Oh boy...this may be harder than I thought....

[JudiNh]

Well, I took both Melon and Jitterbug out of their cages tonight and held them both...one in each hand. Melon is SO nice...Jitterbug is NOT. :omg: He was trying to attack Melon! Lunging forward and looking like he wanted to hurt him...really aggressive looking. Oh my. I know its only the first day, but is this a bad sign? Jitterbug is SO hyper...SO high energy, and just full of I dont know what. Maybe he isnt going to like Melon at all? :confused: No matter...Melon is here to stay, even if they have to be in separate cages forever, but, wow, Im not feeling really positive about how they are going to do together. Eeek.

[personatus]

It's the way of nature i'm affraid. They need to establish who the boss is, the pecking order has to be set before there is any peace. It's quite rare any birds get along from the off I find, once the chief is selected, it all quietens down.

[michael]

Judith. .. I'll be straight forward with you. .. Jitterbug may never accept Melon the way you would like him to. .. Good news though, that does not mean they cannot co-exist.

There were many times I thought adopting a friend for my first lovebird Goof would help keep him from being lonely, afterall, the contention was, lovebirds should always have a mate, or at the least, be in the company of one of their own. .. Problem is, was he actually lonely? ... Fact of the matter is, we have no way of knowing that our single lovies are wanton of a mate (outside of creation), let alone need one. If we did, it would certainly make the choice of adopting a heck of alot easier. .. Very long story short.... After reviewing many statements and threads that seemed to suggest great success in regards to adding a "friend" or "mate", whichever, I decided to give it the go ahead. ... Results? .. Goofy does not like B.B. Lovebird. Never has. And probably never will.

Recently, mind you, (I did say this was long story short), I had rehomed B.B. only to end up adopting him back. .. Agreement was, if he could not be provided a loving and stable home, then he was to be returned to my care. .. Now that Beeb's is back home, Goof still despises him :roll:

From now on, neither of my lovebirds are going anywhere. I've learned that despite their differences, they can co-exist in ways i've could have never have imagined possible. .. Goofy is number one, and is treated as such. I take him out first, and I place him back last. (he loves when I give him extra attention). .. B.B., who relishes in whatever attention he could get, has no problem accepting his position as second to nobody, with a little help you know :whistle:. ... All I can add, is we have our moments, but its well worth it. ..............:)

[thebubbleking]

All my lovebirds go through about a week of sizeing any newcomer..and establish the pecking order, that being said worse case is they have someone to talk to and look at etc, i also have several lovebirds that altho wont get along liveing together get along in a neutral area :)

[Willow and Oscar]

When I introduce a new bird, my birds take a week or two to decide the pecking order and whether they like each other. You could have one of three options in my opinion: they eventually bond, they hate each other or they tolerate each other (not interacting but not fighting) only time will tell. When I get a new bird I always feed, play etc with the birds I've had a while first so they feel less jealous of the new one, just a theory. keep a spray bottle maybe for when the fights get really nasty, but they do need to work out the hierarchy themselves. Good luck and congrats on your new bird!

[JudiNh]

Okay, thanks....well, it sounds like it isnt totally hopeless then. Maybe this is just the normal process for two lovies getting to know each other. Again, it was only the first day, but I wasnt expecting such a violent reaction from Jitterbug! I'll keep trying and just see how it goes. :) One thing is for sure, no matter what, Melon is here to stay. ;)

[linda040899]

Keep in mind that Melon has become a member of a household where Jitterbug already lives. For the moment, Melon is an intruder and Jitterbug is letting him know that upfront. Jitterbug also sees Melon getting attention that he got and he's probably jealous, even though he's also very aggressive with all of you. Hormones create strange situations.........

I agree with Michael that it's going to take time for Jitterbug to accept Melon, if that ever happens. I, personally, have several lovebirds (Echo being my most notable) who don't want companions. Those are in the minority but they do exist. It simply means that Echo has his own cage and his own interaction time with me.

Patience........

[JudiNh]

Thanks Linda. Im prepared to give it as long as it takes. I have him in his own cage...it is smallish, but if he needs to stay in it indefinitely, we will get him a bigger one . They are side by side, and maybe over time, they will start to become friends. If not, they'll just stay neighbors. :) Melon is so sweet and so easy to handle that I dont mind if he just stays "my" friend, and doesnt ever bond with Jitterbug. He will be a super nice pet, all on his own. :)

Yesterday I was a little worried because he barely ate, but this morning, he dove right into his plate of veggies and birdie bread, and the pellets she sent that she said he likes. (Hagen Tropican). She said he doesnt eat any seed, which surprised me, but I will let him have seed here, if he wants it. All of my other birds get seed at night. :)

[linda040899]

Judi,
You are going to have to change Melon's diet so that the pellets are NO more than 40% of his total diet. Per my avian vet, pellets are actually too much nutrition and can cause death by kidney failure. The 60% portion doesn't necessarily have to be seed. It can be lots of fresh food and some seed, but there needs to be less pellets.

Even if Melon and Jitterbug were to become friends, that does not exclude other potential flock members. I have any number of birds that have feathered companions and they still love to interact with me. Alex and Harley will actively seek me out, as will Dao when he's out with everyone else.

[JudiNh]

Yeah, I was surprised when she said that Melon only eats those pellets. But he has already been eating seed, and veggies here, so I think he will do well with a varied diet. Thanks for the info. And, yeah, maybe he will like another of my birds...I have Molly the parrotlet, and two budgies and the two tiels..he has lots to pick from for a friend. Or, just me...hee hee..I'd love for him to be my little buddy...he is so sweet!

[Pips mom]

Gee, if he's so sweet, I would say that there is probably a good chance that he may get along well with one or more of your other birds! Look at Rudy and Bob! a lovebird and a parrotlet......it was love at first site.....instantly liked each other and their first time together they were feeding and preening each other. I've seen lovies be friends with a tiel as well, you just never know with these guys. Pip never got along with Rudy.......they did ok out together, but if they got too close, there would be biting going on! Pip was agressive towards Rudy when I first got him, and Rudy has always seemed sweet and able to get along with birds ok, so I tend to think it was Pip who was more against that friendship! Maybe because he has his Ivy. Anyway........even if they don't get along and Jitterbug is not going for it, I'm sure it will all work out just fine and that Melon will find his place amoung your family and flock! Woudln't surprise me a bit if he ended making best buddies with one of your other birds, since I've had two odd couples with my bunch!