I'll be getting a lovebird, does anyone have any advice?

[macgomes]

Hey parronts!

Like the title says, in a few months, I'll be purchasing a peach-faced lovebird. I'm a first-time bird owner, so I'll be getting a male, hand-raised young'in. I know lovebirds can be a little aggressive, but I'm prepared to be patient and build a bond, and I'm not too nervous about getting bitten, haha. We'll see if that was a stupid thing to say, after actually getting him:)

I'll be getting a Prevue Hendrix F040 cage, and trying to wean him onto a pellet diet, with supplementary seeds and fresh fruits/veg. I'll have a cuttlebone in there for him too. I have a bunch of bird-safe chew toys and foot toys picked out, and will make homemade foraging toys as needed. I'm getting extra perches for the cage (including sand and tassel-less rope), and stainless steel feed/water bowls.

Perches for outside the cage, check. Avian vet in my area, check.

I'm having some serious nesting syndrome in preparation for this, and would really hate to leave anything out! Should I get him a little coconut hut, or would than encourage territorial behaviour?



My question is: is there anything else I might need? Any situations I should be pre-prepped for?

[Pajarita]

I have some advice: get two lovebirds and not just one and make sure they are of opposite genders because you can't keep two females together although you can keep two males. It's not the best for them because lovebirds are INTENSELY pair-oriented - much more so than flock-oriented although they do live in flocks. And the reason why they are called 'love'birds is that, once they mate-bond, they really and truly adore one another and are incredibly devoted to each other. I mean, one is never more than a few inches away from the other, they sleep leaning on each other, they kiss each other all the time and, when one of them dies, the other stays next to the body and actually tries to 'wake it up'. They are also an aviary species and not a companion one so, if for nothing else, they should never live alone with a human. A human, no matter how kind, no matter how knowledgeable and no matter how dedicated, can never actually make a lovebird happy. I know that a lot of people say it's OK but these people are not bird lovers, they are merely bird enjoyers who don't put the bird's happiness before their own desires. Please don't take this the wrong way but living with just a human is not a good life for a lovie. And you can easily bond with two as you do with one. And, again, a lot of people say this is not so but they are either repeating something somebody else told them or are just plain uncaring. I had a flock of lovies when I ran the rescue and, even though there were over 30 of them, they were all very friendly coming to perch on my shoulders and head, taking food from my hand and popping in an out of pockets and sleeves. There was a female I called 'my little princess' which would actually leave her nest with eggs in it just so she could come and spend some time with me so you will not be missing anything by having two and you will be providing them with a real good life. Also, no pellets for lovies. They are not good for them.