Desperately need advice for my very unhappy bird

[Becky9096]

Hi everyone. I really need some advice regarding my peachface lovebird sherbet as the situation is currently very stressful.
He was bonded to a female lovebird blue. Sadly last week blue got sick, after taking her to the vet school hospital she died under anaesthetic during a radiograph. After a post Mortem the vet discovered a big lump of towel/cloth in her stomach which she must have chewed and it had blocked her stomach. 😞
So now sherbet is on his own. The first day we got back he was very quiet, sleeping. But since then, he has not stopped screeching. I know he is calling for another bird. He is not hand tame so he will not bond to me. He is scared of me, no matter how much time I spend with them I think he always wil be as he was aviary raised.

My question is shall I get another bird, or give him away to a breeder who has said they will take him? As currently I cannot cope with his screaming behaviour for 12 hours of the day. It's very distressing to listen to. If I get another bird- it will be atleast 7 weeks before they are ready to go as I would like to buy a hand tamed bird from a breeder iv spoken to. If I get a hand tame bird im not sure whether it will stay tame if I pair it with sherbet. Also I may not know if it's male or female. Will he accept another bird? Shall I give him to a breeder who has more chance of pairing him successfully? I just want what's best for him.

Please help!

[Julinka]

What about getting a small bird of a different species, like a parakeet? My lovebird passed away recently but was bonded with her parakeet friend and also with me. (I miss her so much!) They had separate cages and for part of the day I would put the keet in the lovebird's cage. He would preen her, etc. And when I let them out they would fly together. It was a very happy arrangement. She would also sit on my shoulder,etc. I felt she had the best of both worlds, a human friend and a bird friend to keep her busy when I was busy.

She was territorial with the other birds but not with him.

I was fortunate, I could tell she liked him as soon as she saw him. Whether they will take to each other is another issue.

I hope you find a solution soon. A screaming bird is not a picnic!

[Julinka]

I just thought of something else. The new bird should be quarantined, according to my vet, for at least 6 weeks. There are some differences in opinion on the length of the quarantine. So really they shouldn't be put together for awhile but maybe hearing a bird call from a separate room would help him?

[linda040899]

I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your female lovebird! Your male is missing her presence and his screeching is contact calls in hopes that she will answer. He didn't see her remains, I assume, so he's not made the connection that she isn't coming back quite yet. This behavior will calm down but it's going to take him a bit to deal with his loss. Offering him to a breeder is a personal choice but if he's used to being at your home, moving him would only add more stress.

I would continue to give him extra attention. While he may seem fearful right now, he will accept you as company and he will begin to interact with you. Is it too late to tame him? It's never too late. All live creatures will respond to love, kindness and patience.

You can try getting him a companion of a different species and see what happens. I would suggest a male so he sees the new bird as a companion rather than as a potential mate. I've seen lovebirds hang out with any number of different species, so think about it. I'm also going to suggest a male lovebird if are thinking about a male lovie companion. Giving him another hen could produce babies and you may or may not want that.

Be careful when giving parrots toys. Anything with string or cotton can be ingested and cause blockages. I use bird safe chain whenever possible, bamboo or leather. What happened to your female is not uncommon so prevention is the best route to follow.

Hope this helps.

[Becky9096]

Thank you for your advice.
My vet said to quarantine the new bird for 3 weeks.
I did consider getting a bird of another species like a budgie or something but i worry that sherbet would bully it. He can be quite fiesty. I feel he needs an equally fiesty lovebird to stand up to him as something more timid might get pushed around.

I don't know if he saw her remains but he was staying in the hospital with her (they couldn't bear to be separated) and the vet said each time she took Blue down for Xrays she had to take him also because they got so distressed, so I think he was there when Blue died.

Normally they would make a little bit of noise in the morning and chirp and have a little screech when i let them out to fly. but this noise is constant - nothing settles him at all, all day long until night time when i cover the cage again. Im going to get complaints from my neighbours at this rate.

I do want to get another bird for him but i just worry that he wouldn't accept it / get on with it and then i would have two unhappy birds - and they might get even noisier...