themacinjosh
New member
- Mar 8, 2012
- 43
- 0
I just got a peach-faced lovebird a few days ago, and she (we are waiting DNA test but think it's a she) is absolutely wonderful. She is very young, just done being weaned and was hand-fed by the breeder. We've got a great bond going, but I'm very worried. I just finished getting rid of all the things that might be hazardous to her, like air wicks and switching to PTFE pots and pans and all. We're living in a downstairs of a house and the air down here smells like old house smell, it's dusty and dry which I'm trying to improve.
Here's what I'm concerned most about, and since it's been quite some time since I've owned a bird, I'm not sure what's "normal" (first time with a lovebird too)...basically i've noticed a few times a day she kind of sneezes, or snorts (no discharge, just notice little sneezes). She preens quite a bit, and sometimes itches her head really fast with one of her feet while preening. During the day, she'll be content just sitting on my shoulder, occasionally gets bursts of energy and wants to explore...but then at night, after dark but still at around 7 or 8, she starts getting really restless. Just can't find a comfortable place to be, tries to borrow in tight areas in our clothing, and it's almost impossible to handle her cause she just keeps moving and squirming. Eventually we just decided to put her in her cage for the night, with the cover on....and when doing that she settles down and goes to sleep very nicely. As far as I know, sleeps the whole night. Except for one night i noticed she woke up, chirped, sneezed and went back to sleep.
Does this sound like typical behavior for a lovebird in an area of kind of dry air and dust? When I google 'restless lovebird at night' i get a bunch of results suggesting mites being an issue.
I know birds mask their illness really well, but i'm not noticing any other signs of problems, feathers look good, eyes look good (I think, again, it's hard to tell what the norm is after only a few days of being with her!). I'd appreciate your opinions based on your experience!
**I should add, I just bought a thermometer with a humidity gauge and it looks like we're just on the dry side of normal in this room, so it's not TERRIBLY dry but we have a wall heater in here to try and keep the temperature warmer and that makes it dryer.
**Also just noticed I said PTFE pots and pans, i meant PTFE *free* pots and pans. haha. yikes.
Here's what I'm concerned most about, and since it's been quite some time since I've owned a bird, I'm not sure what's "normal" (first time with a lovebird too)...basically i've noticed a few times a day she kind of sneezes, or snorts (no discharge, just notice little sneezes). She preens quite a bit, and sometimes itches her head really fast with one of her feet while preening. During the day, she'll be content just sitting on my shoulder, occasionally gets bursts of energy and wants to explore...but then at night, after dark but still at around 7 or 8, she starts getting really restless. Just can't find a comfortable place to be, tries to borrow in tight areas in our clothing, and it's almost impossible to handle her cause she just keeps moving and squirming. Eventually we just decided to put her in her cage for the night, with the cover on....and when doing that she settles down and goes to sleep very nicely. As far as I know, sleeps the whole night. Except for one night i noticed she woke up, chirped, sneezed and went back to sleep.
Does this sound like typical behavior for a lovebird in an area of kind of dry air and dust? When I google 'restless lovebird at night' i get a bunch of results suggesting mites being an issue.
I know birds mask their illness really well, but i'm not noticing any other signs of problems, feathers look good, eyes look good (I think, again, it's hard to tell what the norm is after only a few days of being with her!). I'd appreciate your opinions based on your experience!
**I should add, I just bought a thermometer with a humidity gauge and it looks like we're just on the dry side of normal in this room, so it's not TERRIBLY dry but we have a wall heater in here to try and keep the temperature warmer and that makes it dryer.
**Also just noticed I said PTFE pots and pans, i meant PTFE *free* pots and pans. haha. yikes.
Last edited: