Are you glad you got a second?

[ummbnb]

After many, many years of keeping and fostering large parrots (and a quaker or two) we brought home our first lovebird two months ago. He (?) is the sweetest thing ever! He loves each and every member of our family, especially the kids. He's happy and healthy and just a joy....so much so that we're considering another lovebird.

Ideally we'd want them to live together, understanding that there's a chance they won't want this and we'd keep them apart. We also have a 10yo BFA who could not care less about the lovebird. heh heh

So, have any of you regretted getting a second lovebird?

[Enko_chan]

My two are in love with each other... I came very close to only getting one, but had a quake of conscience. They are not as dependent on us human beings as some of my single lovebirds have been, none of my pairs ever were, but they still require our attentions and affections, still cherish our time together, and they most definitely still love us. They beg to come and play with their parronts every day. If you have a close bond with this lovie, I doubt they'll ever not love or need you- but they may want to hang out less, and spend more time together. Some folk in the forum have multiple lovies that play together and like each other but don't live together, as well.

The love between my lovies is very beautiful and I definitely do not regret getting two. However, once they're bonded, be prepared for the lovie magnet effect. They will always want to be together, but that doesn't mean they won't want to be with you!

[bookworm0550]

i don't regret my 2nd lovebird or my 3rd. i'm so glad i have them. it's a strange relationship amongst all three. and three is a crowd, but they really do like one another. there's a lot of preening and then switching partners and sometimes all three are preening each other. of course my camera is never around for those moments :(

keeping them in separate cages is fine too. all mine have their own cages. i can always tell when they've had enough of one another and when they are grouchy so it's nice to be able to put them away in their own rooms and away from each other. plus it makes them being together when i'm home much more....., what's the word i'm looking for here.... special :) it's up to you though. I don't think there's a right or wrong way of doing it.

what's your bird's name?

[LovelySydney]

I had Gus first and then there was Oslo and I was nervous at first but they instantly fell in love and I never regretted it! Of course I was lucky, the first day together they were preening one another and napping together, it was TOO CUTE. They were magnets, two peas in a pod, never leaving one anothers side except to go to bed separately at night. I say go for it, the bond between two lovies is something a human cannot give to their bird and its just such an exceptional relationship to watch - I just love it!!

[bookworm0550]

oh yeah, when lovebirds love one another, it's great, but do prepare for if they do not like each other. nothing worse than two birds who hate each other. trust me, i know all about it.

[Jally]

While I don't regret my decision to get a second lovie, my first wants nothing to do with the second and now I am back to square one because I have a lonely lovie. I had gotten Oreo to be a buddy to Peanut but Peanut usually acts as if Oreo isn't even alive :( However, Oreo's wings are clipped, and Peanut loves nothing more than a good chase, so maybe things will get better once Oreo regains his flight. I don't know, only time will tell and Oreo has been here for months already...

[momo]

I don't regret getting Spotty, but at times I wondered whether it is the right thing or not. But because he came home ill; I believe that he was meant to live with me. QT is a long, boring & frustrating process.. and many people don't do it and take the risks of opening up their beloved bird to diseases and death. The first weeks seem forever, but once you hit the month mark it goes so quickly.

Bringing spotty home has brought alot of issues with Elmo though. Elmo is as your lovie is. She is very much a human bird and not a bird bird. The first week where Elmo and Spots finally got in the first room together after QT... Elmo despised Spotty. Would constantly yell at her and tried to attack Spotty every chance she got.. Over time this has ceased slowly but not completely. I actually brought Spotty home to be a friend for Elmo because I had to work a bit more. But I knew that this was a possibility, a BIG possibility. I think I jinxed myself by buying a mansion for Spotty and Elmo to maybe live in. I know now they will both live separate for their lives.

I would find out whether your lovie is a DNA male or female. From the stories I've read, males and males are more likely to get along than anything that is female ;)

There are serious consequences of getting another bird; if your bird is healthy, happy and has enough out of cage time then there is no real need to get another unless you wanted another friend. Multi-lovie bird houses do work, but they also don't. It also depends on how old your lovie is.
When they are young and put together like Bookworms, they seem to get along alot quicker; whereas Elmo is now a bit more than one years old and has spent a year with just her and me and isn't taking to her new friend.

[ummbnb]

Thanks for your feedback. Plimpton is only about 4 months old. Initially my motivation was just because *I* adore these birds so much and want another and then I realized that school will be starting soon and with that my husband and kids will suddenly be gone much of the day. Plimpton knows nothing different than to be surrounded by their action all day long so he might be genuinely lonely. Since Dixon (the bfa) wants nothing to do with him, not even cages next to one another, he really might get lonely.

< watch me justify! >

When we decided to get a lb I found two breeeders I wanted to consider - one had babies, one didn't. Now the second one has babies...including a couple of cinnamons.

I think I'm going to go see what she has - with no money and no travel cage :rofl: and see what we think.

[belenny]

I think that a lovie on that age could accept a new one easily ;)

Wiki is a human bird like someone has said and she attacked Mac a lot, but with patience we´ve managed them to live together. We´ve needed almost six months and a very slow approach, but it´s possible.

Bookworm and momo: Don´t give up!
Look at these videos and photos from the beginning, Wiki really wanted to kill Mac! Now they are friends, and I´m sure that they´ll be a couple very soon :)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/DSCN3661.jpg

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=Susto.flv

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=Pelea.flv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DInxlsqto4

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=galera.flv

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/CIMG1376.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/Sinttulo-5.jpg



If you want I could write what we did step by step.

[Pips mom]

I only just got my second lovie and they haven't been introduced yet....so far though it's looking like they will probably get along ok....the new guy seems quite friendly and Pip gets along well with other birds....they chirp back and forth to each other at times. Even before they meet each other, I think you can kind of get sense of how things might go and I think I may have done good with my choice here. I think my new lovie will fit in here pretty good.....in time of course! Of course I have other birds here....a pionus and two cockatiels and they pretty much will all get along ok, except for Ivy gets jealous of the tiels, so I don't let them out together anymore. So my lovie already has feathered friends here.

[LovelySydney]

Yes I had two DNA'd males and that was definitely easy getting them to be friends. The next lovies I get will be a pair that are probably bonded already - only because if I bring home one then I will get lovie fever again and want a friend. Id rather bring both in at once that I know love one another already = )

[momo]

Belenny I would absolutely LOVE for you to write what you have done. I just feel like this is a subject throughout bird forums that lacks in literature.. probably because every bird is so different.. I would really appreciate it.. I know Elmo has the love there to love another bird.. she just has to get over her urge to get rid of Spotty's toes.

[StormyMom]

I originally got one lovie because i wanted him to bond to me. What i didnt realize was how incredibly lonely he was. Now this isnt in all cases, i know people who have just one lovie, and they are the happiest birds going, but Stormy just wasnt one of them.

After having him a month, i went and got him a friend. A female. I was one of the dumb ones who didnt Quarantine, but i was lucky that they were both healthy. Lizzy didnt take to Stormy at first, but Stormy was CRAZY about her. I did have to seperate them at first, but after a few weeks i was able to cage them together.

Stormy still follows Lizzy everywhere, but it helped because she was so bonded to me, when she came over, he came over. She helped him over his shyness, and now hes an extremely outgoing bird. I can tell hes much happier. I think Lizzy could honestly care less if hes here or not. I personally think if i had gotten her first, id only have her. But im glad i have them both :)

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I started with one lovebird, Milo, and added a second one when it became clear that he needed someone of his own kind to hang out with during the day while I was at work. So I brought home Melody about 4 months later.

After Melody died this past fall, Milo was a very lonely little bird. Less than 2 weeks later, I made arrangements with Linda to bring another bird into my family. While Milo was very happy to have another bird in the house, it took Milo a looooooong time to warm up to the idea of actually having that bird live with him.

Like Belenny, I had to use a very slow and gradual approach to get the birds sharing a cage. When the time came, I started with the 2 birds in 2 separate cages in the same room, about 4 feet apart. They could see and hear each other.

I would also bring the birds out with the help of another person, one bird on each person, and let them play separately. If a bird tried to fly to the other, I would let them check each other out but only for like a minute or two.

I continued this, gradually increasing the time together over the course of several weeks.

Then I moved the cages side by side, continuing to let the birds live in separate cages, with short, supervised playtime in a neutral location.

When both birds appeared to want to be with the other bird (ie, hanging on the cage bars as close to the other bird as possible) then I put them on top of (or in) the 'big' cage that I intended for them both to live in.

Like with toddlers, they had to learn to work things out among themselves when there were disagreements over snacks and toys. So I had to grit my teeth and allow a little bit of bickering, again, while watching them closely so I could intervene if anything got serious.

I gradually increased the time that they could be together in the 'big' cage together, again, over a few weeks, until it was an hour, then 2 hours, then half a day, then all day, then day and night. By the end of this process my birds were inseparable and still are.

Hope this helps.

[belenny]

My case is very similar to yours, StormyMom :)
I didn´t think about another bird until I realized that Wiki had not a "complete" life.
I could play with her, let her fly around the room, feed her propperly, cuddle her when she asked me, ... But when she was in heat she was alone and frustrated, I could ignore it but she was suffering because her partner didn´t want to pair with her.
When I was out she wasn´t so lonely because I live with my family and they played with her, but I know she missed me...

Mac was a little male and Wiki was a female who needed one, so I brought him :blush:

He came home when he was around 35 days old, I breed him like I did with Wiki, but I put the cages side by side very soon.
Mac has always wanted to be with Wiki, but she´s imprinted and I think that´s a problem for her to recognise him as a partner.

I put Mac some minutes a day on his cage and let Wiki approach to him from outside and vice versa, and when he learnt to fly I began to put them together on the supervised playtime.

Wiki is calmer when she´s wet, so I used to bath them together and allowing interaction between them then. Here you have a video about it:

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=BaoWiki-Mac.flv

And some photos ;)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/DSCN4162.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/DSCN4163.jpg

Training with both at the same time was very good, too. I think they could feel like a real flock by doing things together although they didn´t touch each other at all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atmz0SedyMk

When I saw some progresses on their behaviour (eating at the same time, sleeping at the same time, sprucing theirselves at the same time, ...) I began to allow Mac entering Wiki´s cage. I did it when they were wet, too :)

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=CIMG1191.flv

Then I tried to feed them with seeds (their favourite food) together out of their cages:

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=CIMG1410.flv

This process lasted around six months and now they´re together on the same cage. Wiki is a little possessive with her things yet, but she´s a female... Mac will have to accustom himself to that :rofl:

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/belenny1/?action=view&current=Comenfrutayverdura.flv

That video is about the second day they were together, now it´s much better ;)

[StormyMom]

Haha it does sound similar to mine. Lizzy still wears the pants for sure. Them females, bossy little things huh? My father in law says Lizzy reminds of "human females" LOL

She still gets bossy with Stormy from time to time. And i do hear them argue every once in a while. its rare when i actually have to clap my hands or say "HEY" cuz ive had enough. I think Stormys problem is hes too clingy. But hes definately learned along the way to give Lizzy her space.

[Pips mom]

What a good idea, letting them bathe together and then drying off, they are so busy preening that it might keep them busy enough to not think about if they are getting along ok. I'm sure all of what I have read here will help me with my intoductions and how I will handle Pip meeting his new friend.....such great advice!
Belenny.....I love your nice big cage you have for your lovies. I find though that's it hard to find a cage that size for smaller birds because it always has a larger bar spacing and not small enough for lovebirds. I know this because when I got my Ivy's cage, I wanted to make sure that even though she's a bigger bird, that the cage was suited to having lovies there too.....in and out of that cage. I knew I'd have a mischievous little Pip running all over that cage, so I wanted to make sure the bar spacing was accommodating to that too. I did find a cage, but most bigger ones also have the bigger bar spacing, well, except for the HQ flight cages that alot of us have. Ivy's cage has thicker, sturdier bars than that flight cage and is a heavy duty cage. I like the cages with the flat top or play top and Ivy's cage has a bit of a dome type to it.....one day I'd like to try to sell it and get her one that is a little wider instead of taller and with a flat or play top.