Is 3 a croud?

[StormyMom]

Lets say "theoretically" one with 2 lovebirds, was adding a 3rd. Of course after quarantine, could 3 get along okay? Or would 2 tend to favor to each other? There would only be 1 female involved. I know several of you have 3....id love to hear ur :2cents:

[linda040899]

With lovebirds, usually 2 is company. Three's a crowd, even if 2 are males. I've been in aviculture since late 1990 and I've only had a trio work maybe twice. If someone is thinking about adding a third lovebird, it's best to also add a companion for that bird while you are at it.

[StormyMom]

Darn thats what i was figuring. So even if the 3rd lovie was caged seperately from the other 2, my bets are hes still going to be lonely seeing the other 2 together huh?

[linda040899]

You got that right! While there are exceptions, lovebirds are very social and enjoy almost constant interaction. Since I don't have time for that, all of mine (with the exception of Echo) have companions to fill the attention void when I'm not home.

[StormyMom]

Okay. Well its good to research and find out before making any impulsive decisions. Thanks Linda :D

[linda040899]

Okay. Well its good to research and find out before making any impulsive decisions. Thanks Linda :D

Not a problem! I learned all about impulsive decisions when I started breeding....... :omg: It's easier to do things properly the first time around! :blush:

[StormyMom]

Haha! Tell me about it :whistle:

[maya_exquisite]

Thou (bookworm) should chime in!!

Oh, I soooooooooooooooooooo want a third (and fourth) lovebird so bad!!

[StormyMom]

Yeah she should Maya! But i do remember her saying that Pan was kind of the "left out" one. Which is the reason i was asking about it.

Before i got my first lovie, this was the original lovie i had wanted

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.parrot-bird.com/parrot-pictures/masked_lovebird/Masked-Lovebird-blue-27.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.parrot-bird.com/masked-lovebird-info.html&usg=__l0DTVbgDL-KVnEspz09WpaWwsgQ=&h=768&w=1024&sz=162&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=bIN_62SgEhtk0M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpicture%2Bof%2Bblue%2Bblack%2Bmasked% 2Blovebird%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

The blue-black masked lovies. OMG soooo cute!! I love em!! I was never able to find them ANYWHERE here, and still cant! UGH. Im hoping one day to run into one, but thats why i had asked about the 3. I was hoping to get a larger cage and cage them together.

[linda040899]

Definitely a bad idea to house different species in the same cage! None of my successful trios have been mixed, as different species have different personality traits.

Bookworm has 3 Peachies and I believe she has a separate cage for each of them.

[StormyMom]

Ah thats good to know. I guess i always assumed that theyre all lovebirds, they were all the same (well besides theyre individual personalities of course). So basically theres 3 main kinds..peach faced, masked, and fischers? (sp?)

[maya_exquisite]

Yup, Thou has them all caged separately and Pan was left out for some time... but soon enough Joey ended up being pals with him. Evie took longer, but seems to be coming around by letting him preen her!!

[linda040899]

Actually, there are 9 different species of lovebird, even though you only see Peachfaced, Masked and Fischer's.

The other species include:
Abyssinian
Black Cheeked
Madagascar
Redfaced
Nyasa
Black Collared

[StormyMom]

Hm so one more thought. Probably another bad idea lol. What about caging the masked in his own cage, but next to the peach faced cage so he can still see him. When im home theyd have playtime together. Would that work or am i still better off getting the masked his own kind?

Edit: wow Linda, ive never heard of ANY of those!! O.O

[linda040899]

You could try caging separately but having the cages side by side. However, it's very likely that Stormy and Lizzy will hang out together and the Masked Lovie will be by itself, just with lovebird neighbors. Exception to this would be everyone getting along but that's a long shot and depends strictly on the individual birds.

You can start out with one Masked and see if you need to get a companion.

Black Cheeked Lovebirds are doing fairly well breeding-wise in the US. In their native habitat, they are severely endangered. This particular species is native to the area around Victoria Falls in Africa, as they require a higher humidity level to reproduce. I was breeding them several yrs back and they really are cute. However, there's not too much of a market for them so I found myself with several pairs and a lot of offspring.

[StormyMom]

Yeah thats what i meant with the cages, side by side. Hmm maybe ill give it a shot if i ever run across one. My only fear is, im having such a hard time finding one now, that once i get him, i wont be able to find a friend for him :(

[bookworm0550]

hi there :) yes, i wish i could have bought two birds instead of just Pan. He's kinda the odd man out. it took about two weeks for joey to come around. and just earlier this month for evolet to come around to pan too, which was like 4 months for her to even be near him w/o attacking him. he's not as close to them as they are to each other. he tends to get picked on the most out of the three and the one to get left out of bird games. they chase him off my shoulders if he's sitting w/ me. he's so used to being chased by them that sometimes when they are even near him or land by him, he runs off and hides.

i really want to get him a friend though. i mean, he gets preen time w/ evie and joey, but his preen time is kinda short and it's just not the same as when joey and evie preen one another.

things are def better now than say in January when he first arrived. i'll write later cuz i have to get to work. good luck.

[LovelySydney]

Just throwing in my two cents - If I were to get another lovebird I think I would do so for it to bond with me, considering my two are becoming "fast best friends forever" and have begun doing everything together! I know if I brought home another bird I would want it with me all the time, but then during the times I wouldn't be there (work, outings, etc) I couldn't bear to have him/her by himself - so it's kinda of like a vicious cycle, getting more lovebirds! I guess you either have to have an even number or none at all, but that's just my opinion. If I get another bird I will definitely get 2 so they can be a pair.


Also - I really have had such dynamic luck with my two birds becoming such good friend, I can't even believe how close they have become. So I think I'd be weary of bringing another bird into the mix and then having him/her be left out of it all and lonely.