What can you tell me about Abyssinians?

[love4birds]

I plan to add a pair to my flock someday. Not for breeding, just as pets:)

How are they as pets? Any general information about them I should know? I haven't really found too much information about them, just snippets here and there around the 'net, but I think they're fascinating, beautiful little guys

TIA!

[linda040899]

I don't say much about mine here in the forums but I breed them, or I attempt to breed them. I've had this species since 1994 and I can truly say they are my greatest love and my biggest heartache. I've had several pets and I find they are considerably more aggressive than Peachies, especially females. Many of mine have lived past age 14 and I actually had one male father a clutch at age 13. While they are members of the lovebird family, their dietary requirements are a bit different. Figs are absolutely mandatory and they also need unlimited sunflower seed. No pellets for my Abbys, as pellets are low fat. My base food is seed, figs and lots of fresh food. I even have a fig tree in my back yard so they get fresh picked figs several times/yr.

[love4birds]

Thanks so much!

I know a lady here who has a couple pairs of Abbys and she mentioned that they were behaviourally different from peachies. She says her handfed female is super sweet, but the pairs are more aggressive. She isn't sure she's going to have a successful clutch this year unfortunately (parents are in and out of the boxes but no eggs), but I asked that she keep me updated:D I wouldn't be adding one to the flock too soon anyway, but I'd certainly love to see the babies!

I had read about the figs, but not about sunflower seeds! I've actually read a couple places that mention figs are great for many African species as they'd eat a lot of them in the wild. So I bought some figs. And my lovies will not touch them! I'm still offering them several times a week anyway, and my cockatoo enjoys them. I found fresh figs last week and so far it's a no go with those as well.

Regarding the figs, do you feed a specific type? I've tried Calimyrna and Black Mission. Are they fed pretty much unlimited as well? And sunflower seeds; gray striped, black oil?

What are your opinions on a higher fat pellets as a base (my guys diet is approx. 30% pellets), like Harrison's High Potency (20% protein, 12% fat)? I worry about feeding absolutely no fortified foods because I can't get my guys outside daily for Vit D synthesis.

Your guys are lucky with fresh figs! That is awesome. No growing any cool things here in Canada:very_sad:

[linda040899]

The trick to figs is to split them open, at least in half. The only part that my birds eat is the seedy center. The rest is discarded. My preference has always been Calimyrna Figs because they are bigger and you can see any imperfections because of the lighter color.

I finally found a place in California that sells fig paste and there's considerably less waste so I use that. My Abbys don't care. I even bake it into my homemade cornbread so that everyone gets the benefit. Figs are high in calcium and African species have a higher dietary requirement. As for Vit D, egg or egg food works quite nicely.

Abbys need the oily sunflower seed so I get the black ones when I can. You can actually feel the extra oil on their feathering when you touch them. Amazing.

[love4birds]

I noticed that with my cockatoo, she only eats the center of the figs. I will have to look for fig paste, that is a good idea.

Thanks so much for all the information, I really appreciate it!

[linda040899]

Baby Abbys are not what you would expect to see from a bird with green feathering. The babies are covered with white down, have tannish colored beaks and ruddy colored pink skin. It only takes a couple of days for the nails to turn dark grey and it really looks strange when you aren't looking for something like that. The cry of a baby Abby is remarkably different, too. It's fairly loud and very sharp compared to the cried of other baby lovebirds. I don't have to open a nest box to see if mom is feeding. If she is, the noise level is very audible so you know not to open the back of the box and interrupt.