Am I being selfish?

[Lodah]

My mother used to say: If you give them a piece of fruit, if she eats it, its a female... If he eats it, its a male!

 

[LunaLovebird]

oh, ok. what sub-species of lovebird is Luna?

Same as yours, she's a peachface. Just a different colour mutation.

 

[LunaLovebird]

My mother used to say: If you give them a piece of fruit, if she eats it, its a female... If he eats it, its a male!

Mine would sooner scream at it and fly in the other direction.

 

[ZteveBond]

My mother used to say: If you give them a piece of fruit, if she eats it, its a female... If he eats it, its a male!

HA. I've been trying to feed him fruit but he wont eat bananas or apples, I'm going to try grapes next, any vegetable suggestions?

 

[Lodah]

HA. I've been trying to feed him fruit but he wont eat bananas or apples, I'm going to try grapes next, any vegetable suggestions?

I'm sure that @saroj12 can chime in here... she is an expert!

 

[LunaLovebird]

HA. I've been trying to feed him fruit but he wont eat bananas or apples, I'm going to try grapes next, any vegetable suggestions?

Lovebirds tend not to like fruit in my experience. With Luna, I started with brocolli, sweetcorn and leafy greens. Easy on the corn because it's very sugary. To start with I sprinkled a little bowl with seeds and left it in for a few hours first thing in the morning. You can try do it first thing without dry food in the cage, and he should go for it. If he doesn't after an hour, put the dry food back. I also put a skewer with broccoli and a chilli pepper cut lengthways with a little millet stuffed inside. Keep at it and he'll get curious eventually. Anakin came to me loving all food, so there was no problem there.

 

[ZteveBond]

Lovebirds tend not to like fruit in my experience. With Luna, I started with brocolli, sweetcorn and leafy greens. Easy on the corn because it's very sugary. To start with I sprinkled a little bowl with seeds and left it in for a few hours first thing in the morning. You can try do it first thing without dry food in the cage, and he should go for it. If he doesn't after an hour, put the dry food back. I also put a skewer with broccoli and a chilli pepper cut lengthways with a little millet stuffed inside. Keep at it and he'll get curious eventually. Anakin came to me loving all food, so there was no problem there.

thanks, I'll try that

 

[saroj12]

I'm sure that @saroj12 can chime in here... she is an expert!

Who said that? Lol! Plus I don’t know lovebirds. Looks like a lot of good pertinent information is being posted.

 

[ZteveBond]

Who said that? Lol! Plus I don’t know lovebirds. Looks like a lot of good pertinent information is being posted.

It appears so, yes

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I am making plans to see if Leo is male or female, would two female lovebirds fight over territory?

Two females are even more likely to want to kill each other. Female lovies are awesome, but they’re definitely more aggressive than the boys. This is my shark of the bunch (she’s an Australian cinnamon):

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I only have one cuddly bird and another who can't quite decide if he's a people bird or not. It is demanding, especially if you're trying to do something else and you keep having a tiny, squawking raptor jumping (literally) on your face so you'll pay attention to them.

Yeah, there’s yelling at Mama sometimes for daring to hold another bird, or not holding fast enough! There’s little possibility for having multiple birdies out at once here as they want to attack each other to establish who owns mama. A bit trying sometimes! I think there is one combo that’s okay, and one that works for a little bit. Definitely a lot of multitasking as I almost always have a bird on me when I’m home (as long as it’s safe).

 

[ZteveBond]

Yeah, there’s yelling at Mama sometimes for daring to hold another bird, or not holding fast enough! There’s little possibility for having multiple birdies out at once here as they want to attack each other to establish who owns mama. A bit trying sometimes! I think there is one combo that’s okay, and one that works for a little bit. Definitely a lot of multitasking as I almost always have a bird on me when I’m home (as long as it’s safe).

thats why I'm thinking if I get another bird Leo will not meet him/her untill we are bonded and if I know for sure what gender Leo and the new bird is. even then I'm not even entirely sure that they will get along or not so I will also make sure that they are both closely monitored while they interact, and if they do like each other then I think I'm going to make a point out of handleing the new bird around Leo, would that be to passive aggressive? like, a non direct way to tell Leo "hey this could be us"

 

[ZteveBond]

thats why I'm thinking if I get another bird Leo will not meet him/her untill we are bonded and if I know for sure what gender Leo and the new bird is. even then I'm not even entirely sure that they will get along or not so I will also make sure that they are both closely monitored while they interact, and if they do like each other then I think I'm going to make a point out of handleing the new bird around Leo, would that be to passive aggressive? like, a non direct way to tell Leo "hey this could be us"

I dont mean leave the birds alone together if I think Leo is jealous of him, I know how dangerous that can be

 

[fluffypoptarts]

thats why I'm thinking if I get another bird Leo will not meet him/her untill we are bonded and if I know for sure what gender Leo and the new bird is. even then I'm not even entirely sure that they will get along or not so I will also make sure that they are both closely monitored while they interact, and if they do like each other then I think I'm going to make a point out of handleing the new bird around Leo, would that be to passive aggressive? like, a non direct way to tell Leo "hey this could be us"

That sounds like a plan. No, I think you could give “showing” him a try. But if you handle another bird in front of him, just make sure to acknowledge him and “include” him by talking to him through that. If I give one bird attention in front of the others, I always give the others attention, too.

 

[ZteveBond]

That sounds like a plan. No, I think you could give “showing” him a try. But if you handle another bird in front of him, just make sure to acknowledge him and “include” him by talking to him through that. If I give one bird attention in front of the others, I always give the others attention, too.

Hm, I didn’t know that, thank you! If I do handle another bird around him and Leo still doesn’t really leave his cage I visit me then should I simply talk to him? Because I don’t want Leo to feel left out. well, I kind of do. I don’t want him to feel alone but I do want him to want to cuddle, I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well enough...

 

[fluffypoptarts]

Hm, I didn’t know that, thank you! If I do handle another bird around him and Leo still doesn’t really leave his cage I visit me then should I simply talk to him? Because I don’t want Leo to feel left out. well, I kind of do. I don’t want him to feel alone but I do want him to want to cuddle, I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well enough...

Definitely talk to him and include him. That will gradually increase his comfort with you and make him more likely to seek you out. Peachies are curious and want to be involved. So that’s a much better sell than leaving him out. Once they develop enough of an interest in you, they will seek more contact, and should then begin to bond more strongly to you if their initial contact goes well.

My traumatized bird is a good example of this. My girlfriend has been working on her for a year. At first Neutrino wouldn’t even stay near the front of the cage or look at girlfriend. Then she would stay near the front and listen/look attentively at girlfriend. Then she was willing to come out on her drawbridge and allow girlfriend’s face close, but no hands. Now she gets onto my girlfriend's hand with no fear. It’s amazing how far they can come if you give them the chance.

In my experience, they respond best to unconditional, all-inclusive love. I believe that they can tell how people feel about them.

 

[ZteveBond]

Yes I already think that Leo is making great progress, when I went to refill one of his treats this morning my hand was about 2 inches from his face but he didn’t fly away, he went to the end of his perch for a valid escape route but he didn’t run!

 

[finchly]

Yes I already think that Leo is making great progress, when I went to refill one of his treats this morning my hand was about 2 inches from his face but he didn’t fly away, he went to the end of his perch for a valid escape route but he didn’t run!

Progress! Good job.