My peach-faced lovebirds are little bundles of joy. They have all the personality of parrots and are easy to house due to their size. My birds are little clowns that play for hours. They love to hang onto toys, spin them, and dance on your shoulder. I had to take care of my buttons! They love taking them off their clothes! Cuddly little birds – they love to snuggle and groom themselves.
Many people believe that lovebirds should be kept in pairs. This is simply not true. A single lovebird is a better pet because it will bond with you rather than another lovebird. While it’s easy to keep a couple of lovebirds tame, if you plan to spend a lot of time with your bird, you can keep it on its own. However, if you work long hours and do not think you will have much time for your love bird, I recommend that you find a partner. This will keep your lovebirds happy and prevent boredom. It is important to realize that while lovebirds are a small parrot, they have the intelligence and abilities of some of the larger parrots.
They never cease to amaze me with their ability to escape their own cages. I have to put copper wire in the cage doors to keep them inside, and sometimes they figure out how to unscrew the wire and open the door!
Lovebirds will sometimes try to become the little heads of the household. I recommend using the same type of gentle dominance training that is used for larger parrots.
Are you looking for a bird that you can teach to speak? Lovebirds can learn to imitate sounds and speak at times. However, I do not recommend that you buy any species of bird just in the expectation that it will speak; even the famous African Grays sometimes don’t learn to speak. So if that’s your only reason for purchasing a bird, I highly recommend that you reconsider, as the bird could end up abandoned due to your own disappointment.
In my opinion, love birds and parrots make excellent pets, even if they never say a word. We have both in our house. Lovebirds chatter all day long, not making a sound that anyone can understand, except as a simple ‘loud chatter’. However, our Double Yellow Head parrot makes up for it; his vocabulary is very long, extensive and he speaks constantly.
If you decide to breed love birds, remember that they are prolific breeders. It is possible that soon, as we did, we will find our home full of lovebirds! And, as a warning, “don’t” put bark chips in the baby birds’ nest. Although the scent is pleasant for humans and good for older birds, it is too strong for baby lovebirds. I must admit I learned the hard way and had casualties on my hands! Paper is the best to put in the nest along with some alfalfa. Don’t get powdered alfalfa, but instead get dried alfalfa leaves. If you decide to use paper, cut it (newspaper is better) into long strips and place it next to the nest. Mom will take him to the nest. And remember that if mom yells at you, she’s just protecting her nest!
My favorite lovebird is Lucky, so named because it was our first clutch and she was the only one, out of six, that survived when I put the bark chips in the nest.
We do not have an aviary breeder, rather, our lovebirds are paired in separate cages. The best way to tame babies quickly is to take the babies out of the next one when they are around two weeks old and feed them by hand. In this way, birds get the best of both worlds: the immunity conferred by their parents and the meekness that comes from being manipulated by humans.
Our lovebirds are abundantly weaned into happy, well-adapted birds. We feed them pellets, a good mix of seeds, alfalfa, wheatgrass, quinoa, sprouted beans, and other vegetables and fruits. And oh yes! Lovebirds not only love to eat grapes, but also to throw them away. In short, lovebirds love to play. They keep us entertained for hours. If you decide to have a lovebird as a pet, you will have made an excellent choice! ~ Mrs Here ~