More than one? Are ya crazy??

[Asue]

For those of us who only have one lovie;
Do you/would you want another one?

I'm thinking that since Mikey's already three years old, I maybe ready for a second lovie baby. Defenately would have to be male. Mikey's a normal, wild type, peachface. I'm looking at all the pictures of creaminos, slates and the other pretty color mutations on this forum. Maybe I'll learn abit of lovie genetics in my search too?

Anyway, I've got an extra cage, perches and other stuff. I've got it sercretly set up in my closet right now :D Just a thought.

[wilkiecoco]

I think I am good with one, although it depends on your relationship with your lovie i suppose. Kiwi and I are totally bonded, a true velcro birdie :happy: He sleeps in my hand, preens me, loves to be held and petted by most of my family, eats with us, and out of our hands. I would be afraid of damaging that connection. However, if I felt that his needs were not being met, that he needed more attention (right now he is out of his cage with me more than he is it :lol ) , then I wouldn't hesitate to find him a mate. But I always remember what the others in this group say - just because you get your lovie a friend, doesn't mean they will get along. Just my :2cents:

[Eliza]

I'm back and forth with this on a near-daily (ok, hourly) basis :evil:

Do I want another bird, lovebird or otherwise? Yep.

I haven't yet decided if I want bring another lovie into my home... or another bird, for that matter. At this point, my concerns are the financial responsibility of another bird and the noise factor.

I'm likely more attached to Beetle than he is to me (although he's lately taken up residence on my shoulder, busily preening my hair and creating lovely holes in my t-shirts) so I do worry about adding another bird to the flock in that regard.

Anyhoo, I think that in many respects, your heart will decide for you... or possibly circumstance. You never know when the right bird is going to find his or her way to you.

Best of luck, regardless of what you decide!

-e-

ETA -- Of course, Beetle's breeder just updated her site and not only does she have some lovely hand-fed lovies, she has a Senegal and 2 caiques babies! Gah...

[dtucker78]

Well....I have a parakeet that could care less about me...other than the fact that if I don't feed her and speak to her in the morning she will fuss at me. Bradford has only been here for a few days, but I am already thinking about a tiel...That will be a bit down the road though...my concern is training Bradford and to add another bird and the time I would have to spend with them...just seems a bit much right now...who knows!

[Z28Taxman]

I want one of every color! :eek:

If I knew Ditto wouldn't go ballistic and that I'd have the time to spend with each one, I'd love to have more. Ditto on the other hand might not like it. He can't stand if another person touches me so I don't know how he'd react to another bird.

[Janie]

I had one, Oliver, for two years before deciding to get two more. Since Oliver was older and bonded to me, I thought adding two more would be better so that they would have each other and Oliver would still have me. It's been great and all three do get along (Oliver has his own cage) very well. Funny thing, both of the younger ones do prefer Oliver over each other now. They preen him and gack to him all the time. If I'd only gotten one, Oliver may or may not have been accepting, I don't know but I'm very happy that he has the company of other lovebirds. He's never actually told me this but I am positive he is a much happier (healthier, too cause he's eating better) bird since I got Big Boi and Shy. I did get them from Jeanette and they are both DNA'd males since I didn't want to bring a hen into the mix.

I think a single bird is perfectly fine and can be a very, very happy bird if it gets plenty of attention. I wanted more for me! :lol So many colors! :whistle:

[Asue]

Thanks guys, sometimes it helps to get another oppinion about these kind of things. Mikey's a happy little bird, but when we had the cockatiel (who hated him) and the two foster budgies (Who pestered him), Mikey did seem a bit more happy to have his own flock. Even if he didn't have another birdie to preen him, it was good to have some bird pals around.

Well, the main reason I was asking for advice...
A neighbor found out I had Mikey, she asked if I knew anything about lovebirds and eggs. She's a nice older lady and she said that she's got a pair of lovebirds with new babies ( 3, the other two were eatened by parent).
She doesn't want to keep all three, she has a granddaughter (22 years old) who is taking two of them. She asked if I'd like to have the first pick out of the clutch and I told her I had to think about it. She said she knew that if I took a baby from her, she'd be happy to know it had a good home. Anyway, I told her I'd come by if she needed help cleaning the cage. She's got bad arthritis. Plus, I get to see the babies!

Should I just go ahead and tell her I will take one?

[Elle]

I wasn't planning on getting another lovebird as a companion for Blu. I had been looking around but couldn't resolve myself to do it. Our relationship was just starting to flourish and she was a real sweetheart. We got Phoebe as a rescue and things are totally changed. I think Blu is more happy to have a companion. They each have their own space and that's the way it will remain. Phoebe likes us but the bond is not that strong. Blu is very bonded to Phoebe but has her moments when all she wants to do is cuddle with Dan or me. So nothing is lost in our case.

Having three other birds in the house, the arrangements works well. The budgies have each other, but again, have their kissy moments with us. And our African Grey is really like a three year old and you constantly need to pay attention to him or else he gets into trouble or chases the cat around the house screaming come here!

There is no right or wrong answer. Or course, having another bird will change things. But not necessarly for the worse either. :)

[Eliza]

Should I just go ahead and tell her I will take one?

Like I said, sometimes circumstance decides for you :lol

If you feel that you can handle another lovie in the house, why not? At the very least, it will be fun to check out the wee babies :D

-e-
ETA:

I've got it sercretly set up in my closet right now. Just a thought.

HA HA HA! How did I miss this? I say go for it...

And while I'm at it, I should probably admit that I have a spare cage, just in case ;)

[sdgilley]

:rofl:

I've got it sercretly set up in my closet right now Just a thought.
I think you've already shown your hand! :rofl:
And, of course, this board is the best place to come for more lovies encouragement!

It sounds like you have a lovie baby in your (near) future. How old are your neighbor's lovebird babies?

[dovelady4]

Well....Ummm.....I only have 34 doves, 2 finches, a dog, a cat, 12 goldfish, 2 koi, a ferret, and one lovie.......I think I'd get another lovie if I could. In fact I'm hoping to get one from Louie's previous owner's daughter! If you think you're ready-scratch that-if you KNOW you're ready, than get one. If you're kinda 'iffy', pray about it. Always work!

[Cathy]

Jasmine, my parrotlet just turned 3, Sham and Melli are less than a year, and I got a BH caique 6 weeks ago. I used to work late at school but now I hurry home to be with my fids. I can have the first 3 out at the same time if I watch Jasmine carefully. My lovies are fully flighted and love to fly as soon as I let them out and then they come and want some attention.

Yank, my caique, I feed him his veggies and he is happy while I am playing with the others but then he wants his time and is not shy about asking for it. I can't let any of the others out with Yank, he goes for them.

They are each different and I love them all dearly. My lovies still bite me 5 times more than my other 2 put together but I think that that is their nature to let me know when I don't do what they want me to do.

But, I think that everyone who likes to play, needs a caique. Yank is such a hoot and is so unbelievably affectionate.

[shylevon]

Ya think yer gonna stop at two?? hahahahahahahahaha. Good luck with that.
You better get more closets.

[Asue]

:( I can stop at just two.... Ppffttt... Yeah, okay. I can try, right? :rofl:

Anyway, got my first look at the babies and the parents really aren't that wild and crazy when I got near the cage. Three babies in all. I think Caroline said the babies were hatched about two/three weeks ago. One baby does look a little bigger than the rest. I'm still thinking about if I really do want one of these babies...

Caroline ( the elderly neighbor) keeps her apt so freaking warm, I felt like I was standing next to an oven! Can the temp be too warm for babies?
When do you think it would be okay for my to handle the babies?

[Asue]

:cry: Now there only two babies left. One of the parent lovie's pecked the baby to death. The head was partially eatened. :x

Anyway, is it normal for first time parent lovies to be aggressive to their babies and kill them? I don't know what happened, but this is making me nervous about adopting one from Caroline. For all I know, it could be disease... I was always carefully about washing my hands, changing clothes and such when I visit... now I'm more paranoid for Mikey.

[Eliza]

:cry:
Anyway, is it normal for first time parent lovies to be aggressive to their babies and kill them? I don't know what happened, but this is making me nervous about adopting one from Caroline. For all I know, it could be disease... I was always carefully about washing my hands, changing clothes and such when I visit... now I'm more paranoid for Mikey.

Oh, that's a shame about the wee baby :(

I don't know if it's common for first time lovie parents to kill their own young but it does happen. I've heard of similar stories with other bird and animals species so who knows? I used to have hedgehogs and while I never bred them, I read horror stories about the mother cannibilizing her young. It's rather common with hedgehogs, and from what I understand, even moreso with first time mothers.

It is my understand, though, that birds in the wild do not necessarily nuture all of their young. They may choose to stop feeding the weaker of two chicks, for example. And while I have no idea about the effect of temperature on raising chicks (other than too cold = not good), I would imagine that the overall environment can affect how the parents choose to nuture their chicks.

I'm sure that others with breeding experience will chime in to offer sound advice.

Until then, if something about the birds is causing you to second guess bringing one home, I say follow your gut instinct. Generally speaking, that never fails.

Best of luck,

-e-

[Asue]

Sadly, I decided not to take any babies from Carol's clutch. This really bums me out... but, ya know... I always have Mikey. :p