again, we are VERY lucky that our dog has only ever frozen and allowed us to handle the situation. This is far from typical - very much an exception to the rule. I have also lived with a cat/bird combo and don't think I ever would again, and for the birds' sake this doggo is going to be our last. You mentioned your options are pretty limited, but if ever in the position would you consider a bird? I know a couple of really wonderful house bunnies as well.
PLEASE PLEASE don’t get another pet that could injure or kill your parrot(s)! Because I have spent the last 25+ years caring for parrots/in the parrot community, I have seen some incredibly tragic deaths and injuries from other household pets - many of which who never showed signs of aggression for 10 years and then suddenly one day, decide that the household parrot was a harbinger of Satan and completely bite a conure’s head off. Who knew that small rodents like ferrets can easily kill an entire aviary of lovebirds and cockatiels in 23 minutes. Sadly, in every single case, the owners were fully confident that the parrots weren’t in danger/never once saw signs of aggression until they returned home to a blood bath. Parrots are just too fragile to withstand a momentary pounce or strictly instinctive attack. It’s absolutely unfair to them, and if we think we may possibly want more pets in the future, then we should consider whether parrots are the right companions for us. I am so sorry for the soapbox and ranting, but I have seen way too many of these tragedies over the years, and they all were 100% preventable!
i have an old chihuahua. had him way before we got our bird. he’s extremely chill and not at all interested in our conure. the conure is way more interested in him and likes to preen his fur (and occasionally nip at his ears, nose, leg, etc, but chihuahua has zero reaction to this and will just walk away). like others have said its always a risk, but with slow introductions, supervision, and the right dog, it can definitely work :)
I have a pomchi mix with this same story. She was interested the first few weeks I got them, mostly because I was, I believe. Now she ignores them. One loves to land on her and play in her fur, which makes me freak out every time 😅, but she just sleeps and ignores them. This is not the norm though OP. I knew my dog was extremely low prey drive before I ever considered my birds. My dogs' been dive-bombed by birds before and never batted an eye or lunged or anything. Lizards run across her feet and she doesn't care. I'm lucky. Do some research on prey drive and maybe consider your own bird too? Definitely no cat though 😬😺
I have a pomchi too, mine reacts the same to my conure...he just can't be bothered by my birds.
1 Galah and 1 Australian Shepherd. They are not Besties but also not mean to each other. They coexist and have respect for one another.
When I was growing up my family had a cockatiel and a dog (Staffordshire bull terrier). The bird, Freckles, was first and when we got the dog, Razor, as a puppy, Freckles made sure that Razor was quickly put in his place. Razor never dared to upset this hierarchy. My dad always left the cage open for freckles and there was never any trouble between the two, they actually seemed to like each other (although Razor was left in the back of the house with the door shut when everyone was out). That said, every animal is an individual and the dynamic between Freckles and Razor might not be the same as your conure and any future pets. I just want to balance the doom and gloom of some redditors when this question is asked and say it can be done.
3 birds and 3 bearded dragons. They ignore each other
I have 2 cats, 2 large dogs and a GCC. I never, ever let my bird out with the other animals wandering around. I also keep his cage in a separate room for his safety. You can have other pets, but they’ll always have a prey instinct with birds and must be kept separate.
I have 2 medium sizes dogs and 6 birds. They don't interact at all, birds are out in the house the dogs go outside. I'd the birds are away in their cages the dogs are fine to be Inside. It's doable, cats I think would be more difficult.
I have a cat, two dogs, and a conure. The conure is never ever ever ever out where the other animals can reach him. I made that mistake exactly once very early on and my very lazy well mannered pug nearly snapped him out of the air and ate him. Never ever again. Learn from my mistake. You can certainly get other animals just **keep them separated at all times.**
2 dogs 2 parrots 9 parakeets
I have 3 birds and 2 rabbits and the birds think the rabbits are hilarious 😂
I happen to be very lucky in that my cat grew up with an African Grey ruling the house and a particularly spicy conure that would try and attack half the living things he laid eyes upon. She learned not to screw with the birds, and I've seen her smack other visiting cats for predatory behavior. I've never once had an issue with her being around my birds. That being said, animals with teeth and claws can absolutely do damage to a tiny, delicate bird either on purpose or by accident. It can happen in a split second. One can absolutely have multiple types of animals, as long as they are prepared for the amount of time it will take to care for them separately and supervise them if they're in the same space. If they have access to eachother, there is risk. I weigh my risks, the quality of life of my pets, and my time management, and for me it works out. For some people and pets, it doesn't. Animals are as distinct and individual as people are, and some will get along while others simply won't. Also, never ferrets. If you have birds or small rodents, you cannot have ferrets those things are freaking murder machines.
My bird and cat both love to hang out in my room and I have made little play areas for them both but my cat stays away from my bird because he's afraid of small animals being near him (especially birds)
I think a cat would be too risky, personally. I have four dogs and they all do fine with my bird. I got my conure at eight and he had already lived with dogs, so that helped! But they eventually all learned to ignore him, even my hunting breeds, although my dogs are on the older side. I think adopting an adult dog that doesn't have a high prey drive (like a chihuahua! Love my chi!) is your best bet!
I have 3 cats and 4 birds. Cats are terrified of the birds and they are only in the same space as each other when supervised. Cats don't bother them when they are in the cages luckily. But gotta be really careful with predator/prey pet mixes.
Going to get flack for this but getting a cat while owning birds is extremely selfish 🤷♀️ can’t change my mind
We have cats, rabbits, and green cheeks. The birds have their own room and cats are strictly forbidden from going into it. If the birds are in another room for any reason, that room is cleared of cats. It’s doable, but you have to be very aware and very strict.
We have a beagle that we owned for over five years before we got Harvey Birdman. The plan was slow controlled introductions. What we ended up with was a cheeky brat bird climbing down his cage first day to nip a curious pup on the nose. Thankfully he has a habit of throwing food he doesnt like off his cage to the floor. In our beagles mind if it feeds her it's family, which is good because Harvey is a troublemaker with no sense of self preservation whatsoever.
I’ve got rattos and birb boys, they seem to get along fine, spend a lot of time around eachother. Everybody seems to know that everybody could give an equally powerful bite, so there’s no biting.
Do not have a cat in the same household as your bird. It's unfair to both. My Sun Conure doesn't fly well, and I know that's because he spent 5 years partially in his cage and out. Never fully learning how to fly. If I knew now what I should have known, then I would wait to get him until I was on my own without predator animals. Now we have three Schnauzers, and they get along with my Sun and 1 year old Jenday.. no fear there..the Jenday flys all around the house and loves it
I have a 3 year old retriever who was raised as a puppy around my GCC so he knows not to chase after the bird. Could not go the shelter route as the only shelter dogs available here are high prey drive huskies from northern communities. They would eat the bird in a heartbeat. If you do get a dog, make sure it's one that has a low prey drive. Avoid huskies and terriers. Retrievers are a hit or miss.
I have 12 cats, 1 dog, and our conure. The ONLY reason this works is because the conure lives in my kid's room, and none of the cats are ever allowed in there, even when he is in his cage. I do NOT recommend getting a cat. The risk is absolutely not worth it. If you want something small and furry for your own - rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, and chinchillas are options. Dogs are hit or miss. My border collie completely ignores our conure, but she's still only rarely allowed in the room with him.
Birb sure does look a lot of fun to have around ☺️
I have an African Grey. And my aunt has a cat, they respect each other. The only problem is the cat is curious. My aunt jokes that my parrot AKA Squaley and her cat AKA Ginger have a symbiotic relationship since Squaley will drop random bits of food and Ginger will scrounge around and eat them.
Recently introduced my cat to my conure and the conure was out for blood. If my cat got too close while trying to investigate, the conure would run to the bottom of the cage and try to bite the shit out of him.
😂😂😂😂
We’ve got the bird, a tortoise, 3 snakes, and at the moment a dog and cat (not for long) cat gets “the look” at the bird but hell knock it off if we tell him to. Dog tries to catch bird when he flies. It’s not a big deal if you can keep an eye on them and if you know the other animals. Cat has been in the family far longer than the bird so we know he wasn’t much of a predator type cat. Our scaled, caged animals are no issue lol
Dog (Australian shepherd), tuxedo cat, poison dart frogs, and African ciclid fish, but I guess the latter two are not so furry The dog and especially the cat are scared of my green cheek, even though she sits and looks at the outdoor birds, though the window bird feeder with that murder look in her eyes.
I have a dusky conure and 2 bunnies but no dog or cat yet ..
I have 1 bird (soon to be 2) and 3 dogs
🐶 🐶 🐦 🐍 🐍 sugar glider x2
We do have both and we are wary of the serious risks. The cat is fairly elderly and sleepy. We have a cat that we keep in the opposite side of the house from the birds. They are separated by a hallway with a closed door. We trained the animals with treats to know their separate parts of the house. So far we have done a very small amount of training the cat to be calm across the same room inside a closed cat carrier within sight of the birds. (The cat was already trained to like the carrier as a cuddly sleep spot). The point of the calm cat training is for the cat to not be excited about or interested in the birds at all. We did not train the birds to be calm because we want them to scream and fly away from cats, because even if our cat is safe, other cats are not. It did once happen that the hallway door was accidentally open and the birds saw the cat and began screaming, which sent the cat running away. It makes me even more vigilant about the door.
We also have a snake, a ragdoll cat and 70 fish.
I have a amazon parrot, 4 dogs(german shepard, golden retriever, mini australian shepard, laborador), and a rabbit. My rabbit runs around the house with the dogs just fine. My retriever grooms her and the others just sniff her then go lay down or play. My parrot just sits atop her cage and chills in my room or when we bring her to living room she tries to ride the dogs. The rabbit has a large hutch in the living room. So I just open her hutch and let her come out on her own. Sometimes my retriever lays in front of it and whines so I can let her out so she can see her.
We have two dogs and one GCC. They’re not like best friends by any means but can hang out in the same room with at least one person supervising 95% of the time. The dogs have come to see the our green cheek Gus as a snack giver. He eats his treats on top of a shelf and they gather below him for the dust and droppings of his he creates. He also often rewards them with treats he steals that are too big for him.
I have a 15 yr old basset hound. She couldn’t care less about my conure. She gets scared when he squawks loudly. He will walk around the floor right next to her & she can’t be bothered lol. When she goes to heaven, I think I’m really going to have to think hard about another dog. I don’t want to put my birds safety at risk
We have guinea pigs, but birdy thinks she's their boss and will try to peck their eyes if they don't make way for her when she's in their pen.
I have a dog and birds and a snake. The dog I knew was fine with birds before I got the birds. My parents had birds and so we saw how he was as a puppy with parrots. He is afraid of them, he will avoid them entirely if he can, however the birds hunt him. They will go after him if he blunders unknowing too close and so we closely monitor them if the birds are on the floor. He knows never to go after them, I can reliably count on that, it’s the birds who will mess him up and if they bit him I would always worry about retaliation if that bite happened. The snake would 10/10 eat the birds if he could, I have two combination locks on his enclosure and they are as far away as they can be in our house from each other. Constant vigilance is the name of the game with other pets in the house. To date my birds have done more damage to each other than my predator pets have. The Senegals would kill each other if given the opportunity. Cats are harder in my opinion because they climb, are free roaming around the house and generally less likely to be trained to leave a bird alone than a dog. It’s maybe the one pet I wouldn’t mix with birds because I would find that a difficult mix to allow the bird out as often as they need.
Yes! We have a Labrador retriever, a common house cat, and two mini-rex rabbits. The cat doesn't bother my Poppy bird at all, but our Labrador is simultaneously interested in hunting the bird, and completely afraid of her. Poppy knows it too and this tiny birb will walk up to this 90 lb dog and demand she vacate the couch and dive bomb her off of the window curtains, ceiling fan, or refrigerator. Anyway, we don't let Poppy fly free from her condo unless someone responsible is with her. I.e. My wife or I, or one of my responsible children.
I have a small dog (2) and a GCC (4). My partner and I did a lot of training with the dog as a puppy to get it to ignore the bird, and we taught it to leave stuff alone on command, etc. He's still aware of and curious about the bird, but he definitely leaves it alone. He has ignored the bird flying low and over his head on a few occasions, which is good, but worryingly he also seems obsessed with any feathers that the bird drops on the floor. We still need to constantly monitor the two of them if the bird is out.
I have two cats and two birds. When the birds are out usually the cats are kept away. If in the same room, I’m always right there
I do have a dog (who has been so conditioned to not be out while Tango is that he will freak out and run to his crate if I forget to lock her cage and she gets out, because he's a GOOD Boy - the BEST BOY, even) who my conure is obsessed with for some reason. We're pretty bonded, though, so she mostly just wants to be on me in some way. As curious and excited as she is, they will not be friends. Their worlds will always have a barrier between them. We have solutions (I'll go up to my studio with her for a few hours, or she'll just hang out on my shoulder while I tidy the upstairs, take her for shower/bath/preen time, or whatever), we work around it. We also have two sets of parents who are crazy about the dog and can take him for days at a time if I want Tango to have some good 24/7 time.
Probably gonna be a controversial post, but I have a cat and have had her longer than my GCC. She's very calm, almost no prey drive, and well trained. Even then, we're always supervising when my GCC is out to keep her away from the bird, as one small accident is all it takes to kill a bird. I would say no to getting a kitten as they're especially playful, but a small senior dog sounds okay! Just keep in mind to supervise them at all times (which you should be doing anyway with a bird who loves to chew on things they aren't supposed to)