i bought a lovebird in China

[willi_in_china]

Hello together,

I bought 1 lovebird but realized that i am too ofter outside to really interact with him as much as i should. now, i consider buying a 2nd one. my question is

1. do male/male or female/female lovebirds start fights?
2. how can i help both to get used to each other, keep them in seperate cages for the beginning?

on another note,

3. i have a large balcony but it is getting colder outside and on the balcony. what temperature is best for lovebirds?

Thank you very much

 

[Mocknbird2]

Absolutely you want separate cages at the beginning. Same sexs often get on well together. Especially if they aren't sexually mature yet.
Just give them time til they're affectionate with eachother and watch them carefully for serious signs of aggression. Bites on the neck, back, rump, especially if the draw blood are serious signs of aggression. Mild nips on the feet, legs, toes that don't leave a mark are usually not a big deal. My lovies all do this occasionally.
If both birds are healthy, and equally sized, they should either defend themself or fly, run away. Just watch them carefully and continue to ask questions as they come up.
Normal room temps are best for lovebirds. When indoors, They should be Ok from 60F to 80F.
Good luck.

 

[willi_in_china]

Hello Mockingbird,

thank you for the information. We got a 2nd cage and will buy a bird later.

We also got some more things for the birds to play with.

Do you think a "house" for the birds is a must have or is it ok if they sleep in the "open"? Not sure if they feel less stressed and more secure if they can hide.

Also, if anyone knows a trick how to "train" the birds to not poo everywhere but only at specific places, this would be great. I want the birds to fly in the living room, not just the balcony, but no way to convince my girlfriend if there will be poo everywhere.

thanks and have a good weekend

 

[BirdieNumNum]

I know larger birds can be potty trained but I'm not sure about lovebirds. I think you could though because lovebirds can learn tons of tricks!! You train a bird to poop in a specific place by waiting until the bird is about to poop (observe his body language and keep track of approximate intervals between poops), when he is about to poop, move him to his cage or wherever you want him to poop and say "Poop!" If he poops, reward him. Only reward him in the place you want him to poop. I think if you designated one spot as his "toilet," it would be less confusing for him. Good luck!!

 

[Mocknbird2]

I know larger birds can be potty trained but I'm not sure about lovebirds. I think you could though because lovebirds can learn tons of tricks!! You train a bird to poop in a specific place by waiting until the bird is about to poop (observe his body language and keep track of approximate intervals between poops), when he is about to poop, move him to his cage or wherever you want him to poop and say "Poop!" If he poops, reward him. Only reward him in the place you want him to poop. I think if you designated one spot as his "toilet," it would be less confusing for him. Good luck!!

I have a couple lovebirds that are potty trained in that they will potty on command; ie, if you hold them over paper or trash every 5- 10 minutes or so they will go when prompted with the words "go potty?) It was as birdienumnum stated; Simply a matter of getting the bird to associate the word with the action. Pretty easy with a young handfed lovie.
I've never trained a bird to only go in certain places while out of the cage. Usually when not caged, my birds are in an area where they are allowed to go "potty". But when on my shoulder, the potty trained one's will avoid defecation on me at all costs. I guess it's simply a matter of them realizing that there is a place for their droppings and they want to keep us happy.
There are some good books/pamphlets on the subject.
It can be done with effort in most cases I would guess. But it will take time and effort. ANd once your bird gets used to that level of interaction, it will expect that to continue and suffer if it doesn't continue. Just a thought. Parrots are so complex. And so easy to mess up psychologically if you aren't well educated about bird psychology and socialization.
Good luck!! I hope your love for your birds only grows as mine has for my birds.

 

[willi_in_china]

Hello BirdieNumNum and Mocknbird2,

thanks for your tips. I have to spend more time with the birds. Also, since we do not have a professional breeder in China - not that I know of at least - all birds are already grown up. Unfortunately the conditions they are held in do not make them feel close to humans and they like to hide once I come close.

However, I prepared the balcony, will get a 2nd bird and hope with time and care they'll trust me.

How about having Rosy-faced Lovebird and Fischer's Lovebird 2 of each, in one cage? anyone made experience here?

also, i understand 2 males work best together, is that correct?

since the seller has no idea what bird is male/female, how to avoid a cage fight after buying them?

thanks a lot

 

[Harrybasford]

The "house" you are talking about is a nest, they are needed if you want to breed your lovebirds. You recently posted how about a rosy-faced and a fischer, I wouldnt as if you do and they mate, they will hatch a mule (sterile offspring, whome itself can not have offspring) or severely damage the lovebird genepool. Stay with whichever sub genus of Lovebird you have now is what I would suggest. As I believe it is very hard to sure fire sex a lovebird, one of the only ways being DNA testing, so I'd go ahead and get another lovebird regardless of sex. I'm not sure how you will introduce them to eachother, because if your lovebird is not tame, then you don't have it out of its cage? If I bought another bird i would let them have supervised play time together, but that mostly takes place out of cage. Maybe another member can help you with that.

 

[willi_in_china]

update:

got a 2nd lovebird. both seemed to come along well with each other. I bought a seperate cage. afterwards i let my older one fly around. they engaged through the grid bars but it was friendly. I opened the cage of the new bird. Both birds where in 1 cage and eat together. no fighting.

i let them fly around the balcony and it seemed fine but now, close before dark, they start fighting. beak against beak. I am not an expert but it is not the love biting on the toe some of you mentioned.

any suggestions?

thanks