Should We Get Another Lovebird?

[Tirilliel]

My husband thinks that my lovebird Houdini needs a mate. At this time I’m probably the one that is considered as Houdini mate, and even though we spend allot of time together she has never done any regurgitating behaviors or any thing like that toward me. She does however like to “gratify” herself of tissues, which she stands on and rolls up under her body and moves about on. It sounds like a male behavior but she will also get in moods where if I am petting her she will raise her wings and start making a whimper like chip sound and presents herself to me as a female would when ready to mate and allow the male on her back.

She also loves shredding paper and stuffing it in her tail and burrowing into anything she could find.

My husband feels that if she had a mate this would give her a better quality of life allowing her to be in the presence of her own species and also hopes thats giving her a mate would also help the chirping become less for times when we away from her because then she will be more fixated on her feathered mate rather then us.

I am in the position to get another, and wouldn’t mind this at all; my concern is what if they both chirp all the time even more? My husband says it cant be any worse then it is now, but I disagree lol, I would love to get another, but I worry that two will be worse in the end and more stress on me because my husband will be stressed from the noise.

Here is the living situation.. I’m at home all day since I’m a housewife and freelance artist. Houdini has free flight/roam of the house pretty much from when I wake up till I go to sleep. She spends most her time on her play area or with me on my shoulder or relaxing in her happy hut, or else shes going through one of her weekly fits and terrorizing the house :P these incidences are usually around any time of molting or is obviously related to sexual frustration of wanting a nest.

We live in a small apartment, the living room is open to the kitchen which is the main area we are in all day, so the only time I’m out of her site when she gets chirpy is if I leave into the bedroom or bathroom or she hears other birds outside.

My thoughts are that two birds in the same living area as me might work out as there inst a far distance for them to feel they need to constantly call out to me, so maybe two birds wouldn’t be so bad?

On the other hand, what if Houdini doesn’t want another bird and tries to kill it? That wouldn’t be too nice. I think it would be nice for Houdini to have another bird around, I’m watching her gratifying herself with tissue as I type this and can only think she would be happy to have herself a mate lol

If I did Id get a proven male from a breeder that was hand raised so both were tame. I know it can be hard taming an untamed bird with another bird around for it to bond with.

Anyway I’m rambling, I really want some opinions.. Do you think it’s a good or bad idea? I’m sure its really a hard to say thing because it really is dependant on both birds personality to how they act, I tell myself “you wont know unless you try” but then id hate to get two bird together and have to separate them and get rid of one like that, in the end if it didn’t work id probably have to give them both up since Id hate to rip them apart.

As I read over my post even though id like another everything esle tells ne "no" Id probably need another cage to put the new one in for a time, if it workes that means more feathers and poops on the floor and who knows what esle, and it could mean more chiping.

I suppose I'll have hubby read over everyones repoces later on and see what he thinks is the best idea then :aiwebs_02

[Samm]

I have 4 lovebirds in one cage, (I'm pretty sure its 2 of each) and the only time they get really loud is in the morning when they want to eat, and sometimes in the evening they have a chirping match with the cockatiels living across the room from them. In my experience, they seem to like to be paired off, I've never had a single lovebird. I'm going to build a couple nest boxes this weekend and see what happens.

Oh, and their cage size is 18x18x36 high, and I have several tree branches in there for them to climb around on and chew.

[Tirilliel]

Originally Posted by Samm

I have 4 lovebirds in one cage, (I'm pretty sure its 2 of each) and the only time they get really loud is in the morning when they want to eat, and sometimes in the evening they have a chirping match with the cockatiels living across the room from them. In my experience, they seem to like to be paired off, I've never had a single lovebird. I'm going to build a couple nest boxes this weekend and see what happens.

Oh, and their cage size is 18x18x36 high, and I have several tree branches in there for them to climb around on and chew.

Thanks for response Samm, Houdini is the first lovebird I ever had, and I don’t have much hands on experience with them really expect for just having Houdini. I had cockatiels in the past in my bedroom and they were generally quiet and well behaved the only time they made much noise was when one of them flew out of the room and out of sight of the others.

It’s encouraging to hear your experience with lovebirds as pairs is pleasant.

[SweetPea]

Hi!

First you need to get your current bird DNAed sex to make sure if you have a male or female.

Two birds means: double the mess double the noise!

Three: A hen usually will NOT accept a younger cock, and can even kill the cock.

Four: What will you do with the babies?!

Five: Even if it's a male/female pair, some birds are their own personality and just won't get along!

Six: Have you tried other methods of alleviating her behavior? ie., shortening her day light hours?

Just some suggestions! I'm sure others will be about shortly to answer your question further or correct me if I made a false statement! :icon_smil

[Monica]

"At this time I’m probably the one that is considered as Houdini mate"

If she sees you as her mate, she may get jealous of another bird in the household spending time with you

"She does however like to “gratify” herself of tissues, she will also get in moods where if I am petting her she will raise her wings and start making a whimper like chip sound"

You should probably stop petting her on her back and giving her things that she could 'mate' with. This increases the breeding behavoir.

"She also loves shredding paper and stuffing it in her tail and burrowing into anything she could find"

Try reducing the amount of places that she could stake out as a nest, all of them if you can.

"My husband feels that if she had a mate this would give her a better quality of life allowing her to be in the presence of her own species and also hopes thats giving her a mate would also help the chirping become less for times when we away from her because then she will be more fixated on her feathered mate rather then us."

The chirping could double when one bird leaves the room and the other one wants to follow but can't for some reason. If she is chirping for you when she is in another room, either ignore her, or verbally reassure her that everything is okay and tell her where you are.

"these incidences are usually around any time of molting or is obviously related to sexual frustration of wanting a nest"

If she tends to have fits, increase her sleeping hours by 2, either putting her to bed earlier or getting her up later. You may need to reduce her daylight hours even more if she doesn't stop being nippy or stop being in her breeding behavoir.

"My thoughts are that two birds in the same living area as me might work out as there inst a far distance for them to feel they need to constantly call out to me, so maybe two birds wouldn’t be so bad?"

If the birds were not close to eachother side by side, then they would scream for eachother, atleast one of them would actually. You would also have to quarantine the new bird.

"On the other hand, what if Houdini doesn’t want another bird and tries to kill it? I think it would be nice for Houdini to have another bird around, I’m watching her gratifying herself with tissue as I type this and can only think she would be happy to have herself a mate"

She may as well see you as her mate, and may not want another bird to interfere. You could frusterate her by bringing in another bird who may want to mate with her though she has no interest at all. If you yourself are interested in another bird, try finding a female (if Houdini is female... basically keeping with the same sex birds) bird of another species, however then you must be carefull as lovebirds tend to be aggressive towards other birds, especially if the new bird is not of their own species.


"Anyway I’m rambling, I really want some opinions.. Do you think it’s a good or bad idea?"

IMO, in your situation, you may be best just leaving things the way they are and not go into getting another bird. If you did, it might be best to look into same sex, different species, but then again you'd have to be carefull and use caution when introducing the new bird into the family after quarantine.

"As I read over my post even though id like another everything esle tells ne "no" Id probably need another cage to put the new one in for a time, if it workes that means more feathers and poops on the floor and who knows what esle, and it could mean more chiping."

Yes, it would mean that you would need another cage, more perches, toys, food dishes, more food, more chirping as the two birds chirp back to one another, more cleaning, among so many other things.

[Tirilliel]

Thank you all for the posts. I dont think getting one seems like the best idea either, I suppose my husbands willingness get me thinking "well maybe" I love animals and I love birds, but in this case Im not sure its the best and honestly, sometime I wonder if I could handle another bird lol.

Iv been sending my husband emails with responses Im getting on this subject and everyone says the same thing and it leans towards "no"

In one email response back from him about the chip factor in the quarantine process he wrote

"It's more than a few chirps... but if they chirp for awhile until they
get used to eachother, it's still better in the long run. He already
chirps all the time when I'm home at night."

But I dont think he really understands. I have had birds most of my life and he hasn’t, he seems to get annoyed with just Houdini but he lets me keep her because he knows I love her and would be miserable without her even though she does drive me nuts sometimes too. hehe

I guess Ill have to sit down and have a talk with him, I think I should probably leave things how they are as well. Maybe I can take her into a pet shop with other lovies so he can hear what happens when another lovie chips from a distance lol

[Monica]

How about this, take your husband around to all the petstores and bird places that you can find in the area. Maybe even a bird fair if you have any in the area (may be hard to find, though try searching for a bird club). It sounds as if your husband wants another bird, maybe for himself??? If something catches his eye and is in reasonable cost, the bird could be bought for him.

It could be that he either wants another bird for Houdini, or maybe he'd want one for himself. You could ask him if he would like a bird of his own and see how he takes to that idea. You could then tell him that you'd take him shopping for one.

[Tirilliel]

Originally Posted by Monica

How about this, take your husband around to all the petstores and bird places that you can find in the area. Maybe even a bird fair if you have any in the area (may be hard to find, though try searching for a bird club). It sounds as if your husband wants another bird, maybe for himself??? If something catches his eye and is in reasonable cost, the bird could be bought for him.

It could be that he either wants another bird for Houdini, or maybe he'd want one for himself. You could ask him if he would like a bird of his own and see how he takes to that idea. You could then tell him that you'd take him shopping for one.

He doesn’t want a bird for himself, he wants a bird for Houdini so that Houdini wont want to walk all over the furniture and will want to stay with the other bird in their designated areas and so Houdini will stop chirping..

Honestly the chirping doesn’t bother me so much as him, but he thinks another bird would help Houdini feel more fulfilled and therefore stop from wanting to burring into out furniture and chew up papers and sop chirping at us all the time.

[peeker]

I think you have all the answers you need but I will mention once again--two birds will be noisier. If your bird takes to the other bird she will most likely want to mate and have babies==more birds!! The mating in itself could produce even more noise... If your husband is a bit frustrated with the bird you have, getting another one isn't going to help.

[SweetPea]

I got one lovebird, and got another LB after my first was somewhat tamed just to give her a friend of her own kind

Her friend, although she sees me as a "flock" mate, doesn't trust me as my first LB who if I remove her from her cage's sight, is pretty docile and tame. My second LB will sit on my shoulders, but that's about it.

However, for the first 30 days of QT, it was pretty darn noisy in the house, as they were aware of each other's prescence, and was calling each other non stop.

After being slowly introduced and some initial beak jousting and such, they both decided to be cage mates... However, I still have to keep a close eye on the two of them even though they've been together for months now, as my first LB is pretty territorial and thus aggressive. EVERYTHING belongs to HER!

She chases Lily from food dish to food dish, from toys and everything else, and will bite toes and make Lily constantly cry!

And the NOISE!!! If you think ONE LB is loud... try TWO!!! They're both good at letting me sleep in, but once they see I'm awake!? They're pretty much vocal unless they get sleepy and take a nap!!

And TRUST me... two of them = double trouble!

They have MUCH more confidence (Think of a group of gangs as opposed to an individual) and thus will explore a LOT more! They're like two monkeys (They're both clipped)! They will climb on everything and explore every nook and cranny and will constantly scream to each other and of course the birds outside!! I find it adorable... But then again... they're MY birds!! Other people in my family don't find the noise as pleasant though! Sometimes they get pretty fed up, as my birds can go HOURS sqwaking at each other!

And the mess.. I now have to vaccuum at least 3x a day with the hand held vac, and do more thorough cleaning of their cage every week to keep it spot free. (I have a lot of perches I rotate out, so I can afford to put off cleaning some, as I just take out pooped on perches, put in clean ones, and I have four cages between the two of them, so when I take them outside, I drag their bigger cage to disinfect.)

I love them though, but i wish I can get them to poop in one place! lol.