Compatibility

[boaslam]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and have searched through several threads trying to find a similar situation to mine with no luck. I am new to lovebirds, I've had a lutino for a little over 7mos (2yr old - Fili) and another peach faced blue/green lovebird (2 yr old - Kili) for about 4 months.
a little background - Fili was in a home with several animals (4 dogs, 2 cats, a rabbit, a cocktiel, and more fish than I've ever seen in a small rancher) - he was in cage alone and VERY friendly/hand tamed. I adopted him after much research and things went well for a about 2 months. Then he started regurgutating on EVERYTHING in his cage - his perch, then I removed it, his swing, then I removed that, etc. until his cage was bare except his food dishes - those were his next targets. everything I read advised I get a mate because he was lonely or hormonal and as a male (assumed) this was "normal behavior". I spend about an hour outside of the cage with him daily on weekdays and several hours a day on weekends. Kili was a "rescue" - his previously had a mate who was eaten by the family pomeranian :cry: and he had begun to pluck some feathers. We thought it would be good to get a friend - even if that meant less attention and affection with us (my wife and I). we did a 30 day quarantine, then slowly introduced the cages - first in teh same room for a few weeks, and finaly next to each other. Kili instantly took to Fili. Fili, not so much.

its been a couple of months now - I've tried supervised out of cage play time, I've tried short term 'together' time in Kili's cage - Fili is too protective if his cage.

My concern is that - while they don't outright fight - Kili keeps inching closer to Fili, interested in all that he does, and for the most part Fili ignores him. But if Kili gets too close, Fili will turn on him, open his beak and scare Kili away. I've never seen any contact, any fighting, no squaking or screaming most people say is associated with fighting - just a "here's my open beak - back off!".

I was hoping to get a large cage house them together and hope that with time they would bond or at least become friendlier - but to date, I'm too afraid one might get hurt. Fili continues to regurgitate on everything and small mounds of seed and pellet and fruit keep piling up. Kili keeps trying to get closer to him.

If these two just aren't compatible - how do you find compatible mates? buy and sell until you get lucky? that can't be right - Has anyone had luck with this type of situation? Any advice on what I might be able to do?

[thebubbleking]

There is gonna be a little beak battleing etc as they assert pecking order, so long as there is no hard foot bite, blood or going after life threatening areas like the neck or eyes you are ok just keepm a close eye on them, and yes the bigger the cage the better :)

[michael]

.......... I was hoping to get a large cage house them together and hope that with time they would bond or at least become friendlier - but to date, I'm too afraid one might get hurt. Fili continues to regurgitate on everything and small mounds of seed and pellet and fruit keep piling up. Kili keeps trying to get closer to him.

If these two just aren't compatible - how do you find compatible mates? buy and sell until you get lucky? that can't be right - Has anyone had luck with this type of situation? Any advice on what I might be able to do?

Occuring more frequently during mating season, regurgitating on various objects of affection is quite common for male lovebirds. .. If there's an object you removed from his cage that can be easily cleaned, you might want to swap it back in place of something more difficult to maintain. Nobody likes cleaning cozies all the time :x , and their not really necessary. .. If he's feeding your feet/hands etc, well, not much we can do there. .. How much of his diet is comprised of pellets? .. You could try lowering his hormones via the usual methods such as, limiting daylight hours, cutting back on fat, protein, and anything starchy, while at the same time, try to increase his activities. Maybe create a couple foraging options.

Like you, I keep two males who exhibit the very same behavior as Fili and Kili. .. B.B., my whitefaced, is very outgoing, and would love nothing more than to huddle up next to Goofy. Goof, on the other hand, is not all that inviting. .. Now if I leave the room for a bit, Goof is more than happy to settle in for a good shoulder to shoulder chat. .. Wouldn't you know it, i'm the one who's the instigator here!

Really, even though lovebirds can be both promiscuous and monogamous, should one choose, a human just as well as another lovebird can become their sole mate. .. Granted, in cases where a single parrot was predominately cared for by a human, their bond can easily influence the introduction of a third party, even to the point where the human is the chosen one, or vice versa. .. With regards to keeping them caged together. ... If your gut says there could be a problem, then continue to house them in separate cages. .. The idea of a neutral, much larger cage is a great idea, however, it can't guarantee Fili and Kili will ever become fully compatable. .. On the flip side, as long as their outside relationship remains congenial, separate housing should or could work out just fine. .....:2cents:.........:)