Hello everyone, this is my second post on this beautiful forum. I have a large planted aviary in Southern Italy with 11 happy lovebirds (3 new born). I am facing a dilemma on whether or not I should place hiding spots / high shelves for my lovebirds.
At the moment they still have nests since one of the pairs had 3 little babies that are now fully grown. I am going to leave the nests for another week but then I would like to remove them since I feel one of the female is ready to lay again and I would like to avoid that. On the internet there are very different opinions about nests and shelters. Many say that nests are only for reproduction and that they are not needed at all time. That may be true for birds kept indoor but mine live outside where at night they are visited by predators such as owls, foxes and cats. Last year one of my birds had a leg ripped off by a predator as she was probably sleeping holding on the wire (she has fully recovered!) . In order to prevent that I have placed canes all over the taller part of the aviary. Since I have put the nest some months ago they have all started sleeping inside at night as they probably feel much safer but now I dont really know what to do. I'm afraid the canes may not be enough as predators tend to scare them and make them fly all over the aviary untill they can reach them. What would you do in order to help them feel safe at night but without having females laying eggs? Are there ways or ideas for creating hiding spots without stimulating the reproduction?
Thank you all in advance for your help.
At the moment they still have nests since one of the pairs had 3 little babies that are now fully grown. I am going to leave the nests for another week but then I would like to remove them since I feel one of the female is ready to lay again and I would like to avoid that. On the internet there are very different opinions about nests and shelters. Many say that nests are only for reproduction and that they are not needed at all time. That may be true for birds kept indoor but mine live outside where at night they are visited by predators such as owls, foxes and cats. Last year one of my birds had a leg ripped off by a predator as she was probably sleeping holding on the wire (she has fully recovered!) . In order to prevent that I have placed canes all over the taller part of the aviary. Since I have put the nest some months ago they have all started sleeping inside at night as they probably feel much safer but now I dont really know what to do. I'm afraid the canes may not be enough as predators tend to scare them and make them fly all over the aviary untill they can reach them. What would you do in order to help them feel safe at night but without having females laying eggs? Are there ways or ideas for creating hiding spots without stimulating the reproduction?
Thank you all in advance for your help.
