The secret to a happy lovebird?

[Jally]

What is the secret? Is there a secret? Is 2 better than one?

I can not spend 24/7 with Peanut and he is not happy unless he is causing trouble or being with me. However, I can not be doing anything else such as playing on the puter or watching TV. My hands have to be available all the time to him to scritch him and for him to feed.

Since I can NOT be with him 24/7, should he have a friend? I know that it is a myth that a lovebird has to have a friend or it will die. But, should he/she have a friend to be HAPPY?

Is your single lovebird happy? How do you know?

My single lovebird is the only lovebird we have, however we have 2 budgies, a tiel, and a linnie all residing in the room with Peanut. Peanut does not interact with them at all except to chase them away from his immediate area. So, it isn't as if he is LONELY, he just doesn't have ME. His perceived mate.

[Pips mom]

Hard to tell. All birds are different just like people. Some don't mind being alone, some need more attention than others. Pip has always been happy with whatever company he can find! He's not picky! He loved the tiels when it was just them and him, and then when we got Ivy, he just fell right in love with her! My boyfriend is always saying.....he's just a loooove machine! lol because he's always humping or looking for his love! I think if you really know your lovie that you know if he's happy. It's pretty obvious with Pip that he's a happy little guy! If you really think he is unhappy when you aren't there, then I guess getting him a friend is something you may want to look into. Thing is there is never any guarantee that a new lovie friend will and your lovie will like each other, so it's always a chance you take. Even with Pip being so social with other birds and I just know he'd LOVE another lovie, what about the other lovie? another lovie might not like him.....he can be annoying at times!! :rofl:

[Chickobee]

How old is Peanut? During the first year they go through a lot of behavior changes. You are now training your bird how to interact with you. If you get him out every time he calls he will learn to call, and call, and call until you come.

Does he have toys and things to do to keep him occupied and happy in his cage? Like little kids they need to learn to play by themselves as well as with you. We try to spend a little time each day with each bird or each pair. They also have "flock out time" which is lots of birds out at the same time on the playgyms.

I have found that our birds like routine also. We try to feed them at approximately the same times each day. We also dim the lights at approximately the same time each evening. I take them out frequently if I am walking through the living room even if it is only for a minute to say hi.

We do change things around in the cages quite frequently and also move the cages around sometimes too so they stay adapted to changes.

They do call us if they hear us but can't see us. Sometimes it gets really loud, but we have 23 of them. There would be way less noise with less birds.

Most of our birds are in pairs but some are not. They all seem happy to me and they have the other birds to talk to. The single birds are more eager to come out of the cages than the paired birds are, but sometimes they would rather stay in and play with their toys. With a pair they will want to come out together, but not separately. If we take a paired bird out alone it will continually make contact calls to it's mate and try to get back to the cage.

I don't know if this helped. I would only add another bird if you want another bird. Peanut will do fine alone and be more closely bonded to you without a mate. But, if you really don't have time for him then I might consider getting one. But, he does have the other birds to talk to...

So, you decide! :whistle:

[Chickobee]

Oh, another thing. My paired birds love each other. That is obvious, but they still have occasional squabbles. They never do serious harm though. They just look so darned cute perched together at night...

Hmmmmmm. Maybe I should take a series of pair photos of snuggly lovies! Of course, when the camera comes near they start moving around.

[Bubblelady]

I've had 2 single lovies & both perceive/perceived me as their mate. And both demanded a LOT of attention. And both were clearly happy. That said, I'm thinking that when Buddy flies off to the Rainbow Bridge (she has made it clear as clear can be she does NOT want a birdie friend), I may want a pair of lovies. Two reasons. One, the videos & photos I've seen here of lovies interacting with each other appeals to me LOTS. Two, now that I have Gussie, my GCC, I wouldn't be able to give a single lovie the time/attention that I gave my Bo & Buddy. So I'm thinking, too.

With Gussie, I've gone another route. She WANTS to be with me 24/7 as well but it's been more of a problem because she wants to play more than Buddy ever did. Buddy was perfectly happy to sit on my shoulder, or sit on the desk & shred to her heart's content. As long as I was near by. Gussie, on the other hand, want to PLAY. Especially with my hands & whatever they are doing. That means the keyboard and mouse are both TONS of fun. I finally built a super duper play gym with lots of ladders & swings & toys--pictures still pending. I actually built 2--the big one is in the living room and the smaller one travels from room to room with us. Gussie will now play on her gym, with only occasional side trips to the keyboard, as long as we are within a foot or two of each other. Her motto seems to be: Give me something to do or I'll make sure you can't do anything but play with me!

Also, I learned from reading posts here to not let Gussie out just because she wants out. I was trained by Irish Catholic nuns & can be sent on a guilt trip ridiculously easy :omg: So from DAY ONE, I never took Gussie out when she was calling. I'd answer her but wouldn't go into the room she was in unless she was quiet. That really paid off. Now, she will call me in the morning, I answer her, and she is quiet. I usually get her out fairly soon (because I want her out) but if I don't she calls to me every 15 minutes or so then goes back to her cage toys for a few more minutes. But once out, I have to provide entertainment if I want to do anything other than play with her. Which can be a whole other problem because I'd rather play with her than do the things I should be doing. :blush:

[Jally]

Thank you all for your replies. It is a very serious decision and if Peanut doesn't take to another lovie, then I'd have 2 to contend with. Gracious.

Peanut is 1 1/2 years old. He'll be 2 in June. He has gone thru a lot of stages and changes and we have now hit the puberty phase.

Peanut does have toys to play with and plenty of foraging opportunities. He is hardly ever caged, except at night. And we do have our routines practically set in stone. They get woken up and fed in the AM at the same time and they get put to bed at the same time. Peanut and I have a night time routine that we do every night. There may be one night a week that we don't do it but there has to be a very good reason why we don't.

It's not that I don't have time for him, as soon as the daycare kids leave, Peanut gets to come out of the bird room and most evenings we spend the entire evening together. And when my helper comes, I generally spend about an hour feeding the birds, cleaning up the bird room and spending time with Peanut. I just don't think that is enough for him.

I didn't agonize this much when we decided to have more children!! LOL I think I need to quit analyzing every single little thing.

[BarbieH]

I have one single bird. I can't take him out all the time either. That's just the way it is here. Somebody has to keep them in birdseed!

Sammy has a special toy in his cage, a stuffed critter we call "Fuzzy Frog." It's green and just about as long as he is. Fuzzy Frog resides in a modified straw hat on the floor of Sam's cage. Fuzzy Frog and Sam have something of an LTR. He feeds Fuzzy and does other things to Fuzzy. :whistle:

Sam comes out about three times daily, and he loves those times. He really seems proud that he knows when it's time to come out with me or hubby. Having a schedule really works for him, in addition to having his little fuzzy friend.

If you decide to get a faux cagemate for your bird, look for one that can be machine washable if it's cloth. We found Fuzzy at a pet supply store, probably near the dog toy department.