New to love birds, how to introduce?

[Marnies' mom]

i have had Willie (peach face) about a week now.
i have been miserable since i lost my IRN Bette (she has been missing a month)
and longed to hear joyful noise in my house again. so i adopted this little lovey from our local parrot rescue. he is so very quiet, never hear much out of him at all. i know he is missing the comanionship of the other lovies he was housed with.
so i am adopting another peach face tomorrow, sex unknown.
how do i introduce them? i see multiple loveys housed together in pet stores so i suppose they like to be with their own kind. i want Willie to have a friend to keep him company. all the stores i called did not know the sex of their love birds. how the heck can you sell them if you don't even know their sex?
anyways, i can't wait to present Wille with a new friend, but am not quite sure how to go about it.
so once they are together for a couple days, what do i look for in the behavior of the new one to determine its sex?
i would like to have 2 boys to be best buds.
i have lots of bird experience but never had love birds before.
they are quite the little charmers.
any advice would be appreciated
Joan

 

[Anfsurfer]

all the stores i called did not know the sex of their love birds. how the heck can you sell them if you don't even know their sex?

Lovebirds are VERY RARELY sold sexed. For what they cost, it's not worth it for the sellers to have them DNA'd. A lot of sellers will allow you to have a specific bird DNA'd at your expense if you really need to know before purchasing.

I've done all my introducing in the "Side by Side" carrier method. Only once did I have a pair that just couldn't get along and were never housed together. All other times after a day or two of sleeping next to each other through the carrier walls they're ready for a cage together.

 

[Marnies' mom]

thank you for the info. the new "guy" came in a small cage (13x10x21high) he was housed in with another that had been sold a while back. i can't imagine 2 in such a small cage!
this little one is called levi. he is in love with his mirror! Willie was most excited to hear another lovey and there was quite a bit of chatter going on. they were side by side for a while and very curious to meet so i put his swing and mirror in willies big cage and introduced them. they are best buds already, preening each other in front of the mirror.
its so cute. willie also likes levis' round swing.
so it looks like a good match. levi loves his new big cage with lots of perches and swings and
willie likes his new buddy. i can barely tell them apart though.......
levi is smaller and his peach is a little brighter.

 

[Anfsurfer]

That's great news. Congratulations!