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Pictures Lovebird crisis

birdlady87

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Hi fellow bird lovers!

I am new to post but have been a fan of Avian Avenue since the first time I brought home my first fid. I am in dire need of advice. I have two conures (bonded) and had a lovebird and a budgie (bonded). Unfortunately, my poor female budgie passed away recently and I am looking to adopt a mate for my male lovebird. He has been lonely and trying to hang out with the conures but they want nothing to do with him :( . I don't want to bring home another lovebird because of their flamboyant voice... I will never rehome my lovebird but I don't think my ears can handle two. My question is this- what other species will get along with a 4.5 years old lovebird. I am curious to see if a barred (lineoated) parrot or a Bourke's parrot will be ideal or not... I am open to a cockatiel or a larger parrot too but the sizing difference makes me nervous. I was thinking of finches but I feel like hookbills will be better suited for lovebirds. Help!
 

sunnysmom

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Welcome to the forum. Sorry for the loss of your budgie. There's no guarantee any two birds will like each other. Since your lovie liked a budgie, have you thought about another budgie? Some of our lovebird owners can better advise than me and I'm sure will be along soon.

@fluffypoptarts ?
 

TikiMyn

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There is no way of telling which bird Will get along, even if you have two of the same species they might fight Each other. So it is going to be a gamble either way! You can increase your chances however. Lovebirds are usually pretty terretorial and housed with less agressive birds like bourkes and cockatiels could mean the death of the latter two. I did have a lovie and Tiel that were friends in a room, but they were never caged and could always fly away. Plus my lovie was not the most terretorial and they met when the lovie was 1,5(not really sure, but he was pretty young) years old, the Tiels age was unknown but he was old. The Tiel was present from day one and he had already ‘claimed’ the space so he couldn’t defend his territory because he didn’t have any yet. I think that are Some factors that helped.
I am not sure what advice to give you, is your lovie territorial? Does he have a big temper? Is he set off easily?
 

birdlady87

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@sunnysmom - Thank you for the welcome! @TikiMyn and sunnysmom- I am nervous about the exact issue of not getting along. You guys are right, there is no way of telling. I had to go back and forth when I got my second conure and understood the weight of the possibility of having to divide my attention between the two. I was lucky enough that they hit it off but they still sleep in separate cages and they claimed specific times of day to hang out with me. My lovvie is not tamed which was ok when my budgie was with him. They did their own thing inside and out of their cage. But I have seen big changes with my lovie now that he is alone. He was a territorial bird before and I have seen him defend his cage when my conure came around. Now all he wants to do is hang out with them... I don't know whether it's because he is lonely and whether this will change when the new birb comes. I have to keep them under strict supervision at the moment 'cause my conures don't want to be with him. They tolerate him from a distance and doesn't put an effort into chasing him but they do get annoyed with him once he comes too close. I am at a loss :(
 

TikiMyn

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@sunnysmom - Thank you for the welcome! @TikiMyn and sunnysmom- I am nervous about the exact issue of not getting along. You guys are right, there is no way of telling. I had to go back and forth when I got my second conure and understood the weight of the possibility of having to divide my attention between the two. I was lucky enough that they hit it off but they still sleep in separate cages and they claimed specific times of day to hang out with me. My lovvie is not tamed which was ok when my budgie was with him. They did their own thing inside and out of their cage. But I have seen big changes with my lovie now that he is alone. He was a territorial bird before and I have seen him defend his cage when my conure came around. Now all he wants to do is hang out with them... I don't know whether it's because he is lonely and whether this will change when the new birb comes. I have to keep them under strict supervision at the moment 'cause my conures don't want to be with him. They tolerate him from a distance and doesn't put an effort into chasing him but they do get annoyed with him once he comes too close. I am at a loss :(
I don’t know if this helps but when I brought home a second lovie, noise remained about the same. Sometimes they make noise together, but in general there is not a lot of more noise(I think, I don’t mind themvocalizing and sometimes I just ‘block it out’ and don’t even notice. Whatever second bird you take home, I would introduce them veeeery slowly, and with lots of positive reinforcement to have the biggest chance of succeeding. I think your best bet is another lovie male, but as you Said that could not work out as well, and if you can’t tolerate their noises that Will do none of you any good either. I have heard Some people say their birds become quieter with a friend, but also the opposite. I think it really is a shot in the dark sadly, but I think someone with more experience might come along and give Some better advice!
 

sunnysmom

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I think generally lovies do better with another bird. So even if the new bird wasn't "bonded" to him, at least he'd have another buddy. I think I would think about another lovie or budgie..........
 

finchly

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I had a lovie and parrotlet pair once.
 

birdlady87

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@TikiMyn @sunnysmom @finchly -Yeah, it's a toss-up. I made the mistake of going into Craigslist today and right away found a budgie that is being given away because the owner married and the spouse has a cat...(?!) So, for a year the birb has no interaction with the owner and is locked up in cage :( Fingers crossed, they will be ok. My partner and I have agreed to give it a shot since he had a budgie mate before and if this doesn't work out, at least he will have company and the budgie will have some fly time :).
 

Tiel Feathers

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Welcome to AA, and I’m sorry for the loss of your bird. Congratulations on the new budgie though, and I hope everything goes well! Keep us posted!
 

sunnysmom

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@TikiMyn @sunnysmom @finchly -Yeah, it's a toss-up. I made the mistake of going into Craigslist today and right away found a budgie that is being given away because the owner married and the spouse has a cat...(?!) So, for a year the birb has no interaction with the owner and is locked up in cage :( Fingers crossed, they will be ok. My partner and I have agreed to give it a shot since he had a budgie mate before and if this doesn't work out, at least he will have company and the budgie will have some fly time :).
I think it's great that you're helping this bird. My cockatiel came to us when he was 15 and we think had very little out of cage time, if at all. It took a little while for him come out of his cage and be comfortable being away from his cage, but once he gained his confidence, he was the sweetest bird ever. I bet your little bird will be too. :)
 

iamwhoiam

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Welcome to AA. Sorry for the loss of your budgie. No predictability if another bird will get along with your lovebird.
Hope things work out with the new budgie and thank you for taking him/her into your home.
 

Garet

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I think going with another budgie might be the best. Guzma had bonded to a tiel who passed away before I got him. Seven years later, he came home with me and he immediately bonded with Mimikyu to the point where he completely ignores my hormonal female lovebirds.

ETA: Having multiple lovebirds also doesn't necessarily mean extra noise. I find my lovebirds are quieter with other lovebirds. I hope things work out with the budgie you found, though!
 

birdlady87

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@Lady Jane - Thank you for sending the link! That is very exciting indeed! @iamwhoiam- Thanks! I am excited! @Garet- Wow! They seem like a fun pair. Miracle (lovebird) has been a talker even when his mate was around so we fear that he will teach the others his way. Since we (the humans) are a little wary of the result of another lovie, I am going to stay away from one for the time being...Maybe in the future when I have a bigger place for my birds, I can welcome more to my flock! @sunnysmom- The lady said she used to have him outside before she got married to the cat guy and he is used to stepping up to guests and such so I am hoping to acclimate him back to what he was used to. Fingers crossed he does!
 

Garet

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@birdlady87 If you're wary of another lovebird, then I think you should listen to what your gut's saying and get a different type of bird. I love having a house full of lovies, personally, but it's not for everyone.
Just be sure to have a second cage for your keet just in case they don't get along. I was really lucky with Guz and Mims. Most of my lovebirds do get along with her and don't bully her one bit, but I do have to keep Yen separate from her and Guz. I don't want to scare you, but I have to keep a good eye on Yen as she loves going after her tailfeathers. Yen will also bully Guzie, too, but he seems to know to just fly off when she starts getting too close. It's not a daily occurrence, since they mainly keep to opposite sides of the room, but bullying and aggression does happen. If I'm not here, Guzma and Mimikyu have the basement while Yen has my room. It's something you should prepare for as well, though you can always just keep them in their cages where they can hear and talk to eachother.
 

birdlady87

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@Garet- All good ideas. I do have a separate cage for the keet and if it doesn't work out, then they will be in their cages when I am at work or out but next to each other. Fingers crossed!
 
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