Advice Please!

[SweetAmber]

So I am getting two lovebirds, and their cage soonish. Just waiting on the pickup date. I have only seen one poor picture of them, I THINK they are peach face. I know they have been neglected and are wild. They are a "Birthday present" because the kids are tired of them and I guilted them out of it. (I hate kids owning pets, most of them just don't care!) So, a few questions..

How will they fit in with my flock, after quarentine?
Do they eat more or less the same as my current brats?
Any species specific care? Like different diet, special caging, needs special perches etc..
Can they be sexed without DNA, and if not is there a way to do it from home? The only good vet is over an hour away, and that's stressful for everyone involved.
Any other advice?
Thank you for take no the time to read!

 

[expressmailtome]

Lovebirds can be confrontational with other birds, and with the size, and strength, of their beak, they can harm a budgie or cockatiel. I would personally not let them interact in a confined space. They will eat more that budgies and cockatiel. Their diet should have a good amount of fresh foods. Some people do not like to feed their birds pellets, but they can be very helpful with getting your bird to eat the proper nutrients. Besides their need for space, as with all species, there is no special caging requirements for lovebirds that do not apply to the species that you have. A few mutations are sex-linked, so depending on the parents' mutations, it may be possible to determine their sex, but this is not very likely to apply to pet store birds unless the owner of the store is also the breeder.

If you post pictures, I can tell you the species, and most likely the mutations if you would like.

 

[SweetAmber]

Thank you for your reply.

So is that no out of cage time together? I let my guys out while I'm home, the Budgies stay out when I am not home. I feed all my birds chop daily, I make it in month sized batches with whatever is seasonal and freeze it, to maintain freshness. I unreserved it the night before. I take it out at lunch if I am home, dinner if I am not. They get as much as they want, I commonly throw much of it away as I prefer to offer to much. The birds get unlimited pellets daily (Rodybush Crumbles, or ZuPreem Fruit blend ex small when switching). They get a ration of dry seed, most days I have a few types of sprouted seed to mix in the chop. Millet is from my hand only, same for sunflower seeds. This sound okay lwith lovebirds?

I will probably never know the birds history. I consider it a rescue, young children scream at the bird to shut up and shake the cage... Probably feed seed, and a bad mix at that. Not all seed is equal! What seeds are separate for them, my normal mix is mostly white millet, oat groats and canary grass. Past that amount, it's not worth listing.

Cage size, what should it be? The cage they have may be too small, I don't know. All my extra cages are for finch and budgies, and the bars reflect that. Can lovebirds bite through them? The cages are about 2 foot by 1.5 by 1.5. The lovebirds will get outside time, just not so ugh unroll after quarantine as I only have one room for bird use (sadly).

Is it possible they will ever be tame, treated like they have been? I just want to offer them a nice life, I hate to hear about bird abuse and it's... Common here.

Thanks again!

 

[LunaLovebird]

You can trial out of cage time together, but you need to supervise it carefully. If it looks like they are starting trouble, you might have to switch to separate out time.

Your current bird's diet sounds perfect for a lovebird, but be prepared for them to stay away from the chop at first. They take some convincing with fresh food. I find leafy greens and corn to be an easy sell. Many other things I sneak into birdy bread.

As for cages, bigger is better and go for width over height. Mine have extra wide flights, which are about 31" x 19" x 19". I think this is a good size and I wouldn't personally go much smaller than that for a single bird. Bar spacing should be 1/2-5/8''. You don't have to worry about biting through the bars, but do keep an eye on it. One of mine likes to chew the bars sometimes and the worry there is one of metal poisoning. If you see that he / she is chipping the coating, it's time for a better cage. Be watchful, but with all that being said, even my chewer hasn't managed to chip the coating yet and their cages are fairly cheap things (for the moment - upgrading soon!). The only other cage related thing is that lovebirds like to try and break free, and they are exceptionally good at it. I have the feeder doors of mine cable tied and the main door locked with a SS padlock. Seems excessive, but their cages don't have latches and one of mine has managed to get out before when we forgot to lock it.

AFAIK, no special perches or anything like that would be necessary. I would stay away from fabric huts / tents. Lovebirds like to chew and this is not a good combination with most huts, etc.

Thank you for taking them in. Lovebirds are such great characters, and I'm sure they'll be happy with you.

 

[LunaLovebird]

Oh, forgot to comment on the tame side of things. Take it one step at a time. I think it is likely that they can be tamed, but it may take a while. Let them get used to you and their new home slowly. I haven adopted lovebird who I have had four weeks and is not yet tame. I've found just sitting with him and reading to him to be helpful. He is only now comfortable enough to eat from a food bowl next to my leg while I am on a recliner, but I'm very happy with his progress. You might find it takes a bit more time with a bonded pair, but that's not to say it can't be done.

 

[alicat]

mmm I will always love lovebird pairs. so cute.

the bigger the cage the better, my lovies used every inch of their cage unlike my tiel-they were constantly moving, always trying to escape together. they are super fun and spunky and so fun! with taming mine, they would take millet through the bars from my fingers and eventually I would crumble it in my hands, and they would put a foot on my hand to get closer, and eventually they'd climb on. My one was more adventurous and Avery would watch from the sidelines, but eventually would slowly come over when he saw Prim munching happily.. it took like 6 months for them to be really really happy with me but it was SO rewarding and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. They are such big personalities in such tinie little birds. I could tell their moods just by looking at them, prim was the bitey fiesty one, and avery was the gentle nervous one.

they do eat a lot more than my tiel, I would see them in their food bowls like every 15 minutes. they also went through toys a LOT quicker than my tiel, and would chew on EVERYTHING. literally everything was a toy to them, nothing could stay in their cage more than a week without it losing a piece or missing chunks, which was an expense but soooooo worth it I wish Piper would play like that now

they can be EXTREMELY fiesty even with each other, I got a breeder cage with a divider because there was a few months where my female was a real terror and would bite at my males feet when they were too close, but it stopped eventually and removed the divider.

they are such fun birds to watch and love. good luck!

 

[SweetAmber]

That's funny, I use millet for taking Budgies and finches! Works well on the greedy birdy butts!

My chop is usually based on Kale or cilantro, with lots of other things. This month it's Cilantro, Yellow squash, jalapeno, eggs, cooked noodles, and sweet potato. I'm sprouting some alfalfa just to have handy, along with some millet sprays. I have yet to see a bird reject barely sprouted millet! Sound like a good Plan?

So I'll start looking for another cage, as my other two bigger cages are very inappropriate, more like CAG bird sized spacing. They where donations, but I've never had a bird that size (yet).

Can they have plastic food dishes, or will I have to break my metal ones out?

So expect much drama queens? I can do that. I'm so excited now, they seem like little bundles of personality!

 

[LunaLovebird]

The chop sounds good. Presentation and texture can be pretty big determining factors for most birds, so you might have to play with it a bit. I haven't been able to get Luna to eat mashed anything yet. All of her vegetables are given raw, except for whatever is in her bread. Currently the chop I give mine consists of Swiss chard, sweet corn, rice, beans, coconut (unsweetened), birdie bread and one or two other vegetables. Typically zucchini, broccoli or carrot. They get that, enough dry mix (60:40 pellets to seed) to comfortably last the day and some sprouts. I have never had a problem getting Luna to eat sprouts or leafy greens. Anakin has so far been the same on that front. He also gets a small bit of corn on the cob on a stainless steel skewer. Plastic containers are fine.

Definitely expect drama queens if you get a hen. The boys are much calmer, but still little characters.

 

[JLcribber]

Female lovebirds are notorious for being very aggressive with their mates at times and are known to have killed them. Always keep that in the back of your mind.

 

[SweetAmber]

Ah, so I need to get them sexed. Can't do that from home can I? Or are they easy to behavior sex?

 

[LunaLovebird]

You'll need to DNA them to be sure.

 

[SweetAmber]

Ah, that means a vet visit... Fun.

 

[expressmailtome]

They can be out together at the same time, you should just watch them carefully. If you can, try setting up a different area for them in the same room so that you can watch them all, but they will have some separation. As for them becoming tame, it is possible that they will become friendly with you. With regards to DNA sexing, that can be done at home with a purchased kit.

 

[SweetAmber]

Oh, good. I was going to get the stuff to make a pic playgym, I'll just make two.

DNA kits exist? Wow! I imagine it's not blood, but how are they done? Thank you guys!

 

[expressmailtome]

They can be done with blood, or plucked feathers.

 

[SweetAmber]

Hmm. I may can do the feather test. Any recommended feather? I know I should probably avoid flings and tail.

 

[expressmailtome]

This company's website explains the different methods of DNA sexing birds, and they will also send you a free collection kit if you decide to use them: Avian Services Center: DNA sexing and disease testing for all species of birds. .

 

[SweetAmber]

Huh, that's very interesting. They test for illness too, much cheaper than a vet visit for me, thank you so much! Trying to get me a picture sent of them so at least I will K of what species!

 

[lgrikki]

That's funny, I use millet for taking Budgies and finches! Works well on the greedy birdy butts!

My chop is usually based on Kale or cilantro, with lots of other things. This month it's Cilantro, Yellow squash, jalapeno, eggs, cooked noodles, and sweet potato. I'm sprouting some alfalfa just to have handy, along with some millet sprays. I have yet to see a bird reject barely sprouted millet! Sound like a good Plan?

My Happy boys favorite food is the stock on kale, he even prefers it to millet! He doesn't it like it to be mixed in his chop but prefers the full stock to pick and chew on! ( This is what we ended up using for taming) My lovebird pair came from a neglect home and it took a lot of work to get them social and to what I now consider "tame". Now he is the sweetest boy, she is not so sweet but she does enjoy to interact with me.

Good on you for your efforts! Sometimes it only takes a welcoming home, a loving parronter and some patience to bring a neglected bird back around.
Best of luck to you, Ill be keeping my eye out for updates

 

[SweetAmber]

The stalks? I never thought of that, I chop them right in. I use a baby food processor, it chops it small enough for finches and budgies. I'll save the stalks though and try that, it could be quite entertaining!