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Old 01-05-2009, 12:55 PM
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mayaexquisite mayaexquisite is offline
My Bird(s) Own Me!
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 214
Um... oh my...

I hope you don't think of me as mean or putting you down when you read this, but lovebird welfare is of great importance to me and I want to help you as well as others. I just went through all four posts of your "Guide to Happy Lovebirds." I hope you emphasize that this works for your birds and should not be suggested to others.

First I guess I should mention my experience just so I don't appear to be some Joe Shmoe. I've joined several parrot forums because 1) no one I know in real life gives two licks about lovebirds or birds in general and 2) I want to keep learning from people who are very experienced. I do not in any way consider myself an "expert" on lovebirds but I am constantly learning from other breeders. I've had lovebirds since 2000, when I had an aviary of about 15 lovebirds. I was a breeder for a couple of years, but had to stop due to space constraints. Since then, I've had my Mika for over seven years now (my very first born) and Kano for the past 4 1/4 years (as a rescue). My knowledge is a mixture of what I've experienced, what I've read (books and on-line), and what I've learned through various good breeders ('cause we all know there are people out there that don't know what they're doing) across the US.

Again, I hope you don't take offense to this and I hope everyone can take this and learn because I'm sure we all want our babies to be as happy and healthy as can be.

Things I do not agree with:

- Lovebirds do not need to be paired. Yes, each lovebird has it's own personality but IF an owner can give his/her lovebird lots of attention on a regular daily basis that lovebird can and will be happy. Your lovebirds seem to need each other because they are not getting the interaction from you (at least from what I've read). Neither of them are bonded with you, so they are bonded to each other. Now, it is true that most times when a lovebird already has a partner, whether same or opposite sex, your piece of the attention pie will get cut. But you can always be "second best." Mika was my only lovebird for a few years and he was as happy as can be. He even recognized the sound of my car and would begin chirping, knowing I had come home (as per my mom when I was living at my parents). Then I got Kano as a rescue and I became second fiddle, which was fine by me as long as they were happy. Mika is still bonded with me and wants to be with me and Kano has to tag along anywhere Mika goes.

- Lamps are debatable. I personally don't use them and my babies are happy and healthy. The only time I've heard of breeders or owners using a lamp is a heating lamp for sick birds.

- Music is not necessary for them. Yours obviously enjoy them, but just saying it's not necessary. Of the people I know, the only times music, TV, or radio is on is when they're out of the house and want something to keep their birds "company." The only reason I'm disagreeing on this is not because it's not nice to have music for them but just because it's not NEEDED. When you're home, they should be hearing YOUR voice.

- As far as bathing is concerned, each bird is different and is "happiest" bathing the way they like. Some birds love being misted with a fine spray bottle. Some birds love getting wet in the shower with their owner. Some like to dip into a bowl. Some like to bath in your cupped hands under running water. Some like warm water, some like cold. Also, you don't need to use distilled water. If you do have "bad" tap water, filtered water will do much better. And if you like, you can add a couple drops of apple cider vinegar in it to kill bacteria.

- There is debate about the heated perch. There have been birds that have gotten burned feet from them. Just because they're "warm" to our touch, doesn't mean it feels the exact same way for them and sometimes when the birds are sleeping, they don't realize the perch is slowly cooking their feet. I feel this is an unnecessary item because there will always be that chance they can get hurt.

- Millet sprays should not be given in such large amounts and at once. It's not because they'll "get fat" or anything like that. It's because millet doesn't have much nutritional value. It's really a treat. If you were a bird would you rather fill up on yummy yummy millet or the food in your bowl? Chances are they'll choose millet over most foods. So they're just getting lots and lots of nothing in their system. Also, there are some birds that get used to millet so much that they'll refuse to eat anything else. Lovebirds can definitely be finicky eaters.

- Kitty litter should NOT be used as a liner for your birds cage. Even if you think they can't reach it, you never know and they may somehow get to it. Also, if they don't eat it, they may be able to INHALE the powder portion of it which is definitely not good! Birds exhale and inhale 100% of their breaths, unlike us, so inhaling powdered kitty litter (among other things such as smoke, perfume, etc) could mean disaster. It should also not be used so that you don't have to clean the cage as often. Birds can get sick from inhaling the dust of their piled up poop, whether it be piled at the bottom of the cage or on their perches/other items. A bird cage should not be left for weeks without having been changed, for any reason. If having to change the bottom of the cage seems to disrupt your birds life then it's best to look into a cage where you can easily slide the bottom tray in and out. Liners should ideally be changed at least every few days and the cage should be cleaned weekly, including toys, perches, etc. Also, rather than letting your bird "forage" on millet that has been touched by kitty litter, you can provide other foraging activities for them such as putting treats in crumpled piece of paper or brown paper bag. There are also toys made specifically for foraging.

- There was no mention about a lovebirds diet. Rather than providing a bushel of millet, fruits, veggies, pastas, grains, etc. should be offered daily. A good seed (with very little or no sunflower seeds because they are high in fat) and pellet diet is also required. My babies are stubborn and will only eat seed, Nutriberries, carrots, broccoli, popcorn, and dried papaya currently but I never give up in introducing new healthy foods. The ratio of seed and pellet are constantly debated over because one Avian vet says this and another says that. But as long as your birds are eating the things I listed above, lots of pellet isn't really necessary. A "healthy" diet may consist of 70% seed, 30% pellet, fruits, veggies, pasta, grains, calcium rich food like eggs, etc. Again, avian diet is and will probably always be debated over, so consult your Avian vet as far as seed/pellet is concerned. As far as their water goes, if you're going to put liquid vitamins or calcium in it (which is really unnecessary if you provide them all I've listed) you have to constantly change their water. You cannot leave it all day long. A good thing to put in their water, however, is a little bit of apple cider vinegar to kill any bacteria. (On a side note, ACV is also great for rinsing their fresh foods and cleaning their cages.)

(continued in another post because I didn't know posts could only be 10000 characters long)
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