Getting lovies out of cage

[Blackmask]

First off hello I'm a new member. I have 2 Black Masked Lovebirds. Have had them for 3 weeks now and doing well. Switched them over from seed to pellets with no problems (still working on fresh foods).

Now my question: I would like to let them out of there cage. Can I just open the cage door and let them come out. I hate sounding so naive but this is all new to me. Then I'll try to get them back in with a treat. Thanks for all the help and I love this board!

[LovelySydney]

Hi & welcome, congrats on your new birds. Glad to hear you have let them settle in and get used to their new surroundings. & you switched them to pellets, good for you! That task alone is hard enough, especially with lovebirds that can be VERY picky!! & I LOVE blask masked lovebirds, they are soooo incredibly beautiful.


As far as bringing them out - are they stick trained? Meaning, can they step up on a dowel or do they step up on your fingers? I only ask because I wouldn't let them out of their cages until they know to do this. If they get loose you need to have a way of getting them back into their cage and the easiest is having them step up onto something. Are their wings clipped?? Before letting them out (unless you want them fully flighted) I would clip their wings or if you don't know how to do it, go have them done by an avian vet. I put a rope perch on the outside of the cage so my conure can come out and sit on it. I also put some treats and food on the top of the cage to keep them busy.


Its important to just let them explore on their own for a little while before you try to approach them. Just open the cage door and let them come out and see what's on the outside of their cage!! Good luck, Im sure things will turn out fine.

[personatus]

Don't give them all pellets, not a good idea.

70% seed 30% pellets is more than enough.

[Blackmask]

Sorry for getting back so late and thanks for the replys. They are not sticks trained. Kind of hard to do with both in one cage but see what I can do.

Boggie and Bacall eat a mix of pellets dried fruit and seed once a week. They also are starting to eat avicakes. They have a pretty balanced diet.

They are getting better at staying to the front of the cage and not flying to the back of the cage when someone comes close.

Over all I'm very happy with the little buggers. Just have a little work to do in the training department.

[LovelySydney]

You only feed them once a week?? I know that when I had birds their appetites were outrageous, I was changing their food at least once a day (although I never fed a lot at any point). Sometimes even when it looks like they aren't eating, the seed hulls can max the amount of food in the dish. I also changed it out with fresh fruits and veggies to mix it up a little.

[Blackmask]

Seed once a week. Just got them off seed and don't want them addicted again. Fresh food every day. I feed them for an hour in the morning and hour and a half in the evening, a snack in the afternoon. They eat well look healthy and sing all day long. If I'm doing something wrong I'm open to suggestions.

[ThreeX]

Maybe not wrong per se, but i am an advocate of seeds because it is natural and keeps them busy. Peeling seems a deep rooted instinct since mine tries to peel everything i give them, even if it's a green pea. I have also heard from australian parakeet breeders that seed is absolutely essential to those if you want strong, healthy good looking birds.
In any case my personal belief is that strictly pelleted diet is, if not bad, not my prime choice. There's also risk for allergic reactions to pellets (i know of 5 birds personally who got horrible rash/feather loss problems that disappeared after going (back) to seed mix + veggies.

[LovelySydney]

Oh no no you aren't doing anything wrong I just misinterpreted what you said, thats all!!


I had to get my little ones off seed (they were junkies, literally) but I still give about 15-20% to them because although there is a small health benefit and the birds love em. So its ok to give more seed than once a week, just not every single day or more than 20% of the diet.

[personatus]

Originally Posted by LovelySydney

So its ok to give more seed than once a week, just not every single day or more than 20% of the diet.

Completely disagree there. Small health benefit? A good quality seed mix with supplements can give lovebirds the full diet they require. I know alot of old school breeders whose birds are on this kind of diet, and they all have some old, retired birds close to and sometimes older than 18 years. Too many people have been brainwashed by the good marketing and promotion of pellets ... indeed vetinarians may swear by some of them, but most of them are either on the payrole of brainwashed aswell. Breeders and keepers alike did perfectly fine before pellets were in circulation, and alot still do now. A breeder I have took a few birds from, possibly the best masked lovebird breeder in the world. More gold, silver and bronze medals than I have had hot dinners, world champion titles and more....some of his birds are older than me! Not a single pellet in sight for the past 35+ years.

If anything, you should be offering pellets at no more than 20% a day. Look at all the reports popping up now about the problems caused to small birds by long time exposure to heavy pelley based diets. Truth about them is slowly emerging....I think the problem is they are too overloaded for small lovebirds, especially with the amounts of fruits and veggies people often offer.

I tried pellets this breeding season, 4 varieties from the top, established brands, all organic. Results were terrible. I had DIS, plucking, dumped young, poor feathering...chicks took noticably longer to feather....to name a few problems. All the problems came from proven, quality parent birds and the only ones with problems were those on pellets. Those birds who never accepted the pellets did perfect, as usual. Removed the pellets and everything was back to normal. More fertile eggs, 100% hatch rate and they feathered up and fattened up much faster. Moulted faster and the conditon was generally much better. I know loads of people who have experienced the same thing. This was 35-50% pellets, 30-35% seed and fruit/veggies every now and then, along with other supplements. Young and more mature couples aswell. I obviously don't offer them at all now.

Proofs in the pudding for me. Whilst I'm sure birds may well do ok on a pellet based diet, from my experiences, my birds and others I know, do much better without them. To recommend less than 20% seed and not on a daily basis, imo, will do more harm than good to the bird.