Society needs a cage mate !

[lem2bert]

I have 1 male society in a 63"L x36"H x19"D cage. I feel just awful but I cannot find a female for a cage mate that I would be sure would not be related. My original plan was to find a non related female and let them have one clutch and have a family in the flight cage. My society has been by himself for about a month, healthy but I just feel he would be happier with a cage mate.

The only place in my area that has societies is petsmart. The problem is they use the same vendor all the time so I am afraid to get a related female.

Now to my question.....If I purchase these societies from petsmart (who could be related ) does anyone have any idea what the chances are of them getting along in a mixture of females and males if I never put a nest in the cage ?

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

Why not get some males, and have an all male flight?

As to male and female getting along.... they'll get along alright .
They will breed, and breed, and breed, so if your worried about all of them being related, then you'll have to get your Socies elswhere, or stick to all males.

Or, another option would be, getting another species, maybe a Canary, or some Owls, or Gouldians etc.

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

Thank-you for your response . I have been in the pet store to watch the societies hoping to be able to tell which would be a male, but they are behind glass so it is hard to hear them I guess I could try to put a mirror in his cage and maybe he will be happy enough until I can find a non related female, or figure out if one at the petstore is a male (sigh). Maybe I should have gone with zebras

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

Zebras, are not for everyone, lol.

With Sicieties, you don't have to hear them to know they are singing, you can tell by watching them

[Sheather]

PetSmart gets its birds from a few giant breeding farms with hundreds of birds that supply stores across the country. The chance of getting two siblings, especially a month apart, is small.

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

You don't need to hear a Society to know that he's singing, just pay attention to body language.

https://youtu.be/xKWnF3jaOyA

https://youtu.be/tg8yzbNGMcM

You will not see a female going through those moves, lol.

[Barbara]

lem2bert I think a male or female would be a great friend for you society male if you get a female and are worried about breeding just don't put a nest in and feed them in closed dishes or put dishes down as low as you can in there cage.I'm positive you will find a egg at the bottom of the cage once in a while but they will never sit on it they usually break and they eat it up.My society family of six,and the babies are a year old tomorrow males and females no nest no babies.

On the other questions I bought a male and female at the same place ,my gouldian pair I bought had four beautiful babies,My society pair I bought at pet smart are siting .Unless you buy them from a breeder directly you would know waht you are geting,if you buy from a store or rescue you can only believe what you are told by the people that work there .I wouldn't over think this buy one from petsmart the chances of the same parents having a clutch ready in a month are slim.Do what you feel comfortable with and I will always take another society in trade for a gouldian hehehehehe

[lovezebs]

Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Did you, or are you having Gouldian issues?
Sorry if this was mentioned on another thread, my poor brain gets forgetful

[zebsoc]

If you got a different color would that ensure they were not likely to be related?
Such as if you have a black and white, were to get a fawn and white?
Just a thought.

When I bought my 4 society from petsmart which I don't like but they too in my atea r the only ones to have them. They also were behind glass but for a male it is So much easier than a female to tell.
If it puffs out its chest and you can see by its beak it is singing then it is a male.

I was trying for all females and managed to get 3 females and 1 male.
There were 2 almost all white with a bit of black. One was singing up a storm. So I took a chance the other would be female but unfortunately it was just the less dominant one, once he was in new cage as the only male with a bunch of females there he went puffing out his chest and singing.
But 3 females out of 4 not bad when females no way u can tell.

There seems to be a high ratio males vs females in society or at least when I was looking for females. I eliminated A lot of them that were obvious males and then just hoped the others were females. Took a while of watching them tho. I would just get to thinking one was a female and there it would go puffing out its chest.

I'd say the hard part is if you really want a female.

[Sojourner]

lovezebs lem2bert

The issue being that many of the birds in the pet super stores like PetSmart and PetCo are very young and some of them won't have their full song yet.

So - if you don't see them go pear-shaped, it doesn't mean they're female, they may just be a juvenile male that hasn't yet fully matured.

But if you DO see them go pear-shaped, they are definitely male.

Wish I'd known that to start with. Then nobody would be laying eggs and no one at my house would ever have died of egg-binding.

On the other hand, I got Pyewacket and Molly Brown to start with because Pyewacket was being picked on so much, and Molly Brown was obviously her best bud. I know the PetSmart people thought I was nuts because I watched that cage for at least 3 hours before I went out of there with unlooked-for birds. I only went in there to buy cat food!

Then, after Molly Brown died, and I went to get a new friend for Pye, I again ended up with a rescue bird (Bambi that is) because one of the managers saw me so carefully perusing the society cage for so long, got to talking to me, and decided I would be an extra good bird mommy to poor tail-feather plucked Bambi, who was allegedly female. HAH! Male all the way, and with a permanently bare butt because those feathers have never grown back in (which I sort of expected given that he'd already been seen by a vet and had been in the back room by himself for months already). Oh well. Free bird! What's not to like?

Well there is all that egg-laying. But still.

[lem2bert]

Sheather

Thank-you so much for that information. When I talked to the girl at petsmart she told me they use the same vendor all the time. Maybe it was my misunderstanding . Maybe same vendor but different breeders. Thank-you again.

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

Thank-you for the links. Got it now, I will watch and see if I can figure out which are males...and try for an all male cage !!!

[lem2bert]

Barbara

Thank-you , You have known me long enough to know that I always overthink !!!! I guess I will try for an all male cage and hope for the best !!!

[lem2bert]

zebsoc

Thank-you, I will watch to see if I can figure out if there is a male. My society is chocolate with two little white spots over his eyes and a tiny bit under his beak. The last time I was at petsmart they had 2 chocolate and white and two (I could not tell if they were fawn or chestnut) and white. Maybe if I stand there long enough they will give me one to get rid of me !!

[lem2bert]

Sojourner

Thank-you at least I know I am not the only one trying to figure out what to get. It seems to have worked out well for you so I am going to stop worrying about , watch the birds and make a decision. I will have to do something soon before they take out a restraining order on me ...