thinking of a lovebird

[ttime]

Im not 100% sure if I will, but Im really considering getting a lovebird. Not anytime soon really, because I am breeding budgies right now. Ive been doing a little research, but have a couple of questions. I wanted to know how boisterous(sp) these birds are? I read that they usually wont sing, but have more of a chirp or squeaking sound. If anyone has experience with budgies, how loud are lovebirds compared to them? And my last question is what should the price range for lovebirds be? A local bird store has these prices: normal lovebirds:$99, cremino:$129, and orange face lovebirds:$175. They have a lot more color mutations but those are the ones I remembered.

[Jally]

Is your lovebird for breeding or for a pet? I ask because if you're getting a lovebird for a pet, I wouldn't get one from a petstore but from a breeder. Lovebirds from a petstore are harder to tame. Plus, they are cheaper from a breeder. I adopted Peanut for $50.

I have 5 budgies and 1 lovebird. The lovebird doesn't chirp like the budgies but he does call for them very loudly. If Peanut happens to be one our shoulder when he is calling for the budgies, it literally hurts my ears and makes them ring. Peanut doesn't chirp unless like I said he is calling the budgies or me, or when he is scared or hurt or wants out of his cage.

[linda040899]

Jally has given you some excellent advice! As with Budgies, each lovebird is different so it would be a matter of finding just the right one for you. I breed lovebirds and I try to breed for personality, as well as quality mutations. Some of my pairs produce offspring that have really sweet personalities, while others produce babies that tend to be more aggressive.

Consider whether you want a male or a female for a pet. Each comes with their own set of downsides even though both can make great pets. Females tend to be more cage territorial, while males tend to engage in self-satisfaction when they are mature. Noise-wise, both are the same.

Both Budgies and Lovebirds have the ability to talk, but lovebirds usually don't. Lovebirds are very active and will entertain your for hours with their antics. Rule of thumb with a lovebird is always expect the unexpected!

Price-wise, you will do much better buying from a breeder. Pet shops have to cover their overhead so their retail price is roughly their purchase price doubled or even tripled.

Now that I've offered my thoughts to your questions, welcome to our community! :)

[cp.lovebird]

Welcome to the community ttime! You have come to the right place for information gathering before you decide to purchase a lovebird. You have already been given great advice. I will add a bit from my own experience.

I have noticed that budgies tend to chirp almost constantly (at least my Mom's did!) at a lower volume. Lovebirds don't always make sounds and when they do, it is usually louder and sharper than a budgie! My lovie's name is Squeaky which corresponds to his sounds! I agree with Jally - it sometimes makes my ears ring! However, they are such fun birds with great personalities who love to play and do crazy stuff! I did get mine from a pet store and since I had two, they mostly bonded to each other. In the future, I would probably buy from a breeder to get a more "people-friendly" bird or birds.

The prices you quoted sound about right for the pet stores around me. I am in Canada though and if you are in the U.S. I imagine the price ranges are different.

Good luck with your decision and have fun researching lovebirds! :)

[ttime]

First off thanks for all the info!!Im wanting a lovebird as a pet. Its kind of hard to explain where I was planning on getting the lovebird. Its not a pet store, but a bird specialty store that breed and hand raise their budgies, lovebirds, tiels, etc. And that are where those prices came from. Im about to check the newspaper for some lovebird breeders, and there is a bird rescue, that Im going to contact.

[tokameaki]

hi, parakeets arent loud like a lovebird, i have two and they love loud noises and of course they are loud my arent tame at all but they are cute!

[akira-shakira-the bruce]

Lovies are dfinitely "screechier" than budgies, and much louder in my own opinion. But wow, I adopted Akira for $30 in Florida; but the breeder gave me a discount because my Babe died while the breeder was bringing him to get his nails and beak trimmed (babe was fairly old).

Akira got along well with my grandma's budgie before I got her, so I don't think you'd have much conflict there! (hopefully) And yes, Lovies are boisterous...they're itty-bitty balls of energy!

[ttime]

I found a lovebird breeder pretty close to where I live. My question is what would be the difference between a Peachface lovebird, and a Fischer's lovebird?

[tokameaki]

i am not an expert but they are different types, peachface are more popular and easy to breed,and very loud. in the other hand fischer's lovebirds are more shy and a bit hard to breed, and not so loud and i read somewhere that fischers lovebirds are a little bit difficult to socialize....i want a fischer but maybe later, i saw them on craigslist cheap twice both males, and both hand tame and i missed it!!!! buuuuuuu....