Companionship in Exotics

The RWAF has been pushing companionship as one of their campaigns for the past few years which is slowly transforming the way people view our fluffy bun friends. Solo rabbits have higher cortisol (stress) levels than their bonded counterparts leading to an overall remote compromised health status (Burn and Shields, 2020). I find telling pet guardians this quite effective in persuading people to pick a wife or husbun for their rabbit. Not to mention there are about 70,000 rabbits currently needing a home in the UK so plenty of potential companions to choose from!

While this drive is really positive for our rabbits I feel like our feathered friends are being left behind. As flock speciesthey too require companionship as a right. Many people keep just one bird as having just one will make it easier to bond to. This is because as a social species, the bird will seek companionship with the next best thing, and without another bird, will have to turn to a human. Unfortunately, we do not speak bird and this bond can lead to an inappropriate social connection between human and bird. Some bonds can cause hormonal problems in larger parrot species such as cockatoos.

Keeping animals as pets is a privilege and a serious responsibility. In terms of husbandry I always recommend trying to replicate what is natural to them in the wild. Keeping several hundred cockatiels is probably not feasible but as a responsible pet guardian it is definitely recommended to keep more than one.

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My co-captain for the day!