House two tame lovebirds together or separately?

[SmallFeathers]

I have 2 very new lovebirds Pocoyo is the oldest at 11 weeks, Ellie is 8 weeks. They are not related, but did come from the same breeder. I've had Pocoyo for about 4 weeks and Ellie for about 2 weeks. At the breeders there was an overlap of a few days where they shared a cage. Since they have been with me I have kept them caged separately so we could bond. I do let them out together occasionally to play together. I was considering trying to eventually put them together, if they get along. If I still take care to play with them lots everyday, and get them each out individually will they stay tame or will they stop preferring my company all together? Would it be a good idea or should I keep them separated?

 

[waterfaller1]

Welcome. I do think lovebirds tend to like a companion. Hence the name. I think if you let them out and play and don't put too much stress on them in the way of expectations, it's like the three of you are a flock. Just give them lots to do in the way of foraging and time out to play in a separate area from their cage.

 

[Aah061211]

I think you might get even more satisfaction Watching them bond and do their lovebird thing.
Do you know their sex??

Sent from my Galaxy SIII

 

[fluffypoptarts]

If you provide them with your companionship on a regular basis (including having them in the place where you spend most of your time), they don't need to be in the same cage. If you do put them together, however, they'll be less interested in you.

 

[suncoast]

Separate cages at first with communal play areas. Let them decide when or if they want to co-habit together. Keep all the doors open so that if someone has to bail they can get out. You really should get them DNA'd because if you have two females they should NOT be housed together when they mature. They are very territorial and one could injure or kill the other one.

Ginger

 

[BraveheartDogs]

I would go with how they do together and what they seem to prefer. I recently took in an adult male lovebird. I could tell he wanted a friend because he would go to my budgie cage, try to by them, regurgitate for them, etc. So, i got a handfed baby as a companion. They were housed separately for a few weeks and out together daily and are now housed together and doing beautifully with each other and me.

 

[SmallFeathers]

I do know that Ellie (lutino) is a female, and the breeder told me that Pocoyo (wf blue?) was a male (based on his parentage) , but so far I can't back that up based on the tiny amount of internet research I've done (dad-violet pied; mom American cinnamon). I do have a collection kit here, so I may go ahead and send it in.

I like the idea of letting them decide if the want to cohabitate by leaving their doors open. Right now they are in separate rooms, but I am going to move them to the same room in the next few days.

Here are some pics of the 2 cuties

 

[suncoast]

I think it's always, always, always a good idea to get DNA done because it makes it easier if there is any kind of health issue. If you think you have a male and you have a female, you won't be looking for egg binding because you think you have a boy. There is no way to tell just from looking at them what sex they are.

Ginger

 

[SmallFeathers]

I am positive the lutino is a female because it is a sex-linked trait. You can't tell by just looking at a bird if it is male or female, but if you know their genetic background it is sometimes possible to tell with mutations. I just haven't found enough literature on the blue mutation to back up what the breeder told me about Pocoyo yet. Doesn't mean the breeder is wrong, but I have to verify for myself before I take it as fact.

 

[Aah061211]

You could always try the pelvic bone finger test... As long as you do it when the bird is not stressed out (and yours look pretty relaxed) then you might have a pretty accurate test.
It worked for me like 90% of the time. And then I would recheck the next day to see if I was right.


Sent from my Galaxy SIII

 

[Bokkapooh]

Id definitely do the DNA sex on both birds.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I have always kept my lovebirds in a flock cage; up to five birds in a large cage. I always kept new birds in their own cage for a least two weeks while they got acquainted with the existing flock, but once they started to interact well with the flock and then indicated they wanted to 'roost' with the flock, I let them live in the flock cage with the others. At one time I have two bonded pairs and a single male in the cage together without problems. They would roost with the little lone male in between the two pairs and sleep like that.

When I ended up with just Harley PFLB as the only one of his species, Harley wooed and bonded with Grace Tiel and the two of them formed a pair for almost a year before Gracie died. I lucked into a hand tame blue PFLB hen and kept Blu in her own cage to get acquainted with Harley through the bars. When I went into the room the next morning to let everyone out of their cages, Harley (who is hardly ever caged) was roosting in his cage with Blu; apparently either she or Harley chewed the twist tie locks off her cage and let her out overnight. Harley and Blu have been inseperable since.

 

[Ankou]

As far as I'm aware, there is no link between sex and the blue series of mutations, the only easy way to really identify the gender of that bird would be DNA. I don't know that for sure, but my understanding is lutino, cinnamon, and opaline are the only sex-linked PFLB mutations.

Sometimes you can tell by watching adult behavior but if you cage them together young the first sign of adult behavior could be a bloody confrontation. It isn't a guaranteed thing two females won't get along well; there is a pair of females on this board who do, but they are the exception not the norm. (Naiera/Alyssia's Peaches and Mango.)

I agree with Ginger on caging them together, let them decide if and when.

 

[SmallFeathers]

Well it looks like it may not make a difference what gender Pocoyo is anyway. Yesterday when I let them out together Pocoyo was very intent on biting Ellie's leg. I don't know if they will get along enough to live in the same cage. I'm still going to work with them both together some though and move their cages closer together. They do flock call each other a lot. I hope moving them closer might make them a little quieter if nothing else.