Keeping more than 2 lovebirds

[P+K's mom]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and I am wondering if anyone has personal experience with keeping more than 1 pair of lovebirds in a cage. I have had one male + female pair of peach-faced lovebirds for about 7 years. I would really love for them to be able to have more lovebird friends- but I am hesitant to get another pair for a couple reasons. Their cage is about as big as I could find with small bar spacing aside from an indoor aviary, but is it big enough for 2 pairs? Also, the female gets Lupron monthly for chronic reproductive disease. Would I need to be sure to get 2 female as to not further stimulate her more? And lastly, is there any concern of new birds coming in and breaking up my bonded pair? They are very bonded, but my worst fear would be to say introduce 2 new females and have my male decide he likes one of them better.

I have attached a pic of their cage for reference. It is a cage which can be divided into 2, but I don't wish to permanently cut their living space in half in order to house 2 pairs

I will be consulting an avian vet, but I would also love personal stories. Thanks for any advice

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[TikiMyn]

@fluffypoptarts has a flock of lovies, but she doesn’t keep them caged together I think.
Could you get another cage? I love the cage you have! It is possible to keep 2+ lovies together, but the thing is you don’t know if all the birds Will get along beforehand

 

[JLcribber]

Lovebirds are very territorial birds. Especially a pair. It is well known they will kill their own kind.

One cage is one territory no matter what size it is. In your case an “established” territory that is claimed and owned by your existing birds. Birds don’t share territory.

Adding any other bird(s) to this environment is ripe for conflict, injury (or death), stress and anxiety. Without separation (unsupervised) your asking for a tragedy.

It’s all about environment. Always is. You want more birds. You need more environment.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I do have a flock, but I wouldn’t dare to keep them together! They’re all in separate cages. Even so, they’re fiercely protective towards each other over whatever is theirs (like me).

OP, in your situation, I think it’s very risky and wouldn’t do it. They're just too territorial. @JLcribber said it quite well.

 

[Anfsurfer]

Nice size cage for your Lovies! It’s absolutely big enough for two pairs. However, as John has stated, it’s been your Lovebirds territory for a long time and they would immediately go after any new birds placed in there. They would be relentless in getting them out. There would be no where for the new guys to escape it.
Why do you think your pair needs more Lovebirds? The noise would increase greatly if you added another pair as well. Just something to think about...
Your birds look very cute in their big mansion by the way.

 

[P+K's mom]

Thanks all- I wanted to get more birds to improve their social well-being but I guess it will have to wait until I can get an aviary! I would never put them at risk if it was not safe for them. Unfortunately I have several other species of animals in equally large cages so I couldn't get another large cage to house another pair for them to "talk to". I'm still in grad school (vet school actually) for a few more years but I am excited to one day have my own place with an aviary where my birds can fly and just be birds!