freshprincess87
Active member
Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum, although I have read through the threads a fair bit the past few weeks.
My partner and I have owned our baby lovebirds for about a month and a half now. Three (two green ones (Ashu and Asha) and the blue one with white/grey head (Ashi)) were purchased from a breeder. The blue one with a black head (Koko) was purchased at a pet shop. A bit of a short back story on them, Koko the blue black masked was purchased a few days after the other three. The two blue ones have bonded with each other, possibly because they were the only ones who knew how to fly at first therefore spent a lot of time together outside of their cages. Ashu the older green just recently learnt how to fly properly about two weeks ago, after trying a few times and being unsuccessful. Asha, baby green, has yet to learn how to fly, and when he (or she) tries, she basically flies to the ground all the time (has no height), but lately has been able to run faster than before when on the floor. They are not tame as they are all aviary bred, but they are starting to learn for example when its time to go back into the cage for dinner time and so on but they are still afraid of us a bit, but it is slowly getting better to the point where we can be close to the cage and they don't go rushing to the top of it. We were told at first that all three from the breeder were related to each other, but now we are being told Ashi (blue) isn't related to them, so it seems the two greens are siblings, and the two blues are unrelated to anyone.
1) How old do you think the lovebirds are by looking at them roughly? Could they be younger or older than the 3.5 months?
2) I was told that the three from the breeder were masked lovebirds, but now I am thinking they are fishers from all the research I have done online and photos I have seen, what do you think? Or are they possibly hybrids between the two?
3) This is the most important question I have, the youngest baby green Asha, recently has started growing a feather on the left side, that pokes out from the body. He (or she) pulls it out eventually as we find it at the bottom of the cage, however this has happened three times in the past week now and they seem to occur in the same place on the left. I will also mention with the flight feathers, they seem to be grown on the right side, but on the left side not, or if it is, it is growing very slowly. What could this feather be? And why hasn't his left flight feathers grown in yet? Before the feather poking out, the only concern I had was not being able to fly yet like the others.
I would like to also note we have been to the vet twice, to two different ones (the first time wasn't about the feathers poking out, rather it was because we were concerned about why he couldn't fly yet like his sibling). The 1st vet did a very quick examination, and said there is signs of injury on his wings, but that he will be fine and will develop well. The 2nd vet did a more thorough examination of the wings, and mentioned that they did look uneven in development and that she could possibly feel a cyst and that it was either a genetic disorder that occurred while still in the egg or a virus. But said it couldn't be determined accurately unless tests were done, but told us if he is only a pet bird and if we are not planning to breed, then to not worry about the tests and he will be fine as a pet. And this is our case as they are our pets, not intended for breeding. In my area the vets seem to specialise more in cats and dogs, I could not even see food for birds at the first vet, at the 2nd vet there was a bit of bird food for sale, and this vet did seem a little bit more knowledgeable than the first.
4) Asha does not like the blue black masked one at all. If Koko comes near, she will attempt to bite to make her go away. Ashu the elder green usually accepts the Koko when flying around the lounge room playing, but once back in the cages, defends her sibling as they are bonded to each other. Will the baby ever accept the black masked? When I observe them its almost as if Koko wants to be friends with everyone, but Asha doesnt want her friendship.
5) Sometimes late at night, I still hear one of the birds moving or climbing around the cage, is this normal? Do they sometimes go and drink some water then go back to sleep, or have a small snack from their bowls and back to sleep?
Apologies for my long novel of a post, I am just very concerned especially regarding the baby. They are our family now and we don't want anything to happen to them.
I have tried to attach photos to my post as well, they appear at the bottom as thumbnails. the three photos with only one green lovebird, is baby Asha, showing the feather sticking out in two of them and the flight feathers not being even. Single blue photo is of Ashi (with grey/white head), photo with the three of them has Ashu (green who knows how to fly), Ashi, and Koko (black masked).
Thank you everyone and I really hope to hear from anybody soon.
I am new to this forum, although I have read through the threads a fair bit the past few weeks.
My partner and I have owned our baby lovebirds for about a month and a half now. Three (two green ones (Ashu and Asha) and the blue one with white/grey head (Ashi)) were purchased from a breeder. The blue one with a black head (Koko) was purchased at a pet shop. A bit of a short back story on them, Koko the blue black masked was purchased a few days after the other three. The two blue ones have bonded with each other, possibly because they were the only ones who knew how to fly at first therefore spent a lot of time together outside of their cages. Ashu the older green just recently learnt how to fly properly about two weeks ago, after trying a few times and being unsuccessful. Asha, baby green, has yet to learn how to fly, and when he (or she) tries, she basically flies to the ground all the time (has no height), but lately has been able to run faster than before when on the floor. They are not tame as they are all aviary bred, but they are starting to learn for example when its time to go back into the cage for dinner time and so on but they are still afraid of us a bit, but it is slowly getting better to the point where we can be close to the cage and they don't go rushing to the top of it. We were told at first that all three from the breeder were related to each other, but now we are being told Ashi (blue) isn't related to them, so it seems the two greens are siblings, and the two blues are unrelated to anyone.
1) How old do you think the lovebirds are by looking at them roughly? Could they be younger or older than the 3.5 months?
2) I was told that the three from the breeder were masked lovebirds, but now I am thinking they are fishers from all the research I have done online and photos I have seen, what do you think? Or are they possibly hybrids between the two?
3) This is the most important question I have, the youngest baby green Asha, recently has started growing a feather on the left side, that pokes out from the body. He (or she) pulls it out eventually as we find it at the bottom of the cage, however this has happened three times in the past week now and they seem to occur in the same place on the left. I will also mention with the flight feathers, they seem to be grown on the right side, but on the left side not, or if it is, it is growing very slowly. What could this feather be? And why hasn't his left flight feathers grown in yet? Before the feather poking out, the only concern I had was not being able to fly yet like the others.
I would like to also note we have been to the vet twice, to two different ones (the first time wasn't about the feathers poking out, rather it was because we were concerned about why he couldn't fly yet like his sibling). The 1st vet did a very quick examination, and said there is signs of injury on his wings, but that he will be fine and will develop well. The 2nd vet did a more thorough examination of the wings, and mentioned that they did look uneven in development and that she could possibly feel a cyst and that it was either a genetic disorder that occurred while still in the egg or a virus. But said it couldn't be determined accurately unless tests were done, but told us if he is only a pet bird and if we are not planning to breed, then to not worry about the tests and he will be fine as a pet. And this is our case as they are our pets, not intended for breeding. In my area the vets seem to specialise more in cats and dogs, I could not even see food for birds at the first vet, at the 2nd vet there was a bit of bird food for sale, and this vet did seem a little bit more knowledgeable than the first.
4) Asha does not like the blue black masked one at all. If Koko comes near, she will attempt to bite to make her go away. Ashu the elder green usually accepts the Koko when flying around the lounge room playing, but once back in the cages, defends her sibling as they are bonded to each other. Will the baby ever accept the black masked? When I observe them its almost as if Koko wants to be friends with everyone, but Asha doesnt want her friendship.
5) Sometimes late at night, I still hear one of the birds moving or climbing around the cage, is this normal? Do they sometimes go and drink some water then go back to sleep, or have a small snack from their bowls and back to sleep?
Apologies for my long novel of a post, I am just very concerned especially regarding the baby. They are our family now and we don't want anything to happen to them.
I have tried to attach photos to my post as well, they appear at the bottom as thumbnails. the three photos with only one green lovebird, is baby Asha, showing the feather sticking out in two of them and the flight feathers not being even. Single blue photo is of Ashi (with grey/white head), photo with the three of them has Ashu (green who knows how to fly), Ashi, and Koko (black masked).
Thank you everyone and I really hope to hear from anybody soon.