lovebird pairing?

Question
I got a fischer's lovebird as a baby 3 months ago and hand-fed, weaned etc and think its almost fully grown, although its got a bit of a biting problem. Anyway my question is about another baby lovebird I bought which has just been weaned. I have been trying to put them together and the new one is very friendly and wants to play, whereas the old one sometimes aggressively pecks at her head and neck to which the new one keeps squeaking but wants to play anyway. They bite each other's beaks and neither one minds that, and the new one likes gently pecking at the old one's toes, which it doesn't like. I'm not sure what the gender of either one is, and I've let them interact but they're still in seperate cages. Is there any hope that they will become friends or a pair??? I'm nost interested in breeding.

Answer
Hello Winter,

First have you taken your birds in for an exam by an avian veterinarian? Did you put your new bird through quarantine before introducing the two? Your first step needs to be to have your birds' health checked by an avian veterinarian. The fact that one bird is picking on the other can indicate a health problem with one or both birds. How they were raised may also have something to do with their behavior. You say they were hand fed. Did either one have any contact with adult birds. Babies learn a lot about being birds from adults, like how to interact properly. Without the experience of learning from adult birds they miss out on learning many important bird skills. Time will tell is they can learn from each other how to interact.

To avoid aggression when they are together:

1. Have your birds regularly seen by an avian veterinarian.

2. Provide them daily with a nutritious diet that consists of pellets, fresh veggies and fruits, healthy human choices such as whole grain pasta, and some seed.

3.They must have enough space. A good minimum cage size (although in most cases larger is better) for a single lovebird would be at least 24"x24"x24". You would want to increase that for 2.

4.Provide multiple food and water bowls if necessary. You can watch to determine if this is causing a problem. Some birds will want to eat out the same bowls at the same time. Others my take over the bowls and not allow others to eat.

Hope this helps.

Jennifer
www.feathersandscales.com