unknown history of new lovebird pair

[soso]

Hi all I've just joined this great site and so wondered if I could get some help :)
I have just bought (yesterday) a pair of lovebirds (hopefully you can see them in my picture) they're fischers.. and I'm assuming they're male and female due to size difference-the larger being the female :) I have no history so can only assume they were bought at the same time and are siblings so I'm woried if they mate whether they'll have problems with the young like if a human was to do that (not cool) lol.. I won't be clipping the wings and I am going to get some rough perch covers to help keep claws maintained..I give them a bowl of water and they love to bath :) food and water fresh daily.. and I'm spending alot of time next to cage to get them used to me and the cage maintainance.. but the man I bought them off said they'd never been out of their cage!!! I feel that they need a daily fly around the room.. soooo how do I encourage them out? Any gradual steps that need to be done? I'd like to tame them and handle them in time too.. suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

[michael]

Hi soso and welcome to Lovebirdsplus. .. Unfortunately, there are breeders who's only interest is in the number of birds they sell. As a result, the chances your birds are a product of inbreeding, or have been improperly paired, rises considerably when purchased from those who lack a record of specific bloodlines. Fact is, inbreeding is not something to be taken lightly as it can produce a much higher death rate due to decreased immune response, deformities, tumors, etc, etc. .. If for any reason you believe your two may be related, or especially if their parents are related, I would not allow them to breed.

As for those sandy perch covers. .. Better to offer a bolt on Pedi-Perch or concrete perch. We've actually found that the sandy perch covers were more of a source of irritation and injury than of a benefit to keeping nails naturally manicured.

[soso]

thank you :D I will get different perches for their cage :) I'm trying to tame them so they will come out of the cage for some flying/exercise.. I'll look into getting another cage and maybe extra lovies to re-pair them with in case they get stressed out alone.. I'm using this page for taming them:
http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-tame-a-bird
so will fingers crossed get them to a point they are happy to do anything with no fear :) I'm not going to grab one out as don't want to ruin their trust that's slowly building up in me.. so one day when they're happy to leave the cage I'll get them seperated before any mating can happen :)

[michael]

While the article in squidoo appears to share credible information, its really a generalization on how to tame/train new parrots. With regards to rule 2, I would be very careful about inserting your hand into their cage. A small number of lovebirds will not tolerate this, period, and others only during times when their not in breeding mode. As for the tip about using a mirror. This may prove counterproductive in that some birds can become attached to themselves, thus, leaving you the odd person out.

If you don't mind my asking. Are or were you planning on breeding lovebirds? If so, would you be able to afford the time and expense? If not, do you understand how to take measures that keep the eggs from developing full term? Also, if your not planning on breeding, rather than separate what may be an otherwise viable pair, why not see if they continue to get along? Besides, without a DNA test or discovery of an egg, you could either have two males, or two females that get along just fine.

BTW, any idea on how old these two are?............:)

[soso]

I've been told that they are roughly 8months old, the man I bought them off has now replied saying he doesn't know if they're siblings and so I must assume so.. So far they've been fine and don't attempt to bite or anything they just watch me or walk away along the cage sides.. they seem to nip each other a lot at times though :(

I've been googling DNA sexing online and am having no success finding a company for some reason-any recomendations? I am happy for them to stay together and see how they get along especially as they're not tame enough to handle/move and won't even attempt to leave cage if I leave door open and stay away (tried prior to the squidoo info I read so feel I should wait a while before trying again as don't want to overwhelm them- sooo glad i didn't remove entire lid so they'd be out in open!-guess it would stress them greatly if I did that) and don't want a mirror anyway due to the very thing you mentioned :)

As for breeding, I didn't intend to! I've joined 'lovebirds UK' on facebook and have had great advice from them and seen questions about that exact thing to do with eggs/keeping/removing etc so have idea for incase it ever happened.. :) I do have the time and money for it though and like with back when I had cornsnakes and bred them, once I'm interested/passionate about something I go deeply into it! So I am currently doing lots of research and looking into a different larger cage (currently it is 60x40x60cm) and I feel it's not large enough especially if they won't leave... At the moment luckily time is on my side as I'm only 2 days in so cannot do too much more interfering/change as they've just moved home (from Southampton to Bournemouth)

sorry for the essay!
Sophie x

[linda040899]

With eye-ring species, eye shape can give you a clue to gender. When I sell eye-ring babies, I would never guarantee sex based on this but males tend to have round eyes, while females tend to have almond shaped ones. Look just at the eye, not the ring around it. When I'm looking for breeder stock for my own aviary, I've used this and it's been fairly accurate. :)

[michael]

I've been told that they are roughly 8months old, the man I bought them off has now replied saying he doesn't know if they're siblings and so I must assume so.. So far they've been fine and don't attempt to bite or anything they just watch me or walk away along the cage sides.. they seem to nip each other a lot at times though :( ..........

Because their just reaching full maturity the main concern would be if there's any noticable increase in squabbling beyond toe biting as this may be an indication you have two females. Not a good thing seeings how one can easily kill the other.

For DNA testing have you tried Avianbiotech U.K.? > http://avianbiotech.co.uk/contact_us.asp

[soso]

I've ordered the DNA test kits to get a definate answer :D I opted for the feather test as don't feel comfortable drawing blood! Also to do with the eyes- the smaller one has round eye ring and larger one has almond shaped rings.. also the larger one is a brighter green body so may be slightly older as I've read full colours come in with age unless the smaller one just happens to be a lighter green body hmm.. I'll do the DNA tests once able to obtain the chest feathers and send off as sooner I get a definate answer the better.. deffo hoping not two females, have read some horrendous things! Thanks so much for the help, I'll let you know once I get results and also by then how the lovies are coming along with regards to being used to me and and getting out of cage/handling comfort zone :) Sooo glad I joined this site! x