How to keep a loving bird as pet (Part-1)

                      Lovebirds are little parrots with colorful plumes and fun personalities. As pets, these little birds are devoted and playful with their owners. With the appropriate care and attention, a lovebird can live for 8 to 12 years, or longer. One common myth surrounding keeping lovebirds as pets is that they need to be kept in pairs for their own well being, otherwise they will suffer or die. In fact, most lovebird breeders argue for keeping lovebirds as single pets, with the owner acting as the lovebird’s flock.

Part - 1

Buying the Lovebird

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Don’t worry about buying more than one lovebird or bonding your lovebird to another lovebird. 

                  Contrary to popular belief, keeping lovebirds as a single pet is not frowned upon by breeders and experts so don’t be too concerned about purchasing more than one lovebird at a time. In fact, introducing another lovebird to your lovebird at a later date can be dangerous, as the older lovebird may try to harm or kill the new bird. Another risk of keeping more than one lovebird is that the birds will want to bond with each other, rather than you, their owner.

• If you do want to keep more than one lovebird at a time, introduce the bird when they are both very young. Groups of lovebirds create social hierarchies, so there is one alpha bird and every bird follows the alpha.

• Another common myth is that lovebirds can be mean or aggressive, especially female lovebirds who are marking their territory or their cage. Most breeders agree that male lovebirds make better pets, though males can also show territorial behavior and chirp at any fingers that enter their cage. Most lovebirds, male and female, have mild temperaments. To counteract any aggression from them, it’s important that you train your lovebird to prevent nipping.

Become familiar with the different lovebird breeds. There are many different breeds of lovebirds, but the three most popular breeds are:

• Peach-faced lovebirds: These little birds are the most commonly kept breed. They stand at 5-inches tall, with green and blue plumes, and have a rosy colored face. Peach-faced lovebirds have been bred into hundreds of color mutations, from pure white albino birds to deep purple birds.

• Masked lovebirds: This breed has eye-rings, a black mask, an orange beak, yellow chest feathers, and green wings. Some breeders consider masked lovebirds more aggressive than the two other more common breeds.

• Fischer’s lovebirds: Also known as eye-ring lovebirds, as they have a white ring around their eyes. They are smaller than peach faced and masked lovebirds and have a distinct, high pitched chirp. Most breeders agree that Fischer’s are more aggressive than the peach-faced lovebirds or masked lovebirds.

Look for a lovebird at your local pet store. 

                     Most local pet stores have lovebirds for sale, likely peach faced and Fischer’s lovebirds. Before you buy the lovebird, check that:

• The bird looks healthy. The bird should be perky, active, and alert with bright clear eyes. They should also have a clear care, or fleshy nose area, and nares, or nostrils. You can't see the nostrils usually on some lovebirds. Ask someone to even check if the lovebird is healthy.

• Watch the bird eat and drink to make sure the bird has an appetite. The bird should also be well groomed with neat, bright feathers. The feathers should be mostly smoothed to the body, not fluffy or raised. If they are, the bird is one out of four things. Either sick, cold, protecting something, or angry. So think twice. The bird’s feet and legs should be smooth and free of lumps, scabs, and rough scales.

• The bird should vocalize with you in chirps, clicks, and whistles. Most lovebirds are excited to communicate with new faces, though some bird can be shy or intimidated around new people. A healthy bird will be confident and inquisitive, but cautious and aware as well.

• If possible, ask to hold or touch the bird. Make sure the bird is interested in interacting with you and does not bite or hurt you. This may be a sign the bird is aggressive. If he just nibbles your finger, he is just checking you out to see if he likes you. Stay calm!! You get used to it over time, and as long as it doesn't hurt, it's fine.

Search online for lovebird breeders. 

                    There are several databases of lovebird breeders available online that you can search based on your state or area and your preferred breed. Be wary of overpriced birds and always contact the breeders directly to establish a rapport before you buy a bird from them.

• Most reputable breeders hand-raise their birds. This means they are involved in every stage of breeding, from choosing the mates to creating a good breeding environment in a cage to maintaining the birds’ diet and nutrition.

• Breeders will also carefully watch over the eggs and take care of the babies until they have found suitable homes. Some breeders will hand-feed the babies to tame them and wean them off of their parents. Hand-feeding and hand-taming the babies are also good ways to get the birds used to human interaction. This makes most hand-raised lovebirds very tame and loving pets.

• Hand-raised Lovebirds can range in price from $40 to $130 for the more common species and mutations. Hand raised or hand fed lovebirds mean that they were raised by people and taken care of by people. Parent-fed lovebirds from a pet store are generally less expensive. But the rarer species and mutations will be more expensive than the more common species.

  

Take your new lovebird to the vet. 

                       Birds can pick up health problems that may not be obvious to you, so bring your new lovebird to a vet to confirm the bird is healthy.

• If you know you are going to be buying a lovebird in the near future, schedule a vet appointment for right after you pick up the bird from the store or the breeder.

• For an additional fee, the vet can create a wellness plans to help your lovebird live a long, healthy life. These plans include annual health check ups and emergency medical care.

Consider confirming the sex of the lovebird. 

                      Lovebirds are not sexually dimorphic, which means you generally cannot tell if a lovebird is a male (a cock) or a female (a hen) just by looking at the lovebird. The best way to confirm the sex of the lovebird is to have your vet do a DNA test, or to conduct one yourself with a DNA kit.

• A DNA kit usually costs between $15 and $22. You will need to clip one of your bird’s toenails a little higher than you normally would and send the sample to the lab. Consider if this would hurt or make your lovebird uncomfortable. It would use its defence and bite, and that might leave a small mark and pain on your skin. If it is bleeding, make sure to wash and bandage it.

• The vet can also take the sample for you and send it to the lab for testing.

• Some visual differences between the sexes exist, as hens tend to have a wider stance on the perch, they are a bit larger than cocks, and they have wider pelvic bones that you can check gently with your index finger.

• Peach-colored hens will also tuck material under their wings to take them to the nesting box, while peach-colored cocks will try to do this but fail. However, there are exceptions to these general characteristics depending on the bird.

Co-authored by Pippa Elliott