Introduction of new lovebird. HELP

[birdaccini]

I bought a new little lovebird at a exotic bird fair. I'v kept them away from each other had her checked by the vet and now I want to introduce them and it is not going well. fweet fweet always tries to bite her/him I don't know what to do to make this introdution smoother. Thier cages are next to each other and they talk to each other but when they are both out he always tries to bite the little one. Is it because she is so young or is my older one just to terratorial? If anyone has asvice let me know. I'm starting to get worried they may never get along.

[Asue]

I would probably only have one out at a time, for now. You didn't mention how long you have had the new bird...

If it's been less than a few weeks or months, it's still too soon to say if they will/will not get along. Some birds do fine in their own cages, but are completely different birds outside the cage.

If the new baby is a handfed, you may want to build a bond with it before setting it up with the older bird. If parent raised, this is a perfect time to start taming. Give it time...

[LauraO]

It's best to take things really slow. I would keep them side by side and have limited supervised time out. The biting of the feet is actually a pretty normal lovie reaction to a new bird. In my experience, this happens even more when one bird is noticeably younger than the other. It may be that they get used to each other, or maybe not. It's really a crap shoot.

[Janie]

Since you don't know the gender of either bird, it's hard to say how well they'll get along. In the meantime, I would not leave them out together at all. And as Laura said, it's a crap shoot. My three (males) do get along but were never left unsupervised for the first 6 months. My "senior" bird is 10 plus and the other two, brothers, are 1 1/2.

[birdaccini]

Thanks for the advice. When I got home from work today I had a message that my new little one is a boy. I have not had the older one tested yet but I think I have two boys on my hands now. My older one tries to mate with every toy that is soft that is in the cage. I am going to have him sexed just so I know for sure. When I bought my little one they told me they were pretty sure he was a female by feeling his pelvic bones. Well evidentaly that is not very reliable. Oh this is getting very complicated. I just wanted a mate for my adopted bird and now I may have mad a huge mistake. especially if it makes fweet fweet unhappy.:(

[Janie]

If it turns out that both are males, you have a much better shot (IMHO) that they will eventually get along. If I had one male and wanted a mate for that male I would only get another male. Males often bond very well together and live in harmony and I hope that will be the case, in time, with your two. If you have a male/female, you got to deal with the eggs, babies and finding homes for lots and lots of little lovebirds.

Yep, that pelvic sexing is a joke. It is 50/50 at best.

[birdaccini]

Janie, thanks for the info. I totaly thought if I had two males they would fight all the time and there would be no hope of them getting along. My older one gets a little jealous and will fly over and try to bite him or get him to fly off me if I'm holding the little one. But I guess that is normal because he thought I was his girl. If you have any more advice keep it comming. I'm totaly new to owning a bird.
Stacey

[Janie]

Janie, thanks for the info. I totaly thought if I had two males they would fight all the time and there would be no hope of them getting along. My older one gets a little jealous and will fly over and try to bite him or get him to fly off me if I'm holding the little one. But I guess that is normal because he thought I was his girl. If you have any more advice keep it comming. I'm totaly new to owning a bird.
Stacey

I was as green as they come when I adopted my first lovebird, Oliver, 3 1/2 years ago. :D Fortunately for Oliver, I found this forum a day or two before I rescued him! :D What I've learned here and in some other reading is that males are far more likely to get along together than two females. There are exceptions and one of our members, Shy, has females that are couples and happily caged together. But really, for the most part, males do make better buddies. :)