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Brand New Lovebird Owner, I want all the advice I can get

Miss Annamarie

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On Saturday, I'll be bringing home the love of my life, Poppy, she is a 4 month old female peach faced lovebird. I don't know much, but I've been trying to learn AS MUCH as I can, I have been watching videos and reading articles for HOURS and HOURS a day for weeks. But I want to know everything I can to do the best for her. I looked at the other posts like this on here, but if there's anything else I will need to know, it would be wonderful! Thank you <3
 

Miss Annamarie

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Also, I know people say there is no such thing as too big a cage and the bigger the better, but I'm just nervous, is
53" x 61" x 70" too big? too small?
 

Gazimon

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She looks adorable! Perhaps you can give some details about what you do know about her and we can offer any tips accordingly.

Eg. Her current diet, whether she is tame, wings clipped etc. And also things such as whether you already have bought a cage for her, or what design you are considering of getting.

If you are getting from a breeder, consider asking questions specifically about the bird's background and personality to get an idea of what sort of lifestyle she's used to as it may help you understand some aspects of her behavior [and expectations] later on. Such as what foods she has been fed, what time the lights go out and whether she gets sunlight exposure at certain hours, how often she has been handled if tame or semi-tame. You can always research about what you CAN do online or ask on this forum, but it may be difficult to get information on this particular bird after the handover.

Species Profile Lovebirds - Hari A quick overview of Lovebirds

Consider keeping notes to track her health. The example linked below for budgies is rather detailed, but it gives an idea of the considerations to keep in mind [though some more important than others].
http://hari.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Budgie-May-14-final-lr.pdf
 

Peachfaced

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Also, I know people say there is no such thing as too big a cage and the bigger the better, but I'm just nervous, is
53" x 61" x 70" too big? too small?
Can you link us the cage? We need to check the bar spacing as well. :)
 

Miss Annamarie

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Peachfaced

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Miss Annamarie

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She looks adorable! Perhaps you can give some details about what you do know about her and we can offer any tips accordingly.

Eg. Her current diet, whether she is tame, wings clipped etc. And also things such as whether you already have bought a cage for her, or what design you are considering of getting.

If you are getting from a breeder, consider asking questions specifically about the bird's background and personality to get an idea of what sort of lifestyle she's used to as it may help you understand some aspects of her behavior [and expectations] later on. Such as what foods she has been fed, what time the lights go out and whether she gets sunlight exposure at certain hours, how often she has been handled if tame or semi-tame. You can always research about what you CAN do online or ask on this forum, but it may be difficult to get information on this particular bird after the handover.

Species Profile Lovebirds - Hari A quick overview of Lovebirds

Consider keeping notes to track her health. The example linked below for budgies is rather detailed, but it gives an idea of the considerations to keep in mind [though some more important than others].
http://hari.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Budgie-May-14-final-lr.pdf

She is semi-tame, and same with her wings, her wings were clipped 2 months ago and theyre almost grown back but we were planning on getting them clipped again and once shes ready, have her flighted. She hasnt bitten me once (surprisingly), I don't know where she's from, I got her from a lady because her shoulder was shattered and she couldn't take care of the bird anymore and she didn't have time. So I don't know much, I don't think she had a schedule, and I have to switch her from a seed-mix so advice on that too would be helpful.
 

birderkb

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Welcome Annamarie! Over about a two month period, I was able to switch my Nimby from seed to nutriberries and Roudybush crumbles. I put a layer of seed on the bottom of the food cup, followed by a layer of crumbles and then a few nutriberries on top and just kept reducing the amount of seed over time. I put the Zupreem Fruitblend pellets (parakeet size) in a separate treat cup and it took awhile but now she loves them. She also likes to spill them all over her cage so now she has a more secure food cup for those. Everyday I tried various veges and fruit in another food dish and over time she now really likes kale, corn kernels (cooked), apple and sometimes broccoli and peas. I also have Quiko classic eggfood in a separate treat cup and she loves the stuff although she will not eat hard-boiled or scrambled eggs or birdie bread (I keep trying tho).
 

Gazimon

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If you are able to strengthen a bond with her without clipping at all, that would be the best as it eliminates any "bad" handling experience she might feel about being restrained.

Is she currently able to fly so high that she's out of reach? If that is the case then perhaps a partial clip so that she can still fly short distances and continue to exercise her flight muscles.

Never clip a bird so severely that it drops like a rock as that can damage the bird's self-confidence and lead to other behavioural issues. We have some members here who are trying to get their birds to fly baby steps at the time due to past trauma and no longer trusting their flight ability despite feathers growing back.

For partial, start with clipping only 2-3 primaries. Aka leaving 2 feathers at outer edge then clip the third and fourth. Then allow her to fly and monitor her flight path. If she's still too high ( getting up to a curtain rail ) then clip one more (fifth inwards as so on). Once you have clipped 3 or 4, try to do increments of half feathers as that can mean the difference between overclipping or a steady flight. Ideally leave some primaries on the inner edge as the cut feathers poking against skin can cause discomfort and the remaining inner primaries will help shield against the cut shafts.

I have a new store-bought lovebird I've had for 9 days. It did not display any tame behaviour when I brought it home. On the first day it freaked out over hands and flew straight up to the curtain rails, so I did clip 4 feathers on each wing. Currently it can fly upwards about 1 meter and horizontally about at least 3 meters. Its still scared of fingers, but will let me cup my hands beneath and carry it to a table top if it lands on the floor. It spent several hours yesterday making these short flights and exploring the room.

When it calls I always answer with a sound, be it a murmur or a "yeeees?". I do suggest you try to do that as it help reaffirms that you are part of the flock with it. It wasn't afraid to approach and hop onto my chest when I was semi-reclined in bed yesterday. Still dislikes hands though...
 

Miss Annamarie

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Thank you so much for all of this! It's really helpful, do you have any suggestions and info on just plain out bonding with her? Also how to clip her wings?
If you are able to strengthen a bond with her without clipping at all, that would be the best as it eliminates any "bad" handling experience she might feel about being restrained.

Is she currently able to fly so high that she's out of reach? If that is the case then perhaps a partial clip so that she can still fly short distances and continue to exercise her flight muscles.

Never clip a bird so severely that it drops like a rock as that can damage the bird's self-confidence and lead to other behavioural issues. We have some members here who are trying to get their birds to fly baby steps at the time due to past trauma and no longer trusting their flight ability despite feathers growing back.

For partial, start with clipping only 2-3 primaries. Aka leaving 2 feathers at outer edge then clip the third and fourth. Then allow her to fly and monitor her flight path. If she's still too high ( getting up to a curtain rail ) then clip one more (fifth inwards as so on). Once you have clipped 3 or 4, try to do increments of half feathers as that can mean the difference between overclipping or a steady flight. Ideally leave some primaries on the inner edge as the cut feathers poking against skin can cause discomfort and the remaining inner primaries will help shield against the cut shafts.

I have a new store-bought lovebird I've had for 9 days. It did not display any tame behaviour when I brought it home. On the first day it freaked out over hands and flew straight up to the curtain rails, so I did clip 4 feathers on each wing. Currently it can fly upwards about 1 meter and horizontally about at least 3 meters. Its still scared of fingers, but will let me cup my hands beneath and carry it to a table top if it lands on the floor. It spent several hours yesterday making these short flights and exploring the room.

When it calls I always answer with a sound, be it a murmur or a "yeeees?". I do suggest you try to do that as it help reaffirms that you are part of the flock with it. It wasn't afraid to approach and hop onto my chest when I was semi-reclined in bed yesterday. Still dislikes hands though...
 

Miss Annamarie

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Like how not to cut her on accident etc. Sorry for not specifying, it seemed like I asked you to re-say everything you said.
 

Gazimon

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I need to hit the bed... Is anyone else able to help with a good reference image? There's a lot of bad images out there with almost all primaries cut and sure to send the bird dropping like a rock. Repeated dropping can form blood blisters or broken keel that some mistake for self-mutilation.
 

Peachfaced

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I'm not crazy about wing clipping, but if you absolutely must do it... please do not do it yourself. Take the bird in to a vet and have them trim them for you. The bird could end up injured or crippled if they're done wrong.

I will say this; if that picture is current, your bird has already been clipped heavily and it will take roughly six months or so to grow out. You can use this time to bond and teach the bird to fly as time goes on. Birds are much more confident and sure of themselves when they are able to fly. It's a really beautiful thing to witness their personality blossom.

The first time Rupert flew, he was spooked and took off. The look on his face was priceless. "WHOA, that was me?!"
 

Miss Annamarie

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Yeah, I think I'm definitely gonna let them grow out, I wanted her flighted sometime, but I can imagine its 1028992183012 times better not to take away what little ability she has left of flying. I hate when I see her wanting to fly to something but she can't because she's to scared she'll drop.
 
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metalstitcher

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The King's cage @Peachfaced linked to you is the one I have for Gracie and it has a ton of room for her. Flight cages are better for them. You are also going to need a lot of toys for her to chew on. They love to chew things up like crazy. Take your time with her and getting her use to your day to day. They are not fans of change so if you need to make changes do them slowly if you can. Just take it slow and don't force her to do anything she doesn't want to. Since she has such a bad clip as suggested now would be the perfect time for her learn to step up and spend time with you.


Might want to get her a platform perch for now so she has something to run across in her cage without worrying about falling. Both of my birds have them and love them but they are a lot older.

Getting her use to new foods should hopefully not be too hard for you. She is still young and if you act like you like it and get overly interested in it I am pretty sure she is going to want to check it out. They are very nosy little birds and are always into something lol.
 
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