Introducing lovebirds to each other

I have one that I hand fed,Saffron - she is about 11 weeks old. She has been in a cage by herself, with daily handling. She had a really sweet disposition, and very friendly.

We picked up 3 more lovebirds (7 weeks now) and a parrotlet a couple of weeks ago. I kept the smaller ones in a separate cage, since they were all still being hand fed, and the size differences worried me. I kept the cages side by side.

I tried slowly introducing Saffron to the younger ones by putting her in their cage for just a few minutes at a time. She pecks a lot, so she got removed immediately every time. I tried mixing up the territory a bit by switching birds / cages, so that Saffron would not feel as if she "owned" every corner of the cage I planned to keep all of the lovebirds in. I left them in the different cages for a week. The younger lovebirds are all great together, and the parrotlet thinks she is one of them.

I tried introducing Saffron to them all again today, and I honestly believe her aggressiveness is intensifying. Everything belongs to her, she won't allow them to eat, they can't sit on the perch, it was just total chaos. I even covered the cage for a bit to see if a good nap might make everyone feel better, but she was terrible once I uncovered it. The young ones are just now getting their adventurous personalities, and are taming well - I don't believe for one minute they were hand fed before I got them. I don't want Saffron to stress them out when they are adjusting so well.

It's not the end of the world if I can't have the 4 of them together, I will just pick up another cage for the parrotlet, since I believe she will eventually need to be moved.

Just wondering, am I doing something wrong? Is there too much age difference between them? Any better ideas?

We have both lovebirds and parrotlets in our family and I wouldn't ever try to house them together. The parrotlets are a LOT more aggressive and aren't all that crazy about lovebirds. The lovebirds, being larger, could do a lot of damage to a smaller parrotlet, too. Females, particularly, get pretty assertive as they mature.

More of a concern, I hope the new lovebirds were tested and QT'd before bringing into your flock. Lovebirds are known carriers of PBFD and can be carrying the virus and look totally fine. Lovebirds are my very favorite parrot and I have several but I always test them (twice) and QT them before bringing them into my home.

I do plan to get another cage and separate out the parrotlet as soon as they get a little bigger. They all came from the same place and are being hand fed, and as of right now, they get along just fine. Just didn't plan on having to house my older lovebird separately. I thought I would eventually be able to integrate them, and maybe I will, but for now it isn't looking good. The older one is too territorial of everything, including food, and I don't want to risk the smaller ones getting hurt. Although they are the same age, the parrotlet is half the size of the lovebirds. I have not witnessed any aggression whatsoever between the four of them, but do plan to separate them, anyway.

They were tested once, just a couple of weeks before I got them. Why should they be tested a second time? They were QTd for one week before I got them, and 1 week after I got them. I have been very careful with feeding utensils, etc. Their feathers are perfect, their health seems perfect, as well - clear eyes, great appetites - all are eating seed, millet and veggies, as well as being hand fed formula. Hopefully, all is well.

Any tips on introducing my older lovebird to the younger ones?

What about laying out a towel, then spreading food and millet over the towel and plopping the birds down on the towel to eat together as a flock?

That's a good idea! It seems all of my common sense is out the window these days. I really want to get the parrotlet to her own cage and away from the lovebirds. I can easily go get another cage, but just want everyone to get along!

I will try this today! And will welcome any other suggestions, as well.

Wish I could say that I've made progress with this over the week, but I haven't.

The parrotlet is in his own cage. (He's a handsome tiny dilute blue and probably the most aggressive of my babies.)

Saffron, the older lovebird at 12 weeks, is just a flat out bully. I am starting to believe she will never be able to be in with the others. I have tried everything - keeping cages side by side, letting her interact with the others individually while I have them out, feeding them millet together on the towel, switching up cages trying to blur territories...

The size differences aren't much at all at this point, my younger ones are growing fast. She's just impossible! The first thing she does when I put her with them is start picking at their feet if they are on a perch or swing. Within 2 minutes, she has the 3 of them cowering in the corner and then just literally goes and stands on top of them. It's not just typical squabbles like I see between my younger 3, Saffron is relentless.

So, I guess I'm going to have to resolve myself to having another bird cage around with a single bird in it. (It's a shame I can't keep her and that bossy little parrotlet together!)

Do you think any of this might change as they all get older, or is there something else I can do to make Saffron behave? Don't get me wrong, she's great with us humans. She's comical and busy and prancing all over the keyboard as I type. Occasionally she will bite my nose if she feels neglected. Did she bond with humans too much by being hand raised by herself?

It's possible she's like this because she was raised alone.... since birds raised with clutch mates typically get along better with other birds. This isn't always true! But higher chance that a bird would get along well with others if raised with other birds.


Now, just because she's like this now doesn't mean that she can't or wont change later on. Maybe the younger ones are just too young right now and they need time to grow up and mature? And once they are all adults, maybe they can get along? It's hard to say for sure right now.