Advice about 2 Lovebird in 1 flight cage

[Muna]

Hi everyone ..
Ever since Mango lost his partner Kiwi last year. I didn’t want to force it by putting him together. Lucky my solo bird who is very tame with ppl. Mango is not tamed but earning his trust matters to me.

To this day I am working with him so he allows me to scratch his head xD

I don’t know Mango's gender but Lucky is defiantly a female since the fiasco with her first egg.


Mango and Lucky are separated into their cage. I would let them out separately. My family tells me that I am cruel to even do that separating them. They have never been together in one cage and I’m dead worried that one day one of the lovebirds will kill the other.

I noticed that when lucky is out she goes to mango cage to preen him & he would lower his head. Both of them do that with each other.

I plan on buying an A&E flight cage for them .. my issue is risking it putting them together in one cage. I’m not sure what to do really.. buy 2 A&E flight cages for each just to be safe?

 

[Zara]

Completely understandable.
I have had two very different experiences housing pairs together.
First pair hit it off instantly. I let all three birds out together and two were all over each other, flying around together, preening, the works. I waited a few days, and then housed them together.
The second pair, the female was interested in the male, but he was a human bird (he was the one left out in the first pairing, and had lived with me for a long time as a lone bird before I got the second bird). I owuld let these to out alone together (without my other birds). For months she courted him and followed him around hopelessly. He would always run away from her. Eventually he started to show some interest, he would start going into her cage to play with her toys and explore her stuff. Once they were getting on a little better, I would house them in her cage for short periods of time during the day, an hour here and there while I was here reading AA in the same room. After a month or two, I let them have their first night together, I was super worried about it, but they had a nice time and that was it, bonded. They were originally in her 30x18x18 cage, because she is a special needs bird, but I later moved them into a flight cage together.

The other thing to remember is, even a bonded pair could fight and one could get injured.

My family tells me that I am cruel to even do that separating them.

I bet. And that´s ok.
They hear that these birds are inseparable and should always be in pairs. Lovebirds are known for being in pairs, snuggling together and preening. They and other non-bird folk don´t realise how dangerous these sweet looking birds can actually be. They´re given this angelic sounding name and super adorable almost fluffy appearance, but the reality is when things don´t go their way, the consequences can be truly heartbreaking.
Stick to your guns and don´t rush it. Despite what others tell you.
Observe closely, go with their relationship. You will want to start by allowing the same out of cage time and watching from near enough by but far enough as to not disturb. See how they get on. When they are sticking together, flying together, exploring together, eating together, then your can try caging together for a short amount of time while you´re in the room. Having multiple food bowls and toys, foraging activities in the cage are a good idea.

Let us know how things go

 

[Muna]

Of course I will update & thank you very much @Zara !

After posting this one day later I saw a small bump on Mango bum. Turns out she’s a female ready to lay her first egg soon.

So I’m wondering if it’s going to be a problem for both female lovebird in one cage. Would they fight a lot during the nesting season.

I remember a friend told me one of her macaw ended up killing another just to use her feathers as nesting material.(there wasn’t any nesting materials available so she resorted to kill her partner)

 

[Zara]

Two hens will more than likely fight, thought it is not unheard of for a female female bonded pair. I think there´s less likely chance of a bond, but there´s definitely still a chance it could happen, so still allow that time for them to interact.
Perhaps wait until there´s no eggs or nesting behaviours happening though.

Edit, I just want to elaborate a little more. When lovebirds have enough space around them, they will give a good warning to the other lovebird before an attack. And even when one lunges towards the other, the other has space to fly away and evade harm. Inside a cage, this is not possible and it means that the one getting attacked has no space to go and winds up victim to injuries.
It is why we need to have those interactions out in a room, with enough space for them to get away from any attacks that could happen. Even if one starts chasing the other around the room, you will be there to quickly scoop up one and get them into a cage (even if you have to grab them in a T-shirt, gently obviously). You will be the mediator to ensure everyones safety, and the space in the room gives you enough time to react and separate. Putting two unbonded birds inside a cage is a really bad idea, because less space = more chance of fights, and no where to go, plus having to open the cage will delay you from being able to intervene quickly... or worse, no human around to intervene (that´s when things can get ugly).
Watch some videos of lovebirds in the wild. You´ll see them in flocks and there´s always bickering going on, some is friendly mating bickering, and the rest is fighting, but you will see how they are able to avoid full on fighting with each other as one will always flutter away and move somewhere else.

 

[Muna]

When lovebirds have enough space around them, they will give a good warning to the other lovebird before an attack. And even when one lunges towards the other, the other has space to fly away and evade harm. Inside a cage, this is not possible and it means that the one getting attacked has no space to go and winds up victim to injuries.

This is one of the problem why I stopped letting them out of the cage at the same time.

Mango randomly would bite lucky foot & got her bleeding so badly. Lucky is very sweet and loving but mango extremely aggressive.
I let my love birds out separately.

I definitely need to start from zero if I plan to monitor them cage out together. First need to get the egg situation be done with.

 

[Zara]

Ah I see. Well it´s not looking so good, but hey, who knows what the future brings.

Years ago, Two of my birds ¨hated¨ each other, they would both attack and neither would back down, it was an absolute nightmare. Even with separate out of cage time, I still had to monitor them to keep them away from each others cages. After about 3 or 4 years of this, one day she went right up to him and spread her wings (mating display) Since then she´s never attacked him. Nor him to her. It´s very interesting. I love it, I can let them out at the same time if i want to, I usually don´t or at least not for long periods of time purely because of the dynamics. Certainly makes life easier though.

 

[Emma&pico]

Hi do u have pics of ur lovebirds love pics hehe

I have two lovebirds I have tired them in a cage together a big flight cage but it didn’t work pico isn’t interested and will go no where near indie in the cage he tends to stay at bottom of cage and indie at top so I just bought two big cages they gave out of cage time together but they do argue indie wants to be friends but I think pico too much of a human bird (handreared) I don’t think he knows how to act round indie

I would slowly try out of cage time together see how they get on it’s getting better with my two but I would say start there first share play time treats etc before caging them together hope it all works out for you