african gey with lovebirds

Question
hi chrys
       Can lovebirds go in the same cage as an african grey parrot weve had the parrot a while but only got the lovebirds today
                thanks gordon

Answer
Hi, Gordon.  Thanks for posting.

It's possible these 2 different species could live together, depending on the personalities of the individual birds.  However, I'd never house them together in the same cage.  

The grey can inflict serious damage to the lovebirds because it's beak/talons are much bigger (not to mention their body size differences), the lovebirds will likely pair-bond at some point (if they are male/female) and the grey would be a "third wheel" in the cage, they most likely eat slightly different types of food (grey likely eats larger sized pellets/seed than the lovebirds) and perhaps the grey eats veggies/fruits/etc., and the lovebirds don't??? (depending on the birds and what you feed them), etc.  The grey hopefully has a roomy cage that perhaps the lovebirds can get out of and the lovebirds might pick on the grey (again, depending on individual personalities).

These 3 parrots might get along just fine together and they may not.  It's usually not such a good idea to just put new birds together.  The better way is to set them next to each other in separate cages and let them get to know each other gradually through the cage wire.  Then gradually let them out together under your supervision to see how they get along.  If all goes well, then put them in the same cage.  Just because we want to house several different species of birds together in the same cage, doesn't mean they will like each other enough to allow this to happen!  

In addition, if you just bought these lovebirds, you should quarantine them completely away from your grey for about 30 days, just in case they might harbor some type of illness/disease...you wouldn't want to infect your grey, I'm sure.  The stress of being moved can compromise the immune system and dormant disease can then be shed and/or illness spread.

Chrys