Taming 2 versus 1 Lovebird

[NHCardinal]

My local animal shelter has been inundated with a group of 60 lovebirds, yes 60! I intend on adopting one or two, preferably one. The problem is, the shelter is mandating that people take 2 same-sex lovebirds.

I went to the shelter and informed them that I would just like one and that its not necessary to give lovebirds away in pairs, but they're not budging from there position which is kinda frustrating. Surely they don't have an equal number of females and males I contended, but they said then they would give them in 3s if need be!

Anyways, in the event that I must take 2 home, how difficult is it to tame 2 versus 1? I estimate the youngest of these birds will be somewhere between 1-2 months old.

[pennyandrocky]

two will be harder and take more time than one but it can be done if you separate them at first and give them one on one time to bond with you and not each other.

[dan4]

60....strikes me as aviary birds. I wouldn't even entertain one on it's own, it's cruel I think because it will miss the social aspect. Go with two and teach equally, it will be harder but in the same respect a happy bird or birds are far easier to work with than a sad one

[Eric&Rebecca]

Lovebirds, like cockatiels and budgies are flock animals so while people do successfully keep single birds its not fufilling their enrichment. I have 2 cockatiels, I had one and then got another although the first was hand reared (not my preference) the second was parent raised. During the 30 day quarantine I tamed him down before introducing. Maybe you could have them together but in separate cages so you can work with them separately, but keep the cages pushed up right against eachother OR purchase a large flight cage with a separator.

Its like having kids, having twins instead of just one is always going to be more difficult.

It really is better for lovies to be in pairs or flocks.

[mrbowlerhat]

I think it's great that they aren't adopting out single birds. They're very social animals and nothing can quite compare to being able to interact with another bird of the same species. It's very healthy and natural.
I certainly don't think you should separate them, and I don't think being two should stop them from getting tame. I rather believe that if one steps up or comes to you, the other might too - they might be braver when they've got eachother. If one's a bit more shy than the other, that one should definitely be easier to tame if you're working with them both together and s/he sees his/her friend interacting with you.

I don't see why separating them would help. Sure, you can work with one at a time if you want to, but when training session's over, I don't see how allowing them to hang out with eachother would hurt. They won't automatically erase the memories of you/the training session because they're also friends with eachother or anything.

I kept a single lovebird for quite some time before. In the end, I planned on getting him a friend, but I never got around to it, and then he got sick and passed away without ever having had a lovebird friend to interact with. I regret that so much. Lovebirds are really social and sooo special little creatures, and I really believe they benefit so much from having a lovebird friend.
Besides, there's nothing cuter than watching two birds being birds together and getting along. Especially lovebirds! Gosh, http://www.kateathome.com/wp-content/up ... -Birds.jpg SO sweet.

[NHCardinal]

Thanks for the replies, I'm a little surprised at the consensus for two given that I would be an attentive owner to one.

I'd like to hear from anyone who's not only tamed but taught tricks to a pair of lovies. I guess it comes down to whether the extra time you want to spend on two lovebirds warrants the rewards of having another lovebird in the cage.

[mrbowlerhat]

Thanks for the replies, I'm a little surprised at the consensus for two given that I would be an attentive owner to one.

That's not because we doubt you're a good owner, it's because a human can never provide for a bird, what another bird can. It doesn't matter if you're there 24 hours a day, they're highly social flock animals and they REALLY DO benefit a lot from being with other birds - you're not able to interact with and understand a bird the same way and on the same level a same-species bird would. It's not because you're a bad owner, it's because you're obviously not a bird

[JaydeParrot]

My local animal shelter has been inundated with a group of 60 lovebirds, yes 60! I intend on adopting one or two, preferably one. The problem is, the shelter is mandating that people take 2 same-sex lovebirds.

I went to the shelter and informed them that I would just like one and that its not necessary to give lovebirds away in pairs, but they're not budging from there position which is kinda frustrating. Surely they don't have an equal number of females and males I contended, but they said then they would give them in 3s if need be!

Anyways, in the event that I must take 2 home, how difficult is it to tame 2 versus 1? I estimate the youngest of these birds will be somewhere between 1-2 months old.

That seems really strange that they're going to make you take two, I'd go with two females, I just find them easier.

My two Sennies were terrified of humans when I bought them home, both six years old at the time, they'd scream and fly to the back of cage and shake, whenever a human even walked into the room. Beware, it took around about 9 months to get them tamed, but I personally think that was short due to the female being a bit more curious around humans, she sort of led the male to be tame too.

If you really want to get these birds, watch the birds when you walk in, pick those that are perching closer to humans and aren't flying away, screeching when you walk up to the cage, those ones should hopefully be easier to tame.

The birds will almost always be linked closer to each other than you, that doesn't mean they won't perch on your shoulder and play with you, it just means that you'll probably only ever be their second favourite person while they have each other.

My two Sennies will now climb fly to my arm from one and a half foot away when asked by name, and also onto a rope perch as long as I say which one I want to step up.

Admittedly I've never worked with a lovebird to know much about them, but if you want any ideas on taming two birds, I'll try to give you a hand.

How old are your lovebirds going to be?