Do lovebirds do better in same or mixed sex pairings?

[brittbritt]

I adopted my Jackson about a month and a half ago and for Christmas I'm buying him a larger cage and it would be big enough for two lovebirds. :xmastree:

I have 8 budgies and he has been coming out to play with them during out of cage time every day. He loves to spend time on top of the cage with two of them especially and he'll hop in their large cage and spend time playing on their perches and playing with their toys.

When I go to get him out of the cage I can tell he wants to stay in their cage with them. I just don't want to do that because his beak is so much stronger than theirs, plus I've read budgies can gang up on bigger birds.

I'm thinking if I adopt another lovebird even when he has to go back in his cage he'll have a friend of his kind to play and love on. I don't want babies so I don't care if it's a same sex pair but didn't know if lovies tend to do better as a same sex pair or opposite sex pair. I would appreciate any feedback on this at all.

I'm planning on adopting his friend and thought it would be easier to find another lovebird if I could say I would adopt any sex. :window:

[bookworm0550]

I've read that male lovebirds do fine together. You prob dont want a girl cuz you know what happens. Is jackson really a boy? Aww, I think it'll be nice for him to have a friend. Glad you have parakeets to keep him company though :)

[brittbritt]

The person I got Jackson from was originally a bird breeder but quit do to moving further from his workplace and not being able to hand feed the babies anymore. He just gave me Jackson because of this. He told me Jackson was a male but I did not ask if he had been DNA sexed. I've emailed this person since and got no reply.

Six of my budgies I received from people on craigslist.com. I had placed a post offering a good home for any sex budgies. I was going to do the same for a friend for Jackson. I thought if I didn't specify a sex I would have a better chance of getting him a friend this way. I've tried to find a lovebird on petfinder as well, but all I've seen are a very long drive from my area.

A local pet store has several baby lovebirds right now, but I would really like to adopt one needing a new home. I know so many people are having to get rid of their pets do to the economy or moving. Thanks for your reply bookworm.

[bookworm0550]

have you tried Hoobly.com? That's where I found my guy

[linda040899]

Male/male pairings generally do very well, as do male/female pairings. However, unless you want to deal with babies, male/female should be avoided. While I have several female/female pairs that get along great, they are the exception rather than the rule. Female/female is not recommended, at least not by me.

You need to DNA sex Jackson and you will also need a known gender when/if you get Jackson a companion.

[brittbritt]

Thank you so much Linda for the advise.

[linda040899]

Male/male pairings generally do very well, as do male/female pairings. However, unless you want to deal with babies, male/female should be avoided. While I have several female/female pairs that get along great, they are the exception rather than the rule. Female/female is not recommended, at least not by me.

You need to DNA sex Jackson and you will also need a known gender when/if you get Jackson a companion.