New lovey owner - questions.

[LovelySydney]

Hi everyone! I will be receiving my new lovey, Sydney, on Feb. 1st and couldn't be more excited! I have been reading (almost obsessively) about everything lovebird for the past week in anticipation of our new addition to our family. I have some questions for those willing to answer, I very much appreciate it.

1. We have a very large house (7 or 8 rooms) and will be giving Sydney her own space, but we DO have two dogs. A 4 pound chihuahua and a mix breed 50 pound dog. Im sure I wont be the first bird owner to have dogs but any advice on that situation? I obviously will not be putting Sydney in any danger of the dogs but Im just wanting to hear from people who do it on a daily basis, have dogs and birds I mean.

2. My boyfriend is still highly concerned that Sydney is going to be "overly vocally active"..I have shown him things online and blogs from people and even youtube video to show him how lovebirds interact and live and he has changed his opinion a small amount, but still Id like to hear from others about the noise level. I dont anticipate it as being that large of a problem, and I will deal with it either way, but in some cases is the noise really that bad?

3. We dont know if Syd is a boy or a girl, hence the unisex name, but I have heard horror stories about females lovies that they can completely change from tame to mean, and that they are generally harder to keep as pets. I havent found much information online regarding the subject, so I implore the forum for some answers on that topic.

4. Sydney will most likely bond to me the most, but am wondering, how are they when people are around and what can you do to socialize them? I know that they can get territorial over their 'mate' (in this case, me) but are they able to ever go to other people or be nice and social with other people? We have friends over a lot and I am wondering if Sydney will ever be able to sit on their shoulders or sit on their finger, or if I will be her comfort zone always.


Thanks everyone so much and Im so excited to share my stories and journey with baby syd when she comes home!!!

[dieflying]

I just wanted to throw in my opinion on the noise level . . . our lovie likes to chirp to herself quite a bit, but it's very very quiet. Like she's just talking to herself, or talking herself to sleep. Sometimes she gets quite loud (not nearly like a screaming noise, just VERY forceful) but usually she quiets right down when we go over and pay attention to her. Talking to her, open her cage door, handle her a little, then she's nice and quiet again.

I don't find her noises intrusive at all. They're really quite pleasant.

[Pips mom]

I agree on the noise.......I love Pip's chirps and sounds. The only time he was really noisey when we first got him, so there's always the chance your bird could be noisey at first, but I think most birds in new situations tend to be more quiet. The only time he gets noisey now is if he's in his cage and he's responding to my other birds.
As far as other people go, with Pip he is not hand tame, but will go on shoulders and heads, and he's very social and seems to loves other people, other birds, even dogs.....he just likes everyone!

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

hi!

what i've noticed is that if i'm out of sunnybird's line of sight & she knows we're inthe house, we get "contact calls" I usually chirp back and answer those.

I think she recgnizes the front door as the door hubby and I "leave" out of. I hear her chirping, but different from our contact calls... almost like she's griping out loud.

She also makes smaller chirps when she's playing or amusing herself in her cage....like dieflying mentioned about talking to herself... these are cute noises.

she's usually pretty quiet when she's got company. noiser when she's alone.

[Bubblelady]

I live in an apartment & have had no complaints about noise. Buddy is only noisey when something else is noisey--like the vacuum or the blender. She does answer the blue jays out side and calls loudly when she want out--but not as loud as the vacuum.

You note, I have been saying "she". Buddy is a proven hen--as in, has-laid- an-egg-hen. And she is (usually) the sweetest little birdie you can imagine. In fact, I was at the vet one day when some type of veterinary product rep was waiting so see the vet & was watching me with Buddy. The lady finally said, "That is the most socialized bird I have ever seen!" She not only will go to everyone, she DEMANDS that she be allowed to go to everyone with whom I am talking. I have a wonderful photo of Buddy sitting on the hand of a friend of mine who is afraid of birds. My friend was staying with me for several days, & hadn't held Buddy. Buddy tried to get to my friend (Buddy's wings are clipped) with increasing insistance. Finally my friend held her--the photo has Buddy sitting on her hand, happy as can be, while my friend holds her arm out in one direction with her body leaning in the other direction & a priceless look of apprehension on her face. After a couple of minutes Buddy came back to me, satisfied, & didn't bother my friend any further.

Now I can't guarentee that your bird will be a social as Buddy--they do all have their own personalities--but "hen" doesn't necessarily = "devil". Nor does "male" necessarily = "social". A lot of it has to do with how much time you spend with the bird. The more you handle your baby, the more social it will be.

I should add the the one thing that does make Buddy dangerous is any small, round container that she perceives as a nest opening. The two most dangerous (to my fingers) are toilet paper tubes and small round cans of bird treat/greens/seed--like they sell in the grocery store. (We don't have those in the house anymore!)

So don't greet your baby with a lot of pre-concieved notions. Every lovie is different. But every lovie is loveable! Happy baby bird! You are in for a real treat :happy:

[kk and tango]

My mom was shocked by the noise level of lovebirds, but we are also in an apt and we have no problems. I do suspect I don't hear at certain ranges anymore, though. :)

As for bonding, Tango bonded to both my boyfriend and I as well as my dad and liked my mom and sister, too. Just make sure to socialize the bird with several different people and make sure your boyfriend makes an effort to spend time with it, too.

The more you work with your baby, the likelier you are to have a good relationship with him and her, which can mitigate some of the "hen" issues that I myself was worried about as well. Feed a good mixed diet, too, to help in that regard.

And in terms of dogs, it is hard to control instinct and accidents can happen, but we trained my dog that if the bird jumped down to the floor (Tango, Tiki and Evie are all clipped) that he was to "sit" immediately where ever he was, "leave it" and he got a treat. Maxie and Beau were both trained this way, though sometimes in their enthusiasm for the treat they risked trampling the bird. Make sure they sit stay! My boyfriends dogs were actually trained to be scared of the cockatiel and Tiki would torment the poor things, even going so far as to steal their treats! But do supervise all interaction and feel free to close the door if you need to. Do this early on so the birds and dogs are used to it and don't protest to much--though a bird's instinct is to call to the flock when they are left alone...

Good Luck! You must be so excited.

[LovelySydney]

Hi everyone and thanks SO MUCH for the responses!! I am VERY EXCITED about getting Sydney but I am also very nervous because I want to make sure I do everything right! I did have a moment of doubt earlier this week because I was on another forum, I believe a parrot forum, and most of the people when asked about lovebirds said not to get one unless you have tons and tons of time. People wrote that they were loud, messy, hard to train, mean to other people and animals and other negatives - so for a moment I must admit I did think "am I getting in over my head here?". So thank you everyone for all your responses and your 'positives' because i think I needed to hear it!!

As I mentioned we have a very large house - my bf and I each have 'living rooms' of our own which is our own space where we do what we choose. Him & his dog are in his 'man room' and my chi and I in my 'blue room'. Sydney's cage will be in there with me. Don't get me wrong we ARE a family and spend much time together too but these are our 'downtime' areas! I guess my only concern is keeping Sydney warm since we have a drafty old house and right now Michigan isn't too warm!!:confused:


Thanks again for everyones responses I am so appreciative!! & yes I really CANNOT wait to bring home Syd! I was going to set up her cage last night but couldn't because it would've made me MORE apprehensive to stare at it for a week!!:rofl:

- Kristy

[Tango's_Mom]

Congratulations on your new bird!

Hi everyone! I will be receiving my new lovey, Sydney, on Feb. 1st and couldn't be more excited! I have been reading (almost obsessively) about everything lovebird for the past week in anticipation of our new addition to our family. I have some questions for those willing to answer, I very much appreciate it.

1. We have a very large house (7 or 8 rooms) and will be giving Sydney her own space, but we DO have two dogs. A 4 pound chihuahua and a mix breed 50 pound dog. Im sure I wont be the first bird owner to have dogs but any advice on that situation? I obviously will not be putting Sydney in any danger of the dogs but Im just wanting to hear from people who do it on a daily basis, have dogs and birds I mean. I have very strict rules about dogs (and cats for that matter) around my bird, I've always lived in houses with dogs since long before getting my lovebird and so far there has not been anything close to an incident because I insist on following these rules no matter what. Dogs are only ever allowed in the same room as the bird when it is in the cage and closely supervised. Any dog that shows any inclination to go after the cage, even once, is no longer allowed in the room with the bird, ever, period. Dogs are NOT allowed in the room with the bird when I'm not there to supervise, ever. AND MOST IMPORTANT, the bird is never out of the cage in the same air space as the dogs. If the bird is out of the cage, the dog has NO ACCESS WHATSOEVER to the area where the bird is and vice versa.

2. My boyfriend is still highly concerned that Sydney is going to be "overly vocally active"..I have shown him things online and blogs from people and even youtube video to show him how lovebirds interact and live and he has changed his opinion a small amount, but still Id like to hear from others about the noise level. I dont anticipate it as being that large of a problem, and I will deal with it either way, but in some cases is the noise really that bad? I've lived in shared houses with roomates who are also students for as long as I've owned my bird with no complaints, He has noisy times of day, and can be a little vocal if he feels he needs something right then lol.

3. We dont know if Syd is a boy or a girl, hence the unisex name, but I have heard horror stories about females lovies that they can completely change from tame to mean, and that they are generally harder to keep as pets. I havent found much information online regarding the subject, so I implore the forum for some answers on that topic.You can have a DNA test done to confirm, there are things that can be done to help deal with the hormones, other than that i can't comment because I've only had a male

4. Sydney will most likely bond to me the most, but am wondering, how are they when people are around and what can you do to socialize them? I know that they can get territorial over their 'mate' (in this case, me) but are they able to ever go to other people or be nice and social with other people? We have friends over a lot and I am wondering if Sydney will ever be able to sit on their shoulders or sit on their finger, or if I will be her comfort zone always.I think if socialized with a variety of people you should be ok, also the attitude the person has towards the bird makes a difference, my bird will happily go to my boyfriend because he is not afraid of him and helps me look after him and etc. and he's fine with friends of mine who have birds or are not afraid of him, and will go to them fine. When I left him with a friend she had him out and cuddling the first day. He does tend to be more friendly with others if I'm out of the room, if I'm there he usually will come to me. However i have one friend who is very afraid of being bitten, and Tango won't go to her and will bite if she tries to touch him


Thanks everyone so much and Im so excited to share my stories and journey with baby syd when she comes home!!!

[LovelySydney]

Thanks for your concern linda - but I actually adopted Sydney when she was 7 weeks old, but I cannot pick her up for another 2 weeks, so she will be roughly 9 weeks old. The breeder told me she needs to make absolute sure that sydney is eating on her own and ok on her own. She even told me that if she has any doubt Sydney is not ready to leave at that time that she will be keeping her a few more days to make 100% sure. So rest assured, I will be getting her when she's old enough to leave!! - but the waiting is def. the hardest part!!:blush:

[Pips mom]

I was on another forum, I believe a parrot forum, and most of the people when asked about lovebirds said not to get one unless you have tons and tons of time. People wrote that they were loud, messy, hard to train, mean to other people and animals and other negatives

You should go to youtube and watch some of these videos of lovies......they are very smart, and obviously not too hard to train! Me and Pip enjoy watching lovie videos together.....lovies are little bundles of fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaLEGNAn5r8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27qQQ945cW0&feature=related

Any bird can be loud, messy, hard to train or mean! It's unfair to say one type of bird is this way....they are all unique little individuals!