Grieving lovebird only eating millet

[freshprincess87]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted about my sweet baby asha lovebird passing away almost two weeks ago. Her cage mate and best friend and sister, Ashu, won’t eat anything except millet seeds now. I’m quite concerned. Her cage is between two others now so that she’s surrounded by others. She talks and is active. She used to eat varieties of seed. Especially hulled oats. But since asha passed, she doesn’t. Just wondering if anyone has advice on how to help her? I’m worried about her only eating millet. I feel it mightn’t be healthy for her. Most of the birds like millet the most but most of them also have one or two other favourite seeds too that they eat. How often do you provide fruits or vegetables to your birds? We currently give it once a week. Should I increase this for ashu? I remember when we first got the lovebirds we provided vegetables more often but I think we had heard it’s not good every day so we went down to twice or once a week instead. The lovebirds don’t like fruit and prefer their vegetables. I don’t know how long she will grieve for. I’m still grieving myself. And concerned for the rest of the lovebirds especially ashu. They’ve been together since they were born. Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted about my sweet baby asha lovebird passing away almost two weeks ago. Her cage mate and best friend and sister, Ashu, won’t eat anything except millet seeds now. I’m quite concerned. Her cage is between two others now so that she’s surrounded by others. She talks and is active. She used to eat varieties of seed. Especially hulled oats. But since asha passed, she doesn’t. Just wondering if anyone has advice on how to help her? I’m worried about her only eating millet. I feel it mightn’t be healthy for her. Most of the birds like millet the most but most of them also have one or two other favourite seeds too that they eat. How often do you provide fruits or vegetables to your birds? We currently give it once a week. Should I increase this for ashu? I remember when we first got the lovebirds we provided vegetables more often but I think we had heard it’s not good every day so we went down to twice or once a week instead. The lovebirds don’t like fruit and prefer their vegetables. I don’t know how long she will grieve for. I’m still grieving myself. And concerned for the rest of the lovebirds especially ashu. They’ve been together since they were born. Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

Poor Ashu, she must be grieving a lot.

Vegetables should definitely be given everyday, they're not unhealthy at all and if she's eating mainly seeds then she needs vegetables for the nutrients seeds can't provide. Does she have any favourite vegetables? Does she eat any pellets? Unless she goes outside she won't be getting any Vitamin D so she'll need pellets or an avian lamp.

 

[freshprincess87]

Poor Ashu, she must be grieving a lot.

Vegetables should definitely be given everyday, they're not unhealthy at all and if she's eating mainly seeds then she needs vegetables for the nutrients seeds can't provide. Does she have any favourite vegetables? Does she eat any pellets? Unless she goes outside she won't be getting any Vitamin D so she'll need pellets or an avian lamp.

Thank you for replying. I think she is still grieving a lot. They’ve had their whole life together. Even when in seperate cages they were always right next to each other at all times. She does have her favourite vegetables. She likes celery and corn. I caught her eating some spinach last week though which I thought was good. And I fed her a small piece last night too incase she didn’t have much of it. She doesn’t eat pellets. None of the birds do except the two conures. We’ve tried for years to get them to try to eat pellets but they just never liked it. But the conures love it. It’s interesting as I think pellets saved one of the conures life in 2018. She was unwell and I had been messaging with an avian vet via JustAnswer and they had mentioned pellets and we thought ok let’s see what happens if she has pellets and her and her friend LOVED them. I was surprised. They would hold the little pellets with their feet and devour them. We do have some bags of pellets here but it’s still only the conures that eat them. She also had medicine from a local vet too but I still think the pellets also helped her with her nutrients. Also I noticed a red crimson belly conure in your photo? Is he/she quite noisy? One here is a red crimson too (Rico), her friend is nico a green cheek. Rico can be really noisy at times.

Back to ashu, I can’t remember why we stopped giving vegetables regularly. I think my partner had heard or was told that it can give them diarrhoea but I’m not sure. When asha hurt her left side of her face earlier this year I mashed up some corn and gave it to her and ashu everyday for awhile until I could see her able to peel her seeds again and eat without feeling pain.

They don’t go outside so they likely don’t get enough vitamin d either. I think increasing vegetable intake for awhile might be the way to go for now. I just hope ashu will be ok. She’s had watery poops for a few years now. She’s a strong girl. I suspect too much sugar earlier on may have caused that but im not sure. We used to give them seed honey sticks to eat from but stopped it a long time ago but I don’t know if she ate too much from that back then. But she’s thrived since then.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Thank you for replying. I think she is still grieving a lot. They’ve had their whole life together. Even when in seperate cages they were always right next to each other at all times. She does have her favourite vegetables. She likes celery and corn. I caught her eating some spinach last week though which I thought was good. And I fed her a small piece last night too incase she didn’t have much of it. She doesn’t eat pellets. None of the birds do except the two conures. We’ve tried for years to get them to try to eat pellets but they just never liked it. But the conures love it. It’s interesting as I think pellets saved one of the conures life in 2018. She was unwell and I had been messaging with an avian vet via JustAnswer and they had mentioned pellets and we thought ok let’s see what happens if she has pellets and her and her friend LOVED them. I was surprised. They would hold the little pellets with their feet and devour them. We do have some bags of pellets here but it’s still only the conures that eat them. She also had medicine from a local vet too but I still think the pellets also helped her with her nutrients. Also I noticed a red crimson belly conure in your photo? Is he/she quite noisy? One here is a red crimson too (Rico), her friend is nico a green cheek. Rico can be really noisy at times.

Back to ashu, I can’t remember why we stopped giving vegetables regularly. I think my partner had heard or was told that it can give them diarrhoea but I’m not sure. When asha hurt her left side of her face earlier this year I mashed up some corn and gave it to her and ashu everyday for awhile until I could see her able to peel her seeds again and eat without feeling pain.

They don’t go outside so they likely don’t get enough vitamin d either. I think increasing vegetable intake for awhile might be the way to go for now. I just hope ashu will be ok. She’s had watery poops for a few years now. She’s a strong girl. I suspect too much sugar earlier on may have caused that but im not sure. We used to give them seed honey sticks to eat from but stopped it a long time ago but I don’t know if she ate too much from that back then. But she’s thrived since then.

You can also get vitamin supplements as a powder that can be sprinkled on their food so that may be a good idea if she won't eat pellets. If she's low on vitamins that would make her feel worse. I would definitely give her the vegetables she likes as that might help cheer her up as well. It's good that the conures like the pellets, they seem to like almost everything!

That is a crimson bellied conure, one of my first birds, Tequila! She and the cockatiel, Malibu, grew up together and hate to be apart even though they both have mates of their own species. Tequila can be very noisy and demanding. Everywhere I look says that crimson bellied conures are very quiet but she's much louder than my gcc. Do your conures get on well?

 

[freshprincess87]

You can also get vitamin supplements as a powder that can be sprinkled on their food so that may be a good idea if she won't eat pellets. If she's low on vitamins that would make her feel worse. I would definitely give her the vegetables she likes as that might help cheer her up as well. It's good that the conures like the pellets, they seem to like almost everything!

That is a crimson bellied conure, one of my first birds, Tequila! She and the cockatiel, Malibu, grew up together and hate to be apart even though they both have mates of their own species. Tequila can be very noisy and demanding. Everywhere I look says that crimson bellied conures are very quiet but she's much louder than my gcc. Do your conures get on well?

Thanks for that. I’m not sure if she will eat the vitamin powders or liquids in her food. But I have seen them down here in pet shops. But she will definitely get vegetables more regularly. Today she and her friends got vegetables again. The larger parrots got a bit too but more fruit as they seem to prefer fruits. I have been checking on the lovebirds regularly, especially ashu. The last time I checked she was dipping something in her water. They like to make soup out of their waters. It’s been two weeks since asha passed. It still feels like yesterday. I hand fed ashu a sunflower seed yesterday. The day before a safflower seed. And I saw her go and peel another. But still only mostly eating millet.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read up on conures on the web but it’s likely that I might have come across the same information as you. Tequila sounds similar to Rico here. Always noisy and demanding. Well not always. Usually in the morning and late afternoon nowadays. There have been weeks when she would keep shouting all day and weeks where she’ll just shout here and there. Or if I go in the room to check on everyone she goes to the bottom of her cage and starts making noise and does a funny tapping thing with one of her legs. I guess she’s excited. I admit, the medium-larger parrots here cause me a lot of stress. I was quite annoyed when the partner brought them here. They came at different times but I personally would have been fine with just lovebirds and more quieter varieties of birds. Well not quiet, but softer sounding. But between all those larger varieties, i can at least handle the conures by hand and I know she just wants attention. They will step up as well. Rico was shy at first. And scared of us. Her little green cheek friend was more tame. Then Rico started to become friendly and then noisy and demanding. Rico and nico get along but Rico can sometimes be mean to nico. She’s bigger than her. But sometimes nico will pick a fight with Rico for no reason and it does not work in her favour because she doesn’t win against her but at the same time, she follows Rico and prefers to stay with her. She trusts her to keep her safe. She doesn’t eat a lot if Rico isn’t there. I think they grew up together but I’m not sure. I only know they were four years old when my partner brought them here in early 2018. So now they should be 9.5 years. They definitely do seem to like everything. And seem willing to try everything too. They just seem really curious about everything. The lovebirds are curious too, but cautious with new things at first. When nico was unwell in 2018 she ate all her vegetables. Even kale. I remember we sprinkled her medicine onto the kale and seeds and she ate them. The vet said it was ok if Rico got a bit too so Rico ended up getting some too because she wanted to eat with nico.

How many birds do you have? How many conures? How old is tequila and the gcc you have? I like the name. I actually don’t know the gender of Rico and nico here. We were told that they are males because they had never laid eggs before. Still haven’t. But when they first came here they used to mate and rico would always get on top of Little nico. That made me suspect rico is a boy and nico a girl, but I’m still not sure. Nico is also more quiet. But she makes a loud car honk sound. It’s cute. Does your gcc do that too? Rico was apparently named “blue” by their first owner. No idea why considering she’s a red belly. But she’s Rico since 2018.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Thanks for that. I’m not sure if she will eat the vitamin powders or liquids in her food. But I have seen them down here in pet shops. But she will definitely get vegetables more regularly. Today she and her friends got vegetables again. The larger parrots got a bit too but more fruit as they seem to prefer fruits. I have been checking on the lovebirds regularly, especially ashu. The last time I checked she was dipping something in her water. They like to make soup out of their waters. It’s been two weeks since asha passed. It still feels like yesterday. I hand fed ashu a sunflower seed yesterday. The day before a safflower seed. And I saw her go and peel another. But still only mostly eating millet.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read up on conures on the web but it’s likely that I might have come across the same information as you. Tequila sounds similar to Rico here. Always noisy and demanding. Well not always. Usually in the morning and late afternoon nowadays. There have been weeks when she would keep shouting all day and weeks where she’ll just shout here and there. Or if I go in the room to check on everyone she goes to the bottom of her cage and starts making noise and does a funny tapping thing with one of her legs. I guess she’s excited. I admit, the medium-larger parrots here cause me a lot of stress. I was quite annoyed when the partner brought them here. They came at different times but I personally would have been fine with just lovebirds and more quieter varieties of birds. Well not quiet, but softer sounding. But between all those larger varieties, i can at least handle the conures by hand and I know she just wants attention. They will step up as well. Rico was shy at first. And scared of us. Her little green cheek friend was more tame. Then Rico started to become friendly and then noisy and demanding. Rico and nico get along but Rico can sometimes be mean to nico. She’s bigger than her. But sometimes nico will pick a fight with Rico for no reason and it does not work in her favour because she doesn’t win against her but at the same time, she follows Rico and prefers to stay with her. She trusts her to keep her safe. She doesn’t eat a lot if Rico isn’t there. I think they grew up together but I’m not sure. I only know they were four years old when my partner brought them here in early 2018. So now they should be 9.5 years. They definitely do seem to like everything. And seem willing to try everything too. They just seem really curious about everything. The lovebirds are curious too, but cautious with new things at first. When nico was unwell in 2018 she ate all her vegetables. Even kale. I remember we sprinkled her medicine onto the kale and seeds and she ate them. The vet said it was ok if Rico got a bit too so Rico ended up getting some too because she wanted to eat with nico.

How many birds do you have? How many conures? How old is tequila and the gcc you have? I like the name. I actually don’t know the gender of Rico and nico here. We were told that they are males because they had never laid eggs before. Still haven’t. But when they first came here they used to mate and rico would always get on top of Little nico. That made me suspect rico is a boy and nico a girl, but I’m still not sure. Nico is also more quiet. But she makes a loud car honk sound. It’s cute. Does your gcc do that too? Rico was apparently named “blue” by their first owner. No idea why considering she’s a red belly. But she’s Rico since 2018.

I'm so glad Ashu has been eating something other than millet! Hopefully that means she's starting to feel better.

Rico sounds exactly like Tequila. I've never come across anyone else who has the same problems as I have with Tequila. Everywhere I just see how great crimson bellied conures are and how quiet they are, and even videos of them are just them being really sweet and cuddly and quiet. I got Tequila first about three years ago and she was supposedly three months old but she had her full red belly so I think she was older, and then I got Sierra last year as a friend for Tequila. Sierra is about a year and a half now, her owners rehomed her after 6 months because they had a third child on the way and they just got a puppy. Tequila and the cockatiel in my picture bonded very closely but then I ended up rescuing a male cockatiel and they were a trio and had no problems but I could see problems in the future so I had to split them up. Tequila was aviary raised and doesn't do well on her own so I rehomed Sierra and they instantly got on well. Tequila used to mount Sierra a lot so I think she's actually a male. She's a lot more relaxed than Sierra and doesn't move around and get into things as much, but she also goes through stages of being very unhappy with everything and will just scream endlessly sometimes. Sometimes even if I'm giving her treats she'll scream at me and I don't know what she wants. I'm not looking forward to starting my new job where they'll be getting less out of cage time as I think she'll get worse. More fruit and vegetables has calmed her down a bit, as well as minimal seeds and more pellets.

Overall I have 8 parrots, two conures, two cockatiels and four budgies. This is definitely my limit as I work full time and I want to move in with my boyfriend at some point and have my own family and I really want to be able to take my birds with me (difficult because we can't afford to buy in our area due to people moving here from London and places don't usually let you rent with pets).

 

[freshprincess87]

I'm so glad Ashu has been eating something other than millet! Hopefully that means she's starting to feel better.

Rico sounds exactly like Tequila. I've never come across anyone else who has the same problems as I have with Tequila. Everywhere I just see how great crimson bellied conures are and how quiet they are, and even videos of them are just them being really sweet and cuddly and quiet. I got Tequila first about three years ago and she was supposedly three months old but she had her full red belly so I think she was older, and then I got Sierra last year as a friend for Tequila. Sierra is about a year and a half now, her owners rehomed her after 6 months because they had a third child on the way and they just got a puppy. Tequila and the cockatiel in my picture bonded very closely but then I ended up rescuing a male cockatiel and they were a trio and had no problems but I could see problems in the future so I had to split them up. Tequila was aviary raised and doesn't do well on her own so I rehomed Sierra and they instantly got on well. Tequila used to mount Sierra a lot so I think she's actually a male. She's a lot more relaxed than Sierra and doesn't move around and get into things as much, but she also goes through stages of being very unhappy with everything and will just scream endlessly sometimes. Sometimes even if I'm giving her treats she'll scream at me and I don't know what she wants. I'm not looking forward to starting my new job where they'll be getting less out of cage time as I think she'll get worse. More fruit and vegetables has calmed her down a bit, as well as minimal seeds and more pellets.

Overall I have 8 parrots, two conures, two cockatiels and four budgies. This is definitely my limit as I work full time and I want to move in with my boyfriend at some point and have my own family and I really want to be able to take my birds with me (difficult because we can't afford to buy in our area due to people moving here from London and places don't usually let you rent with pets).

I am glad too. But by herself she’s not eating anything else. Just millet still. The other day I found two peeled oats. Not enough though because she used to eat all the oats when asha was around. Ashu liked the smaller oats and asha liked the longer unhulled oats. Today everyone got vegetables again. But for the past few days I’ve been giving ashu a bit of corn each evening for extra nutrients. It might take her longer to grieve. I always thought birds move past grief quicker because their brains say they need to continue pro creating. But I suspect with ashu it will take longer. She had never been seperated from asha since they were babies. Even when in seperate cages they were right next to each other. It must be very difficult for her to comprehend a life without her best friend and sister around.



Sometimes I wonder if videos, such as those on YouTube, are misleading. Showing the good times, but not showing the hard noisy times with certain bird species. Or the amount of work it takes to care for birds, especially multiple birds or the financial impact.



From what you have said about tequila, it makes me think Rico might be a boy as well. I still keep referring to both conures as “she” though. Im too used to it I understand exactly what you mean when you say tequila seems unhappy and screams no matter what you do or give him. Rico is the same sometimes. This seems to be an issue with the medium to larger parrots here. Sometimes they’ll get everything; toys, treats, fruits etc and will still be unhappy and screaming. This past week I had this issue with the conures for a day or two. She was shouting regularly during the day and I wasn’t sure what she wanted. I feel deep down with the conures that they just want some extra attention though at times. Or bath water. I’ve had to remove the bath water as Rico kept dropping it. They have drinking water though which can’t be dropped. She still drops one food bowl and leaves the rest. Ironically, it’s the food bowl that used to have water for bathing. It’s as if she’s trying to tell me to put water in it instead. They get their bath water but once I’ve seen them bathe I need to take it out again or Rico will drop it everywhere.



I understand the stress you may feel now about starting a new job and having less time to let the birds outside. That’s interesting that you say that about giving more pellets and fruits and vegetables and that it’s calming tequila more. I may try this with the conures here. Especially with pellets since they are the only ones who seem to devour them. Today they had apples to eat instead of berries which is what is usually bought for the larger ones. She’s quiet at the moment. Not sure for how long



What made you decide to get tequila? Do your conures make a kind of soft barking sound? Rico and nico seem to when they’re upset about something. But then Rico hypes it up and makes an even louder sound. It’s hard to describe but I can probably say it’s slightly similar to wild plover birds (not sure if you have those wild birds in the uk). I admit the noise of the larger parrots cause me a lot of stress. Especially when I know that they’re noisy because they’re likely frustrated. And I don’t know how to help them. And to be honest I wouldn’t mind if they were rehomed and just smaller varieties of birds were here only, like before. I found it less stressful. The partner is the one who brought them here. While the conure stresses me out sometimes, I can at least handle her by hand and can interact with her and Nico. I I feel less birds would mean more interaction time with everyone. I think she was tame but due to being re-homed (not sure how many times), she had to readjust and learn to trust another human again. Nico just follows her and sees her as her boss and protector.



Budgies sound lovely to have. Are they a quiet species? I only ever hear budgies make soft chatter sounds. 8 is a good amount. I will definitely say I was very happy with up to 8 birds too. There were 8 lovebirds here for awhile and that was more manageable. I imagine that amount is definitely a good limit, especially if you’re already working. That’s understandable. Earlier this year we were also faced with the prospect of having to move, and found it difficult to find a place to rent. Not only is everywhere expensive but there’s too much competition. And a person without pets and more money is more likely to get the rental. Thankfully we don’t need to move anymore but the place is too small for this amount of birds. Does your boyfriend like the birds? I hope you do get to move in and be able to get a place together that allows you to keep all the birds. I found it useful to ask rental agencies if birds are ok. A lot of the time, it’s cats and dogs they don’t want to approve. One agent actually said that to me. And said birds are usually approved. I hope that eventually you will be able to buy a property though so you can have the freedom to keep your birds.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

I think you're doing an amazing job with your birds, they're very lucky to have you as their owner! I hope Ashu starts to get used to being on her own soon, it must be so hard for her when she's always had her sister around. I agree with you on the videos, they're very misleading. I got birds mainly because I kept seeing those kinds of videos and I somewhat regret it because my life would be easier without them. Of course no-one would watch videos about the bad parts of parrots so no-one makes them, and the majority of videos on parrot care are made by people who make their living by using their parrots so of course they can give much more time and attention to them because it's their job! For the majority of people, their lives and cages and birds aren't going to look like that.

My conures love dropping their food dish too I find they do it more when they're bored, but since mine don't play with their toys I don't know how to entertain them much. They love doing tricks but I don't want to feed them too many seeds and I don't think they'd work for lower value treats, I might try it though.

I looked up plover birds since we don't have them here and it's very similar to Tequila! She uses it mainly when she's trying to tell me something or tell me off, but I wish she could just speak and tell me as I usually have no clue what she's asking for. She does it sometimes at the window that faces the front garden and I wonder if she's trying to say she wants to go out there. I only take them out the front if we're going on holiday so maybe she wants a holiday? I don't know if they're that clever but she could be!

I'm glad you don't have to move anymore, that would have been a lot of work with the amount of birds you have! How are your lovebirds with the rest of the birds? I've heard they can't be allowed out with other birds because they're too aggressive. I did want a lovebird at some point, but that put me off a bit because I don't have time for all of my birds to have separate times out, and I don't have much space here so they're all in one room.

Luckily my boyfriend likes the birds, though he would prefer me to sell them I think so I can move in with him. He keeps saying I can move in but he can't have pets so I can't and I keep saying I won't rehome the birds. He had cockatiels growing up and his uncle used to have loads of them (the last one died a few months back at 32 years old!), but his uncle is getting too old to have them now. I never wanted budgies since I thought they were ugly, but I ended up rescuing one from an awful situation and then she was lonely so I rescued another one and then they had babies and I kept two of them. They're very easy to look after, and very pleasant to listen to, even when they screech.

 

[freshprincess87]

I think you're doing an amazing job with your birds, they're very lucky to have you as their owner! I hope Ashu starts to get used to being on her own soon, it must be so hard for her when she's always had her sister around. I agree with you on the videos, they're very misleading. I got birds mainly because I kept seeing those kinds of videos and I somewhat regret it because my life would be easier without them. Of course no-one would watch videos about the bad parts of parrots so no-one makes them, and the majority of videos on parrot care are made by people who make their living by using their parrots so of course they can give much more time and attention to them because it's their job! For the majority of people, their lives and cages and birds aren't going to look like that.

My conures love dropping their food dish too I find they do it more when they're bored, but since mine don't play with their toys I don't know how to entertain them much. They love doing tricks but I don't want to feed them too many seeds and I don't think they'd work for lower value treats, I might try it though.

I looked up plover birds since we don't have them here and it's very similar to Tequila! She uses it mainly when she's trying to tell me something or tell me off, but I wish she could just speak and tell me as I usually have no clue what she's asking for. She does it sometimes at the window that faces the front garden and I wonder if she's trying to say she wants to go out there. I only take them out the front if we're going on holiday so maybe she wants a holiday? I don't know if they're that clever but she could be!

I'm glad you don't have to move anymore, that would have been a lot of work with the amount of birds you have! How are your lovebirds with the rest of the birds? I've heard they can't be allowed out with other birds because they're too aggressive. I did want a lovebird at some point, but that put me off a bit because I don't have time for all of my birds to have separate times out, and I don't have much space here so they're all in one room.

Luckily my boyfriend likes the birds, though he would prefer me to sell them I think so I can move in with him. He keeps saying I can move in but he can't have pets so I can't and I keep saying I won't rehome the birds. He had cockatiels growing up and his uncle used to have loads of them (the last one died a few months back at 32 years old!), but his uncle is getting too old to have them now. I never wanted budgies since I thought they were ugly, but I ended up rescuing one from an awful situation and then she was lonely so I rescued another one and then they had babies and I kept two of them. They're very easy to look after, and very pleasant to listen to, even when they screech.

That is really kind of you to say, thank you. And likewise, I feel that you also care about your birds. I think ashu is slowly adjusting. This past week she has started eating a bit more variety of seeds again. After the last vegetable day a few days ago, I’ve been finding more peeled oats. I feel for her and can’t imagine what it’s like for her to all of a sudden be on her own in her little house. She’s surrounded and not alone but within her own house she is. I just hope she will be ok.

I understand how you feel. I can’t imagine the lovebirds not in my life, but I wish I had been more firm when the partner kept bringing more birds, especially the larger noisier parrots. They are a constant source of stress for me and sometimes I feel guilty saying that especially on a bird forum where others may have the same larger varieties and adore them. But I don’t want to be fake at the same time either. I also feel my life would be a lot easier with less birds, and especially without the larger species. Thank you for sharing your feelings with me. I think deep down you still care for your birds and love them a lot. That’s very spot on about videos. The cages here are definitely not perfect either. I can only do my best with the amount that are here

Lol that made me laugh about your conures too. Maybe it’s a conure thing. Rico has been really annoying today. She had a huge bath and food top up, same with Nico. But she’s been shouting a lot even after that. Normally she doesn’t. Or at least hadn’t for a few days. Just in the late afternoon when she’s likely finished all her food and is shouting for me to go there and fill it up. I mostly put the bath water for little Nico, but Rico stole it and had a bath first. I had to put more water so nico could finish her bath. Like yours, they also don’t play with toys much. I don’t know what they want sometimes. Although Rico used to like a box style toy before. But she wouldn’t play with it in the day. She would play with it after bedtime.

Oh you’re lucky you don’t have plover birds there. They can be quite loud and annoying. And they swoop on people outside if they are trying to protect eggs. My partner used to have two here that he was caring for. One was ok, but the other was noisy and would scream even overnight. I found it interesting that Rico’s annoying sound was a little similar to those plover birds. I tried to record her today but everytime I tried she was quiet. Even when I was hiding. Almost as if she knew I was recording her voice.

That made me laugh. I think Rico is very similar to tequila. I think she’s trying to tell me something or tell me off as well with that louder sound. Or when they start off with their subtle barking sound. I think that’s them trying to contact me if I’m not there or pretend that they are in danger to get my attention. I remember reading about this some years ago online.

You’ve definitely heard correct. I’ve never let the lovebirds out with any other species of birds. I can’t even let them out if they’re cages with each other lol. They have a habit of biting feet so it’s a bit risky. So when they go outside of their cages it’s separately or within their pairs. That’s understandable. Do your birds go outside together at the same time? They don’t hurt each other? I have heard budgies are quite soft and don’t hurt other birds. That makes sense. We don’t have a lot of space here either, which was another reason I wasn’t too happy about more birds being brought here, as well as the larger species being noisier.

This might be a provocative question (apologies if it is!) but do you prefer one of your bird species over the other? I’m glad your boyfriend likes the birds though. I can understand it might be hard for you to re-home them after having a few years with them. That was really kind of you to rescue the budgies. I am certain that they appreciated it and still appreciate the home you have provided for them. I hope that you and your boyfriend will be able to come to a compromise and be able to find a place together that allows you to keep the birds. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been together? It sounds like he has a history of having birds then too so that definitely helps with him liking your birds. I wonder if you could look into other surrounding suburbs for places to live in that might be more financially suitable and allows birds. I had a feeling budgies are still pleasant even when screeching. The lovebirds can be loud too. The peach faced varieties moreso. But it doesn’t bother me for some reason. It could be because lovebirds were my first pets ever and I got used to them. I can sleep through their sounds. And they don’t frustrate or stress me out. I feel like they are my babies and have been since I first met them. Other people might not like their noises or simply find them noisy compared to other birds like budgies or canaries and finches. But lovebirds are my heart and they just have a special place in my heart.

Wow I didn’t know cockatiels could live so long. That’s amazing. Similar to a conure’s lifespan I think.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

That is really kind of you to say, thank you. And likewise, I feel that you also care about your birds. I think ashu is slowly adjusting. This past week she has started eating a bit more variety of seeds again. After the last vegetable day a few days ago, I’ve been finding more peeled oats. I feel for her and can’t imagine what it’s like for her to all of a sudden be on her own in her little house. She’s surrounded and not alone but within her own house she is. I just hope she will be ok.

I understand how you feel. I can’t imagine the lovebirds not in my life, but I wish I had been more firm when the partner kept bringing more birds, especially the larger noisier parrots. They are a constant source of stress for me and sometimes I feel guilty saying that especially on a bird forum where others may have the same larger varieties and adore them. But I don’t want to be fake at the same time either. I also feel my life would be a lot easier with less birds, and especially without the larger species. Thank you for sharing your feelings with me. I think deep down you still care for your birds and love them a lot. That’s very spot on about videos. The cages here are definitely not perfect either. I can only do my best with the amount that are here

Lol that made me laugh about your conures too. Maybe it’s a conure thing. Rico has been really annoying today. She had a huge bath and food top up, same with Nico. But she’s been shouting a lot even after that. Normally she doesn’t. Or at least hadn’t for a few days. Just in the late afternoon when she’s likely finished all her food and is shouting for me to go there and fill it up. I mostly put the bath water for little Nico, but Rico stole it and had a bath first. I had to put more water so nico could finish her bath. Like yours, they also don’t play with toys much. I don’t know what they want sometimes. Although Rico used to like a box style toy before. But she wouldn’t play with it in the day. She would play with it after bedtime.

Oh you’re lucky you don’t have plover birds there. They can be quite loud and annoying. And they swoop on people outside if they are trying to protect eggs. My partner used to have two here that he was caring for. One was ok, but the other was noisy and would scream even overnight. I found it interesting that Rico’s annoying sound was a little similar to those plover birds. I tried to record her today but everytime I tried she was quiet. Even when I was hiding. Almost as if she knew I was recording her voice.

That made me laugh. I think Rico is very similar to tequila. I think she’s trying to tell me something or tell me off as well with that louder sound. Or when they start off with their subtle barking sound. I think that’s them trying to contact me if I’m not there or pretend that they are in danger to get my attention. I remember reading about this some years ago online.

You’ve definitely heard correct. I’ve never let the lovebirds out with any other species of birds. I can’t even let them out if they’re cages with each other lol. They have a habit of biting feet so it’s a bit risky. So when they go outside of their cages it’s separately or within their pairs. That’s understandable. Do your birds go outside together at the same time? They don’t hurt each other? I have heard budgies are quite soft and don’t hurt other birds. That makes sense. We don’t have a lot of space here either, which was another reason I wasn’t too happy about more birds being brought here, as well as the larger species being noisier.

This might be a provocative question (apologies if it is!) but do you prefer one of your bird species over the other? I’m glad your boyfriend likes the birds though. I can understand it might be hard for you to re-home them after having a few years with them. That was really kind of you to rescue the budgies. I am certain that they appreciated it and still appreciate the home you have provided for them. I hope that you and your boyfriend will be able to come to a compromise and be able to find a place together that allows you to keep the birds. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been together? It sounds like he has a history of having birds then too so that definitely helps with him liking your birds. I wonder if you could look into other surrounding suburbs for places to live in that might be more financially suitable and allows birds. I had a feeling budgies are still pleasant even when screeching. The lovebirds can be loud too. The peach faced varieties moreso. But it doesn’t bother me for some reason. It could be because lovebirds were my first pets ever and I got used to them. I can sleep through their sounds. And they don’t frustrate or stress me out. I feel like they are my babies and have been since I first met them. Other people might not like their noises or simply find them noisy compared to other birds like budgies or canaries and finches. But lovebirds are my heart and they just have a special place in my heart.

Wow I didn’t know cockatiels could live so long. That’s amazing. Similar to a conure’s lifespan I think.

I can sympathise with you about wishing you had less birds. I can't imagine having more with my lifestyle and setup. I actually always wanted to be a zookeeper, but once I got birds I quickly realised it's not for me. I love them but I couldn't be happy cleaning cages all day long, as it is I always look for ways to make things easier to manage. I also realised how much I like things to be clean and quiet, and parrots aren't either of them! I hope your flock aren't too stressful for you. Are you home all day with them?

I actually much prefer my conures over the others, purely because of how much more interactive they are. The budgies are really easy to look after, the cockatiels are easy but also don't do a lot, and the conures are hard work but they're more entertaining and more pet-like I would say. I've been crying in my room a couple of times and my conures will come over and sit with me, and one even tries to lick up my tears whereas the other will just look at me from a shelf and judge

I've been with my boyfriend for two years now, but I've known him for four years and we've always liked and got on with each other since we met. I really hope we can find somewhere, he doesn't want to buy a house (and we can't exactly afford it anyway), so renting is our only option. I do wish I hadn't got the birds at times, but when I got them I never thought I'd ever be in a position to move out with someone. I just didn't think anyone would like me that much.

I used to work in a preschool and we got a pair of lovebirds as pets. I felt so bad for them because they were just in a cage with barely any toys and were never let out. Obviously a preschool isn't a great environment for them either and they spent their whole time there. In the end someone took them and I don't know what happened to them but they were very sweet. Everyone found them too noisy (I quite liked their chirping) and that was one of the reasons they went. I would still like a lovebird or two even despite their aggressive nature.