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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly about Lovebirds

fluffypoptarts

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@Bill Wright Yes, they should be covered at night regardless.
 

Bill Wright

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Good Morning.....one more question. Realizing these birds are a couple of months old, is it characteristic of them to be so skittish of every little movement? They are eating and drinking very well and seem to be very happy. We hand raised our Cremson Conues and hell they want to be with you all of the time, I have a feeling this may have a big impact as to the difference in the Peachface.
 

fluffypoptarts

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@Bill Wright Lovebirds sometimes take a while to trust and bond with people. Their background will play a part in determining just how close they're willing to be (how they were raised and how much interaction they had with people).

Once you earn their trust and love, though, most of them become Velcro birds (more the males - the females tend to be less snuggly).
 

fluffypoptarts

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At what age do these birds begin to mate?
I've read that they're sexually mature at around 8 months, but that breeding should not be attempted until they're over a year. Are you breeding them/desiring tons of baby lovebirds?
 

Bill Wright

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To be honest with you we were told these birds were 3 months old, however I am seeing some mating attempts already. I do not know what we have. I guess we should be prepared for anything at this point.

Thank you for giving me some perspective as to the age of these birds.

Will work with what we have........They are very sweet birds.
 

ergunm

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My hen started interest in mating around 4 months old. Now they are 5 and 8 months old, and I sometimes still see mating attempts. But as fluffypoptarts mentioned they are actually not mature enough, and as I can see they are not able to successfully mate yet. but still I never live them together too long because if somehow they can mate it will not be good for hen, and the eggs will most probaly be infertile as I heard.
 

Garet

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From my short experience with them;

The Good: They are adorable, lively balls of fluff who will quickly worm their way into your heart with their silly antics. They're fairly easy to keep happy if you have a bunch of stuff for them to do and love to interact with you. You will fall in love with them regardless of anything else posted after this.

The Bad: They will ignore all the fancy bird baths and water dishes you buy them. If you have a glass they like, that's now their bath. They don't care how thirsty you are, they must get in there first. Also they will beep incessantly at you until you hold your glass up to their perch so they can have a drink. Your mother will become obsessed with them, and she will constantly ask to hold him whenever you leave a room, regardless if you have him with you. No arguments will sway her, you will have to spend the next couple of minutes chasing the bird down and bringing him to your mom, who will then proceed to scream and ask you 'what gizmo's doing' for the next 20 minutes. Your mom will know his name's Guzma, she just won't care and will only let you take him after he poops on her shoulder.

Lovebirds don't care if it's bedtime. They know when it's time for bed and will do everything to avoid going to bed. This includes flying around the house, finding new tiny hiding places, pacing back and forth and squeaking at you miserably until you give up and give them yet another five more minutes.

They also enjoy biting fingers (except when they don't), eating your food, chasing the other birds away from the millet, hunting your dogs like an eagle hunting rabbits, and biting your dad.

The Ugly: Poop. These little stinkers know you set up a towel under their playbranch for them to poop on, but no. They will insist on flying onto your computer monitor and will stare you dead in the eye while they poop on it.
 

TheOddFlock

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In my experience, Jordan, Good? Do those words even go together? No they don't, unless there is an "Isn't" in between them. :lol:Although there are a couple things...

The Good: she keeps me in routine. I'm not sure if all lovebirds are like that, but Jordan is. If one little thing is out of place she will blame me and I will get nipped, which teaches me to stay on schedule with their feedings, out-of-cage time, cleanings, and other things. Yes, I am listing that as Good. She acts as if she has OCD!!!!!

The bad: loud screams. Unlike some birds, Jordan goes to bed willingly, she does everything according to routine, but that won't stop her from screaming at the top of her lungs at the break of dawn! Covered or not, she will scream!

The ugly: Escape artist! Jordan is an escape artist! She has found ways to get out of her cage, luckily she hasn't learned how to open doors...yet.
 

fluffypoptarts

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@Garet I laughed so hard I almost cried! :laughin:

Their fearlessness towards other animals can go under the BAD - make sure you keep your brave little lovie away from the dogs!
 

Garet

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@Garet I laughed so hard I almost cried! :laughin:

Their fearlessness towards other animals can go under the BAD - make sure you keep your brave little lovie away from the dogs!
I do my best with him. This little stinker learned to follow the yorkie up the stairs. If he sees him standing there, he'll fly back and forth between the computer and the stairs, then flap from step to step while chasing him up and trying to keep from being caught by me.
 

fluffypoptarts

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@Garet You really do need to keep him separated from the dog for his own safety. You’d feel terrible if he died, right? But he’s at high risk for precisely that if he’s out with the dog (or any other predator).
 

Garet

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@fluffypoptarts I know. The dogs are usually on a different floor. They really only come to the stairs when they want to go outside to play, which is when he chases them out. I don't let them play together. It's not a constantly in the same room sort of deal. It's a sometimes he sees the dogs and goes into murder mode thing.
 

Jo C

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Hi! I'm really interested in Lovebirds because they seem really sweet and cute birds, but I've never had a bird before. Is it a bad idea? Also, I had Mandarine birds as a child and they used to poop and throw seeds out of the cage all the time, the floor was really dirty in a two meter radius around the cage. Will I have the same problem with lovebirds/ any bird?
 

Garet

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Hi! I'm really interested in Lovebirds because they seem really sweet and cute birds, but I've never had a bird before. Is it a bad idea? Also, I had Mandarine birds as a child and they used to poop and throw seeds out of the cage all the time, the floor was really dirty in a two meter radius around the cage. Will I have the same problem with lovebirds/ any bird?
I don't think it's a bad idea as long as you do your research and are prepared for some painful bites. Lovebirds are very stubborn and love to chew and get into everything.

Some lovebirds can be very messy. Two of my six are toilet trained, but I still find food and poops everywhere. Mine aren't as bad as my tiel, but a few like to make pellet, poop and paper soup in their water dishes, which is very gross to clean in the morning.
 

TikiMyn

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Hi! I'm really interested in Lovebirds because they seem really sweet and cute birds, but I've never had a bird before. Is it a bad idea? Also, I had Mandarine birds as a child and they used to poop and throw seeds out of the cage all the time, the floor was really dirty in a two meter radius around the cage. Will I have the same problem with lovebirds/ any bird?
All birds will be messy, you won't believe how the floor of my room looks after a day of particular bad destruction and I have just two lovies(they have the run of the whole room 24/7 though). Seeds are easy to clean but fruit and veggies can be trickier in my experience. If you do your research and are aware of their needs, like lots of fun toys, foraging opportunities, avian vet care, their noise, how to treat them(as in respect etc.) and devoted to your birds I don't think there is a problem:)
 
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