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Hello - New Lovebird

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Hello - New Lovebird

Postby Paco's Mom » Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:28 pm

Hello, I am here to introduce myself and my bird.

A few weeks ago, I brought home a three month old black masked lovebird named Paco. Paco is my first bird. He was hand fed and raised. But I think he was grabbed a lot at the bird store, so he is hand shy when he is in his cage. When not in his cage, he accepts head rubs, and he gives me kisses. He will step up on my finger if I approach him when he is on the floor. We enjoy watching YouTube videos together. He loves bells, plastic chains, his coconut hut, bird seed, and singing songs in his sleep.

I have just ordered the Parrot Wizard book. It should come tomorrow. :lovebird3:
User avatar
Paco's Mom
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Blue Black Masked Lovebird
Flight: No

Re: Hello - New Lovebird

Postby Pajarita » Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:04 am

Welcome to the forum, Paco and mom! Let us know of we can be of any help with a proper diet for them (no pellets, I am afraid) and, most especially, now that he is still a very young baby and needs special food (two types of soft food served warn and fresh twice a day). Also, it's GREAT that you ordered Michael's book but you do realize that you can't start training until the bird is a juvenile, right? And that lovebirds are an aviary species and not companion? Michael's birds are pois which are ultimate companions so what he has achieved with his birds is not what you will with an aviary - I am only saying this because I don't want you to be disappointed or to think that there is anything wrong with the bird. People tend to think that all parrots are the same when they are not and that what you can get out of a companion species, you cannot get with an aviary -mainly because aviaries don't bond the same way as companions (yes, even the handfed ones - the breeder or petstore will deny it but then, they want to sell their 'merchandise') but also because they are much more flighty and their attention span is shorter.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Hello - New Lovebird

Postby Paco's Mom » Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:12 pm

I'm not expecting my lovie to be just as trainable as a macaw, or any big parrot, but I will be able to train him some. He will already give me kisses. And I am in a lovebird group, and a lot of people have been able to train and bond with their lovies quite well. So, I know it can be done.

I also do not agree about having to get him a mate. I've had rabbits my whole life and always kept just one. They were happy and healthy, but people kept telling me that there were happier with a bonded friend. So, I got my rabbit a friend and bonded them. After that, it was like not having a rabbit at all. My rabbit lost all her friendliness. I also had trouble with them picking at each other's fur and making bald spots on each other, even though they were friends. And then it was difficult to monitor their health. I couldn't tell who was eating what and I couldn't tell if they were both pooping (a health marker for rabbits). Then one of them died. A few months later the other died. I will never get two rabbits again. All my other rabbits have lived to ripe old ages.

I think Paco will be just fine. He is happy (he sings, plays, and eats happily) and he is healthy. If I get him a friend, they might fight. I might have to deal with babies, and it will become more difficult to monitor their health.
User avatar
Paco's Mom
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Blue Black Masked Lovebird
Flight: No

Re: Hello - New Lovebird

Postby Pajarita » Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:15 am

Well, in my experience (I have multiples of all my animals and the only ones that stay 'by themselves' are the male canaries but that's only because they belong to a territorial species and not a social one), it's actually better for the human for the bird to be happy (because happy means less stress -captivity for undomesticated species ALWAYS means stress and that's not my opinion, it's a cold fact of nature- and less stress means stronger immune system which, in turns, means a longer life) and I've never 'lost' an animal's affection just because it happened to have a companion or mate . Quite the contrary, I always end up with two that love me instead of just one. But, in all honesty, I am an animal lover so I would never consider putting my desires before an animal's needs so, if a species is social, I will strive to give it, at the very least, a mate just for the simple reason that I want my animal to be happy with me. And, no, male lovebirds never fight with females or other male lovebirds. Two females that have no mates of their own, are housed together in a crowded condition, kept at the wrong light schedule and fed the wrong food would though - it's a matter of knowing what to do. And their having babies is also just a matter of knowing what to do. I have males and females of several species living together but I never get babies so, in reality, EVERYTHING is just a matter of the right husbandry.

My position when it comes to parrot care is to follow nature. Period. People's opinions mean nothing to me. Not because I think I know more than them but because I know I don't know enough and neither do anybody else out there (there are no parrot experts, not yet anyway, because the pool of knowledge we have is very small and there haven't been enough years of keeping parrots as pets for any relevant accumulation of compared notes - we do with canaries, for example). If the species is social, I keep it with others of the same species, if the species is territorial, I make sure each male has its own 'territory'. Mother Nature is the only one that knows enough so all I do is follow her guidelines.. and it has worked like a charm for me for many years and with hundreds of birds so, no, the 'if the bird has a mate, you lose your friend' is not true. And I know for a fact that it's not true with lovebirds because I had a female called Matilda (she was an Australian cinnamon) and this bird did not only even left her nest with eggs she was incubating (the eggs were rendered infertile) just so she could come and spend time with me, she even taught her mates (she had more than one but not at the same time) to come to me when I called her (this is because they are always together and the male follows the female wherever she goes). People will tell you something they read somewhere as if it was the gospel even when they did not experience it themselves or done any real research on the subject. I remember many years ago when I first took in my first group of lovebirds. There were nine of them, all show and breeding birds (back then, they were called 'cherry heads'), and they had all been kept separate their entire lives (because they also believed back then that they would fight) and, when I asked (also in a lovebird forum) if I could make a colony out of them, EVERYBODY said -and very categorically, I might add!- that it could not be done. But this made no sense to me because these birds live in flocks in the wild so, OBVIOUSLY, a flock was their natural social grouping (and this is hard-wired into their genes). I let out the pairs one by one and they did not only NOT fight, they immediately formed a little flock and lived happily ever after :D
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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