Lovebirds - Food, vitamin, general care, bath and all other info..birdkeepers are welcome to enlighten me?

Question

Do they need regular bath, special food, toys, can they talk/sing, what is the life span, mating in captivity etc info will also help

Answer 1

LOVEBIRDS need to be given regular bath almost daily.

Along with food, water and entertainment Lovebirds require an amount of general care, some of which needs to be done daily. Their cage needs to be kept in a clean condition, especially as the can be very messy. It is, of course, easier to keep the base clean if you line it, and there are two methods of doing this. The first is to use commercial sandpaper, but although this is convenient it's not really the kindest thing on your bird's feet. Personally, I prefer to line the base with newspaper (black and white only, as some coloured inks are poisonous) and then sprinkle this with bird sand. This has several advantages, bird sand normally contains ground shell that supplements calcium levels, it cushions the bird's feet as they land and makes spot cleaning far easier. The actual cage needs a good clean out at least weekly, but normally more often, I generally find my cage needs cleaning approximately twice a week and I use a specialist cage disinfectant.

Lovebirds also appreciate a bath or shower every other day or so, I find this not only helps them keep their feathers in top condition, but is something they enjoy. Another thing that is needed is a cover for the cage, Lovebirds require approximately 12 hours of darkness each night. I found that even with the lights off, they still weren't getting the sleep they needed, and only a cover settled them for the night. A little word of warning, they might whine when they're first covered, mine did, and it sounded so sweet almost as if they were begging to be allowed to stay up late.

Housing Lovebird(s)---

Before I even thought about buying any birds I spent time researching how they should be housed. There are many different types of cage available, but as with any pet the rule of thumb is the bigger the better, I bought the largest cage that I could both afford and fit in the available space. Personally I would recommend a cage with metal bars (mine is brass), rather than plastic coated as Lovebirds tend to bite on everything in the cage. Never buy a cage made of galvanised zinc, as the zinc is poisonous to the birds and tends to form droplets that they may eat. The cage should be placed in an draught-free area of the house where the birds will be in the middle of family life and I would try to ensure that the cage is NOT above your eye-level (the higher the bird's perch the higher up it is in the pecking order). I would also recommend that you buy a cage with a sliding sand tray, as this makes cleaning easier, although I didn't actually do this as my birds have daily flying time which I use to clean the cage. Just as important as the actual cage is ensuring that it is suitably furnished. I find that most cages come with unsuitable plastic perches, which I would immediately replace with some made of wood. Natural branches make the best perches, and if you have an apple tree in your garden then this would be ideal, just make sure you wash any branches before installing them in the cage. Sadly, I don't have any suitable trees in my garden, but I've found a shop that sells natural perches at a very reasonable price. You'll need at least two perches in the cage and they should be of different thickness so that the bird's feet are exercised. You'll also need to supply a cuttlebone and mineral block which are both appreciated by the birds, along with the standard of food and water containers. The bulk of a Lovebird's diet should come from either a seed or pellet mix.-

For further details and your requirements please see the website mentioned below- http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pets-and-animals/peachfaced-lovebirds/1024430/

Answer 2

Vitamins For Lovebirds

Answer 3

Mating will occur if you provide a nesting box. If you decide the female is getting tired take the box away. she will not lay anymore eggs. Also provide newspaper for her to make a nest with. I always put some in the bottom of the nest and she adds to it when she wants to. Just strips of newspaper in the bottom of the cage. When mine were having babies, I fed the parents and they fed the babies. They are not any extra work at all. Feed them a hard boiled egg a week with the shell for calcium. My female produced 50 eggs that all hatched and were very healthy when I donated them to the pet shop who in turn sold them and the proceeds went to the St. Jude's Children 's hospital. I stopped them from producing because I felt it was getting to be too much for the mother bird. I've been told they can live to 12 years or more but I am not sure about that. Mine are 7 years old. My vet told me to feed them pellets instead of seeds. Vitamins are in the food.I have a bird bath attached to the cage and they bathe every day. Make sure to keep the water clean because they also drink from this. My birds love to swing and perch on something like sandpaper so they can clean their beaks and keep their claws sharp.

Answer 4

Your love bird will live aproximately 15 years. They are lively creatures that can learn tricks, sounds and can chirp contentedly or chatter in a loud alarm cry. Mine likes to have new toys exchanged out every few weeks or so. He also loves to have a bath under the faucet. I cup my hands and he bathes in the pool that is created. He prefers this over any other method. I feed mine a diet of packaged seed from the pet store, a treat of spray millet, mashed potato with no salt or butter, peas fresh and cooked, carrots cooked, rice, soft cooked egg, banana, oranges, grapes, basically any soft food, I remove whatever he doesn't eat as soon as he is done. It is important to not give them, salt, fat, avacadoes, alcohol, or caffeine as he/she cannot process these or they can kill them. He loves everything I have mentioned plus a lot more. We spend a lot of time together and he lets me scratch him gently around his beak, neck and face. I would recommend finding a good book about love birds and reading it. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine. Good Luck