New lovie, old Quaker... can they be friends?

[Bluefeathers115]

I recently acquired a baby peach-faced lovebird, and hand feeding has been going well. I had one scare, but luckily my vet tech skills kicked in and he is fine hopping around and peeping up a storm.

Recently, my blue quaker has taken an interest in him. He is very social, and has a group of quakers he hangs out with on a weekly basis. It is quite the show :rofl:

I was hoping that when the lovie is old enough and strong enough that the two could be potential cage mates. My quaker is highly bonded with me, which is one thing that makes it a little better to deal with, and that heis so bird social.

I recently bought a curved PCV pipe and placed it atop my quakers large cage, and the lovie seems to enjoy hanging out in it - this is great because my quaker is scared to enter it - making it a safe haven in a way, just in case.

just a few questions from an old quaker/new lovie owner.

- the lovie is 5 weeks old about. how long will it take to wean?
- when to start weaning?
- how to wean?
and are there any social behaviors other than aggressive and over bonding i should worry about and how to work with the two, still keeping my quaker "top dog".
- any other advise...

thank you!!

[linda040899]

Cngratulations on your new lovebird baby! Parent weaned babies will usually fledge around age 8 weeks. Hand fed ones can take 2-4 weeks longer than that. Depends on the individual baby and how confident they are in their own ability to eat by themselves.

A friendship between your Quaker and your lovebird will have to develop between them. I would keep them in separate cages and see how they take to each other. They could end up as cagemates but I would not count on it. I have a lovebird that lives with 3 Tiels and they all get along and that's just as unusual, especially since the lovebird is a hen. She's in with a female Tiel and 2 male Tiels.

Will have to add more to this later on today. I'm currently at work and it's my busy, busy season!!!