Little Loki Has Lost His Friend Pixie

[Mary in Florida]

I posted in the memorial section about our parrotlet Pixie's death today, and it's not just her human flock that misses her, and will even more in the days to come. I still can't believe she's gone, in a moment of carelessness on my part. :(

We're concerned for Loki, our lovebird. Pixie was his playmate and buddy, he's looking for her, and he's not his normal cheerful self. He's also a cuddlebug to his humans, so he's getting lots of that. But my husband thinks we might want to get another young parrotlet as soon as possible, maybe he could be a buddy to Loki the way Pixie was. I know they each have their own personalities and there are no guarantees of this. I always wondered if Pixie and Loki got along so well because they both came into our lives as baby birds ( each about 3-4 months old, when they were weaned), and it would be a lot harder to expect a lovie and parrotlet to get along if the p'let is a young one.

We don't know whether Loki is a male or female- he's never laid eggs ( he's three years old) but he also strips paper like a champ. He would sort of play both male and female with Pixie- and she seemed to like it but she knew SHE was the girl.

So we'd have a lovie we *think* may be male, would he likely be aggressive to a younger male or female bird of another species if we brought another parrotlet into our home? Would he be aggressive towards a male, or a female parrotlet in particular? Right now I'm wondering about the wisdom of doing so, in a misdirected attempt to bring Loki another friend, would it make him miserable instead of being as happy as he was with Pixie? They'd each have their own cages, and supervision when they're out playing, just as we always did with Pixie and Loki.

I guess part of doing something like this is that we have fallen in love with parrotlets, and given some time, would also like to bring another one into our hearts and lives. And we hope and wish there might be a way that we can bring another friend into Loki's life too. :(

[linda040899]

Humans are not the only ones who grieve when a companion is lost. Parrots grieve, as well, and that's what Loki is doing. Pixie is gone and he hasn't realized that she's not coming back quite yet. He will get there but it will take a bit of time and he needs to be able to go through the process.

Hard to say if Loki is male or female without DNA sexing but no eggs in the time you've had him suggests that he's a male. Don't hold me to that guess, as my own lovebirds have fooled me many times over! Whatever the reason that the friendship worked so well for them, it did. If Loki is a male, he may very well accept a younger parrotlet. He might also enjoy the company of a male lovebird (if he's male, another male would mean no babies). Males are usually very accepting of younger companions, quite unlike mature females.

In my experience base, I've seen lovebirds have parrotlets, Green Cheek Conures, cockatiels, and even African Greys as companions. Strangest "pair" I've ever seen was a Greenwing Macaw and a Lutino Parrotlet! Kim's Pip is friends with Ivy, a Pionus! I guess what I'm trying to say is that your choice is wide open!

[Mary in Florida]

Humans are not the only ones who grieve when a companion is lost. Parrots grieve, as well, and that's what Loki is doing. Pixie is gone and he hasn't realized that she's not coming back quite yet. He will get there but it will take a bit of time and he needs to be able to go through the process.

Hard to say if Loki is male or female without DNA sexing but no eggs in the time you've had him suggests that he's a male. Don't hold me to that guess, as my own lovebirds have fooled me many times over! Whatever the reason that the friendship worked so well for them, it did. If Loki is a male, he may very well accept a younger parrotlet. He might also enjoy the company of a male lovebird (if he's male, another male would mean no babies). Males are usually very accepting of younger companions, quite unlike mature females.

In my experience base, I've seen lovebirds have parrotlets, Green Cheek Conures, cockatiels, and even African Greys as companions. Strangest "pair" I've ever seen was a Greenwing Macaw and a Lutino Parrotlet! Kim's Pip is friends with Ivy, a Pionus! I guess what I'm trying to say is that your choice is wide open!

Wow, the combination of birdy companions is really something else! A greenwing macaw and parrotlet- talk about Mutt and Jeff!

It's great to hear that male lovies are usually accepting of younger bird companions. We really think Loki is a male- from the fact that he's not laid any eggs at 3 yrs of age, his sexual behavior toward Pixie ( although sometimes it seemed he was confused about it).:confused: What threw us was his frenzied paper stripping- seemed his ambition was to get every bit of paper in the house stripped, stuffed into his tail or wings, and Pixie would supervise and sometimes pull the paper out of his tail! It never went any further than that. He never attempted to build a nest, and while Pixie laid a few (infertile) eggs, she never paid them any attention and in fact would lay an egg anywhere she was and then continue what she was doing.

Maybe it's grieving, but we noticed that Loki had no interest at all in stripping paper today, and we're wondering if perhaps he did it in response to a hormonal female parrotlet around, instinctively. That'd be more like a male, maybe? Because Sweetpea, who was a female, was also a compulsive "stripper" but she didn't need any hormonal other critters around to do it!

I guess we're going to do it. I think I feel too guilty right now to initiate any efforts to bring a new parrotlet into our lives, but my husband called the place where we got both Pixie and Loki and asked them if they had any parrotlets they were handfeeding and socializing, and it seems they do. They have a 4 week old Pacific Blue parrotlet male, so we went to check him out, fell for him and put down a deposit. He looks like he will be a beauty- with a lot of the dark blue markings on his back and under the wings, and perhaps some green on his head- his clutchmates are turquoises and exquisite. He is a sweetheart and these folks do a superb job of socializing and handfeeding, as well as getting their birds to learn to eat a good mixture of seeds, pellets, veggies and so on before they let them go home with their owners. We'll go visit him every day and play with him ( as we did Loki and Pixie) so he's used to us too.

I'm delighted at your information about male lovies and younger companion birds- these will be two males, I guess, so we'll be optimistic.

And thanks so much, for the great information, and your quick response.

[linda040899]

Good luck with your new young parrotlet! The fact that this baby is only 4 weeks old will give Loki time to work through the grieving process. If Loki like the baby when you bring him home, it will help the baby adjust quicker because there will be another feathered body in his new home. Everything will be different but another parrot will help a lot!

I have a feeling that the fact that Pixie was a female is what was behind Loki's striping paper. It was for her, not him. :)

[Mary in Florida]

Good luck with your new young parrotlet! The fact that this baby is only 4 weeks old will give Loki time to work through the grieving process. If Loki like the baby when you bring him home, it will help the baby adjust quicker because there will be another feathered body in his new home. Everything will be different but another parrot will help a lot!

I have a feeling that the fact that Pixie was a female is what was behind Loki's striping paper. It was for her, not him. :)

I think so too. I guess he stripped a tiny bit of paper today but he's really not into it at all, especially compared with the frenzy with which he always did it. He is doing ok, eating well, drinking, playing and cuddling a lot. He looks around and calls for Pixie, though, with a whistle and chirp he used only for her, and it breaks my heart, I know he misses her, but he's also seeking and getting lots of love from us, I hope that helps him. I hope he'll be happy with a new little boy buddy!

Thanks again for all the help and information, as always. Mary

[linda040899]

Loki will begin to go back to his normal self, pretty much, the further along he gets in the grieving process. When you bring your new parrotlet home, he will know it's not Pixie but he will see another potential feathered companion. You have a better chance of him accepting a new companion once he's very sure that Pixie is not coming back than you do now.

Please let us know how this is going. :)

[Mary in Florida]

Loki will begin to go back to his normal self, pretty much, the further along he gets in the grieving process. When you bring your new parrotlet home, he will know it's not Pixie but he will see another potential feathered companion. You have a better chance of him accepting a new companion once he's very sure that Pixie is not coming back than you do now.

Please let us know how this is going. :)

Just an update here. I guess we will have to wait a while longer to bring home a new parrotlet, and it won't be this little baby:( He seemed not to be progressing as far as his weaning, was not growing as expected, and lacked the endless energy and curiosity you generally see in these little ones, despite extra care, feeding and so on, and his "mom and pop" folks, worried about him, returned him to the breeder. The breeder worried that he might have a genetic or congenital problem, and said she would keep him and get things checked out. We got word today from "mom and pop" that the breeder had the baby, he's doing better and getting a special diet and extra care. She said she planned to keep him, and we will try again when "mom and pop" get the next batch of babies.

I'm happy, and comforted to hear that this little one will be getting the TLC and love he needs to thrive and be someone's beloved bird. And perhaps things do work out for the best. I know we all miss Pixie so much, and I must admit that while we would welcome a new baby into our home and hearts, love and care for him whenever he came along, right now at least speaking for myself, I want Pixie back. I think for all of us, including Loki, a little time before we welcome a new baby bird into our hearts and home would be a good thing.

Loki seems to be doing fine. I think he still looks for Pixie- although I wonder if that call he used for her he's now using as a call to let us know he's looking for one of us to play with him or to sit on- he does it before he goes to his next human slave. And he's back to stripping paper, although it's not with the wild enthusiasm he had when Pixie was around. He's eating well, playing and imitating everyone in the house ( even crying, as I've done a time or two when he was obviously looking for Pixie- hard to cry for long when you have a lovie looking at you and "crying" too) Whatever, I can't help thinking that a little more time before he gets a new companion bird would be a good thing for him, too.