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Help! New bird owner with two lovebirds

Rigin

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7/7/18
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I would give them 2 food bowls to try and alleviate that issue. It is not unusual behavior for one bird to guard resources, esp if they have had a rough life where food was scarce.

Also, the birds need more than just dowel perches. Dowels offer no variation in size or texture, making it so that the bird can get arthritis, inflamed feet, and pressure sores. Scrap the dowels and get some natural wood branches :)

You can open the door and see what happens! Give yourself a large window of time, and make sure they have a way to get back into the cage easily. If you have millet or another treat they like, you can put that in the cage to try and encourage them to go back on their own.

My lovebird customers love my cupcake liner toys and balsa :)
Yeah I was planning on getting new perches for them. My local pet store doesn't have any perches that aren't just dowels and they only have the sandpaper covers that I heard are no good so I'm gonna have to order online or something :/

I'm currently a student so any suggestions on good perches that aren't too expensive that I can order online?
 

Mizzely

Lil Monsters Bird Toys
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Rigin

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More updates!

I got my little raptors a new perch, which I will put in next cage cleaning, and some Zupreem pellets!

Blue seems to not mind the pellet transition as much since she still eats them, but more or less goes to the tiny seed bowl I had set up in the corner for when she bullied Pacha out of the big seed bowl.

Pacha does NOT like the pellets. He'll shift them around the bowl and look for seeds. I'm pretty sure their diet before I got them has consisted solely of seed mix so we'll just have to see if he warms up to the pellets.
 

VelocirapGirl

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Monique
It's pretty easy to tell if they're clipped, if they're clipped it looks like their wings are pretty short and just one layer but if they're not clipped they have long feather that look like they're underneath but showing a lot. I don't know if this will help in seeing if they're clipped because I suck at explaining things :lol::newhere: I have a blue peach faced lovebird his name is Mr. bean :bpflb:
 

Nancy B

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I'm glad they are in a more caring home now! I would love to see pictures of them :)

It will take some time, I am thinking the more territorial one is a female. I am unsure of the other one. Are they clipped? If not it can be more difficult to tame them but it is doable.

Let them get use to their surroundings first then go talk to them, feed them treats through the bars of the cage etc. Only feed them the millet from your hand so they can associate your presence and hand with good yummy treats.

Then go on to open their cage door and let them come out on their own, and continue to feed them the millet.

In time I am sure they will be used to you.

Make sure to give them plenty of toys, no plastic toys at all, pellets and fresh vegetables, and some seeds.

Also make sure their cage is big enough for them. 24 x 24 x 24 or 30 x 18 x 18 is a good size for them.

Oh and also beware of any tent thingies, they can induce egg laying and nesting.
Why no plastic toys? My lovebirds have a plastic swing that they love and also I cut a length of a plastic slinky that they climb in and use as a boing. Just wondering what your experience has been as my lovebirds haven't had bad luck with plastic. BUT if they have any beads at all make sure they are too big to be swallowed. I lost a bird to choking that way :(
 

MahaSarah

Sprinting down the street
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Why no plastic toys? My lovebirds have a plastic swing that they love and also I cut a length of a plastic slinky that they climb in and use as a boing. Just wondering what your experience has been as my lovebirds haven't had bad luck with plastic. BUT if they have any beads at all make sure they are too big to be swallowed. I lost a bird to choking that way :(
Lovebirds love to chew and shred toys. So generally wooden toys, shreddable toys, etc should be given like 99% of the time. When I say plastic toys I mean none of the cheap boring ones that are all plastic that are found literally everywhere. But if a toy is mostly wooden then there can be some plastic part to it.
 

LunaLovebird

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I haven't read everything in here, but I would straight up remove the tent if you haven't already. They are death traps. Sounds like you are progressing well with them. :)
 
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