Can pet lovies lay fertile eggs

[bdfarm]

I hope this is not a stupid question. I'm fairly new at this. I recently got two lovebirds as a pair. I was told that they they were bonded but not dna sexed. Supposedly the first owner bred them but the second owner had no luck. We are the third owner. Anyway, I was told that you cannot tame a breeder lovie too much or they will bond with you instead of their mate, thus causing her to not lay fertile eggs anymore. Is this true? If so, where do I draw the line. One of our birds is becoming affectionate and the other is very "bitey" still. I would like to breed them in the future but not until I learn more about them.

[Enko_chan]

That is absolutely not true!

You can become as friendly as you please with your birds and if they laid fertile eggs before, odds on they will do so again.

This forum has a great reference library and a lot of kind people to share their knowledge and wisdom. You've come to the right place!

Welcome!

[bdfarm]

I've just been so confused over the whole thing. We've had a couple people ask us if we were planning on breeding them. They might be interested in purchasing one from us. Of corse, this is not a definate home. We raise quail on a regular basis so i've had some experience with young and new birds. I know this is completely different though. I also mispoke in my first post. The first owner said they laid eggs. I don't know if they ever hatched. My husband corrected me when he read what I wrote. The second owner said she's had them for a year and they never laid eggs for her. I don't know anything about the first owner other than what the second owner told us. I have done a pelvic on them out of curriosity and one feels like a female and one like a male. I do realize that its not accurate at all to do a pelvic check. Like I said, I was curious. One does feed the other frequently. I have only owned one lovie before so I don't know how they act as a pair other than what i've read. Just for the record, we did not completely jump into this. We have been reading up on lovebirds and trying to learn as much as we can. We breed Great Danes and fully understand and agree with the common issue of over-breeding and irrisponsible breeding. I am very greatful to be accepted here and hope that we are respected. Thanks so much, everyone, for sharing you're knowledge.

[Angelic vampyre]

Hi and welcome. I perfer to keep lovies as pairs but that is just because I had a single one but it really hated being on it's own and my pairs seem to happy but I know that other people have kept one. Also in my research I would not recommend breaking up a bonded pair as they can pine and miss their mate. How old are they? To go through three homes already they might be nearing the tail end of their life and maybe just let them be love birds and don't put any pressure on them to breed. If you want to get a breeding pair best to go to a breeder and ask if they have a prove pair that want to sell. I have had tame Quakers who also breed, some tame Budgies who are some of the BEST parents I have ever had and semi tame Green Cheeks and they are better parents then the avairy breed and raised pair I have so being tame I think has nothing to do with it. The only issue I could see (and have seen in the past) is that some of the larger birds do not have a fear of humans and will attack (and know which parts to go right for) when they are nesting. A friend of mine has Ekkies and to get into the cage during breeding season you have to pad up and wear a face mask. In the off season they are the sweetest most cuddly birds you could ever want.

[bdfarm]

Supposedly our pair is still pretty young. Somewhere I got the impression that they were around 2 or 3 years old but I don't know that for sure. I'm not even sure what made me think that. Its hard to tell. I am looking for some cute names for them too.

[momo]

If you want to know what sex they are, you can get them DNA sexed..

[bdfarm]

I know. Anyone know about what that price runs?

[Enko_chan]

$20-$25

http://www.avianbiotech.com/SexingCenter.htm

they send you the collections materials for free. Make sure you clean the area you are getting the sample from and use clean tools so your sample is pure.

[linda040899]

Pet lovebirds can most certainly produce fertile eggs and rear young!! I've had any number of pets produce youngsters.

If the first breeder got eggs, one of the two (at least at that point) is a female. It's also possible for both birds to be females, get along just like a pair but only one lays eggs at a time. Since the second owner didn't get eggs at all, it's possible that both of the same birds did not go to the second home. I've seen some pretty strange situations and there's a saying among breeders that states a pair can be "proven but not with each other"! Basically, what that means is a pair was sold but they were only half of another pair so together, the "pair" never produced any young. Less than reputable breeders do this to move birds that are not producing well or don't produce at all. And, of course, there are always gullible buyers out there! How well I remember purchasing a pair of Orange Wing Amazons with the intention of breeding them, only to find out that the male was well over 40 years old! I didn't know what I was looking at so I became a "victim."

At this point, I would DNA sex both birds to see what you have. Lovebirds are wonderful companions so I would give them a chance!