No! I don't need another lovie

[LauraO]

Well as many of you know we have 26 lovies. Many of you also may remember our lovie hen Spike. Well Spike's mate Greenie died about a year ago and has been lonely for some time. I normally wouldn't think about getting her a mate because we don't need or want another bird and she has her flock. However, I am giving in because I've realized an unattached hen in a large flock can be big trouble:evil:. Spike is constantly fighting other hens, has a flock of boys fighting to get near her, and general chaos just seems to follow her (I mean more than the general lovie chaos). This chaos became more evident after she was boarded for an extended period of time, and the instant she came home the problems started again. SO........ I am on the lookout for a little friend for Spike:x:x:x:x.

I have no intention of running out and buying a lovie. I am just perusing for opportunities for a bird that Spike may like. She's going on four or five years old so she would do well with an older lovie. I will adopt and will not want to pay anything for the bird outside of a donation so it may take some time, but that's the plan. I am also considering boarding her and the new lovie after quarantine in order to help the pairing along. I've done this one other time and it worked well.

I DON'T NEED ANOTHER PARROT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[linda040899]

Laura,
I completely understand where you are coming from! I can see where a singleton in your set up could cause chaos over and above the normal trouble that lovies get into...... :whistle:

[Pips mom]

Spike must be very loved!!! Best of luck finding her a friend that she will like.

[michael]

I just had to chuckle, as running the gauntlet seems rather fitting for a lovie hen who carries the name "Spike". ...Good thing there's only one of her! ... You know Laura, if we lived closer, and if you were willing, I would entertain the thought of seeing if you'd board B.B. along side Spike just to see if things worked out. ... Heartbreaking to let him go? .. Beyond words. ... But for the sake of improving the quality of life for both birds, there is no other reason I would even consider this. Besides, there's only a handful of fidparents such as yourself whom I would entrust towards precious Beeber's care. ..... Oh my...:(....I can't believe the thought of rehoming him even occured to me. He's really one of the sweetest kindest little parrots i've ever known! ... And really, even though Goof's in a state of perpetual jealousy, they do manage coexisting quite well. ................ Can I change my mind?......>o

Best wishes for Spike. Hopefully she can be herself again once you find her another mate............:)

[Pips mom]

I know just how you feel Micheal! I had similar thoughts too....it's only because you put your birds first and then sit back and say.....hey wait....but I'd miss that little stinker! Seems there's a mr. Jitterbug on this forum who's not getting along well with the rest of his flock and I was thinking the same kind of thing with Rudy. Rudy is a good little guy....sweet as can be, but so far making friends here has been a slow process if at all. We work it all out ok and everybirdy seems happy, but I couldn't help thinking either that if he could have a lovie friend that he got along with and be buds, then it would make for two happy lovies, and what's nice is we could test things out without having to worry about illness and if they didn't get along, then I could just take Rudy back! It was just a thought and seems Jitterbug's home is a bit full anyway, so no more birdies allowed! I'm thinking maybe Rudy and Pip get along very similar to Goof and B.B they do ok, but gotta watch them because they'll fight!

[michael]

......... I'm thinking maybe Rudy and Pip get along very similar to Goof and B.B they do ok, but gotta watch them because they'll fight!

Might be a good thing we don't keep 26 lovebirds!....:lol.....Well yes, it could be that Rudy, Pip, Goof, and B.B. are all in fact quite similar. .. Only difference here, is that while Beebs has remained overly submissive, Goof continues to take the upper advantage. .. Whats funny is, Goofs behavior is almost comparable to that of a chihuahua chasing after a German shepherd. .. Fortunately, both birds know who's big bird around here and would rather gang up on me!.........:rolleyes:

[LauraO]

I just had to chuckle, as running the gauntlet seems rather fitting for a lovie hen who carries the name "Spike". ...Good thing there's only one of her! ... You know Laura, if we lived closer, and if you were willing, I would entertain the thought of seeing if you'd board B.B. along side Spike just to see if things worked out. ... Heartbreaking to let him go? .. Beyond words. ... But for the sake of improving the quality of life for both birds, there is no other reason I would even consider this. Besides, there's only a handful of fidparents such as yourself whom I would entrust towards precious Beeber's care. ..... Oh my...:(....I can't believe the thought of rehoming him even occured to me. He's really one of the sweetest kindest little parrots i've ever known! ... And really, even though Goof's in a state of perpetual jealousy, they do manage coexisting quite well. ................ Can I change my mind?......>o

Best wishes for Spike. Hopefully she can be herself again once you find her another mate............:)

While BB sounds like a great lovie and someone Spike would love, you would likely miss him oh so badly. It's so hard to rehome a beloved fid even you think they would likely do well elsewhere:whistle:.

Actually, I say we send Spike to Michael and see the fireworks between BB and Goof over who's going to hook up with the new chick in town:omg:.

[Flapjack]

Hi Laura,

Well, Jack is still not in the same cage as Gremaldo. He's had a mate before, and keeps trying to get Jack to love him, but she didn't grow up with any other lovies and is finding it difficult to play nice.

I'm still trying, but, I don't know. They sit side by side in their adjacent cages, and Jack does the clicky dance and raises her butt and wings. However, when they're out of the cage, Jack won't have anything to do with Gremaldo, and will sometimes lunge at him.

Gremaldo may be a consideration... He's 3 1/2, and really cute. I only live like 30mins from you, too.

I'd rather have him with Jack, but really thought they'd be in the same cage by now.

[LauraO]

Hi Laura,

Well, Jack is still not in the same cage as Gremaldo. He's had a mate before, and keeps trying to get Jack to love him, but she didn't grow up with any other lovies and is finding it difficult to play nice.

I'm still trying, but, I don't know. They sit side by side in their adjacent cages, and Jack does the clicky dance and raises her butt and wings. However, when they're out of the cage, Jack won't have anything to do with Gremaldo, and will sometimes lunge at him.

Gremaldo may be a consideration... He's 3 1/2, and really cute. I only live like 30mins from you, too.

I'd rather have him with Jack, but really thought they'd be in the same cage by now.

Jeni. Thank you so much for the consideration! Gremaldo is a beautiful lovie and sounds like he's got a great personality. I'm sorry Jack is being a typical lovie who refuses to go along with your plans for pairing:x. I have been through this so many times. I will say that eventually Gremaldo and Jack could get together, and while they are not in the same cage they sound like they do have a relationship.

If you are serious about finding Gremaldo another home we can definately talk (PM me). However, I wonder how hard it would be on Gremaldo to switch to yet another home so quickly after he's come to your home, and if you really want to give up on him and Jack getting together. Believe it or not, I've had lovies live together in our flock for years and be totally disinterested in each other and suddenly bond, mate and start living together. For instance, when Cuddlebunny and Birdyboots got together they had been in our flock for at least two or three years. We had tried everything to get each of them a mate, and had brought more than one bird for each of them and they never bonded to them. Then suddenly, they started hanging out with each other and then bonded and moved in together. Interestingly, after Birdyboots passed, Cuddlebunny bonded about a year later with our slate masked lovie Olive who had NEVER been interested in other lovies or living in a cage. Olive loved our meyer's parrots for YEARS and was obsessed. Now Olive happily lives in a cage with Cuddles and rarely interacts with the meyers. So you just never know?

I have been thinking of contacting Kim in Albany. We got our crazy hybrid lovebird Kai from her (Kai is another example of how suddenly lovies can bond to others after a long period of time). She also helped with a pretty big rescue I called her about. She usually has rescue lovies and will often take trades or donations, which I don't mind giving with all the good rescue work she does. I just haven't spoke with her in awhile. Have you heard from her or about her lately?


I still think the funnest plan would be to send Spike to Michael. It sounds like he, Goof, and BB need a lovie hen in their life and Spike in a flock of boys is never boring :whistle:.

[Flapjack]

I spoke to her a few months ago when I was trying to get help with Nokomis' screaming issues.

Yes- she usually has lovies for adoption.

We still have to hook up and go to Clackamas :)