Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,
we have been toying with the idea of getting a bird, iether a Blue and gold macaw or a cockatoo, kind of undecided at this point, actually we had been planning on a bird long before iguanas ver entered our life, we were wondering if anyone on the boards has or had birds and iguanas,
even though we had been thinking of a large bird long before iguanas came along, the iguanas got here first and they are our first priority, most of you know we also have a cuban rock iguana who remains master of house and free roams when he wants, hes never locked in a cage he only goes there for sleeping purposes, and i really dont want to tempt or iritate him by getting a bird,

a large bird would also eventually be a free roamer, especially if we end up with a macaw,

any advice is welcome, and if it turns out that getting a bird will affect the iguanas in any way or pu the bird in harms way the idea of a bird will be nixed imediatly, the iggys are our first priority,

but we are looking to add to our family, if a bird is out of the question we have looked at panther chameloons, knob tail gecko ( has any one seen how cute they are!!) or bearded dragons, so any advice on any of the above mentioned would be great to

thank you

Brian & Angel

If you think your Iguanas are time consuming and a bit of work, birds are much more needy!! I have nothing against birds and years ago I kept Amazons, Cockatoos, and a wonderful African Grey, but I could never do it now. There just isn't enough hours in the day. Birds are attention hogs and will act neurotic if not given the proper amount of interaction.

I've never kept reptiles and birds at the same time so I can't advise on the safely or health issues. I'm sure someone around here can offer some good advice. Best of luck! Give Chaos a head rubby for me.

I have three birds with my iguana. They do really well together, but my iguana was raised around my birds. I think part of the reason he tolerates them is because he's so used to them. I could see a large, noisy bird like a macaw or a cockatoo really messing up an established igs routine... though I'm sure they'd eventually get used to it.

I wouldn't let the bird free roam, especially if the igs do. They could both do a lot of damage to each other, and it would probably be best to keep them separated.

Birds tend to do better if they have a cage to go to, anyway. It's great to let them out (supervised!) all day, but they really need a place to call their own... just like a teenager wouldn't be happy without his own room They have off days, too, and value their private time. And it's better to have them safely in a cage during times when you're not home... they really do wreak a lot of havoc, and can get themselves into dangerous situations fast.

JMO... I'm sure you'll get lots of opinions on the subject.
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

I'm not sure about a big bird, but I had gotten a lovebird shortly after my iguana who used to sit on my iguana's back from time to time. The only problem we came across was that the iguana liked to climb the bird cage. We don't cage our iguana up either, and if we weren't careful, the bird's cage would end up sideways. The other problem we had was that since the iguana and the bird were like a team for ten years, after the lovebird died of a cancerous tumor, the iguana stopped eating and we had to force feed him. I've never owned a larger bird before though, but I'd be careful about one of the two attacking each other. I've heard a macaw can take someone's finger off, so imagine what it would do if irritated by an iguana.
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~*Chibi*~
Sir Iggy (El Salvador Blue Iguana), Ryo-ohki, Orion, Bud, & Finnegan (4 crazy kitties), Rosebud (cockerspaniel), and Kayko (leopard gecko)

We have a cockatiel and a budgie, and they seem to be ok together, although we generally don't have the birds and the iguana free in the same room at the same time. Have you considered something like a 'tiel? I've been told that although iguanas don't mind small to medium sized birds, they don't like large birds and an iguana and a parrot could certainly do serious damage to each other... Just a thought.
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
0.0.2 Green Treefrogs - Bert, Ernie
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
0.1.0 Betta - Isis (Donated to a nephew whose 3 year old betta just died)
1.0.1 Mice - Zeus, Orion (R.I.P. I think... Damn cats)

Thanks for all the advice and info, i really apreciate it, you all gave us some things to look at that we didnt think about, especially the igs climbing the cage, im pretty sure that if Boris ( our big green iggy) had a new place to sit on and look at all of us he would go for it and im pretty sure a bird wouldnt want to share his/her spot,,,,,,again thanks for all your advice ,,,,,,,,,,,we have decided on bearded dragons, so any advice at all would be gretly apreciated,

time is not a factor with us, there is someone home with us at all times, and we are completly dedicated to the health wel being and attention the animals get, we are just ready to add to our family now

also we are turning our dining room into a huge iguana cage and will be posting pics of progress