Buying a cage for two not so friendly Lovebirds

NaomiBlue

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May 13, 2020
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Hi everyone. A bit of background I am a new Bird Parent. Rescued two lovebirds from family because of the way the were being kept. Rescued Kiwi a month or two back and Jojo last week. i dont have any knowledge on birds and i honestly dont have a lot of time. I work 12 hours a day. But i am determined to give my best to Kiwi and Jojo.

Right now Kiwi and Jojo are in two smallish cages. The pet shop had sold it to me saying it was enough. but after much research i think they need a bigger cage. So my issue is. when i put kiwi and jojo together, they do not seem to get alone. The vet thinks both are male but we didnt do any DNA testing. Kiwi is slightly bigger than Jojo and when they are together Kiwi appears to be biting Jojo so much so that Jojo is quite skittish when they are together and moves away so fast that he has fallen down a couple of times. I admit i didnt do a proper job of introducing them.

My problem is i need to urgently buy a bigger bird cage. But with this situation do i get two individual cages or one bigger cage. Will they never become close? i have now put their cages near each other and they are quite chatty. i cannot afford to keep buying cages. so i need to find the right fit for at least for the next year or so.

Any advice is much welcome. Thank you :)
 

charmedbyekkie

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May 24, 2018
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Cairo the Ekkie!
Two individual cages. They may never become close. If you force them into the same cage, they may hurt (or even kill) each other. Play it safe, especially since you know their relationship isn't great. Even birds who are friendly and preen each other don't necessarily share a cage - you don't want to share a room with everyone, even if that person is your best friend.
 

LaManuka

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Yep definitely two separate cages. Just because two birds are of the same species doesn’t guarantee they’ll get along. Plus you then virtually eliminate any complications that may arise from a potential unwanted pregnancy.

Well done you for stepping in and offering these two lovies a chance at a better life! There’s plenty of info here and lots of lovebird lovers who will be only to happy to help :)
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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2 , as stated by everyone else. ESPECIALLY if you don't want to keep buying cages.
 
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NaomiBlue

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May 13, 2020
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Thank you everyone for your feedback. I am so very grateful for your responses and advice. Glad to have found this forum. I have been really anxious the past couple of weeks seeing Jojo and Kiwi and just knowing that they are not happy in their tiny cages. Especially after reading on how smart these birds are and how they live in the wild.

As advised I will buy two cages. The biggest i can find right now is 60cm (L) x 40cm (H) x 40 cm (W). The cage is a little smaller than the size i am looking for (60x60x40). But it is stainless steel. Next is setting up the cage and buying them the toys and finally getting them to trust me. Feel it is going to be a long journey but i hope to make it work.
 

LaManuka

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Fang ({ab}normal grey cockatiel), Valentino (budgie), Jem (cinnamon cockatiel), Lovejoy(varied lorikeet), Peach (princess parrot)
Ooh stainless steel is awesome, I have those for my littlies and they actually really like them. Are you buying brand new or pre-loved? Either way its best to give them a good clean before use, even if brand new, to get rid of any residue from previous use or from the manufacturing process.

Trust building can take time, lots of time ... so you definitely want to take it at the birds' pace. You may find the following resource useful...

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Don't forget to give us a progress report and post some pics when you get a chance, we love baby photos here :)
 

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