What do lovebirds need

If it is not possible to keep their room quiet for this amount of time, you may want to get a smaller cage for your bird to sleep in and place it in a quieter room. Using a sleep cage will give your bird a safe, quiet place to get a good night's sleep.

The natural diet of lovebirds consists of seeds, grain, berries, and other fruits. For a healthy, balanced diet, it is necessary to provide a variety of foods for your pet bird. Pellet foods and seed mixes can be fed as a daily base diet. We feed Goldenfeast formulas and mix in some seed diet, fruits and vegetables when appropriate.

Pellets or seeds should not be fed exclusively, because it does not provide proper nutrition and will lead to health problems in the future. It is very important to include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in your bird's diet. Some healthy fruits include apples, grapes, berries, papaya, and mango. Vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, zucchini, squash, cooked sweet potatoes, and dark leafy greens such as romaine, kale, chicory, dandelion leaves, and turnip or collard greens make great lovebird food.

Other healthy treat foods include cooked whole grains like brown rice , whole grain pasta, multigrain breads, unsugared cereals or even small amounts of cooked eggs. When feeding fresh foods, be sure to remove anything uneaten after a few hours so that the food does not spoil, and to wash the dishes thoroughly before using them again.

Your lovebird can share many of the foods you eat - just try to keep their consumption of fried, greasy, sugary, and salty foods to a minimum. These substances can kill your bird, even if given in very small amounts. Other foods to avoid are avocados, rhubarb, asparagus, onions, raw legumes beans and peas , and dairy products. If feeding fruits the stool may become runny for a while. Many birds cannot tolerate too much acid that is in many citrus fruits, therefore we recommend limiting the amount of citrus you feed to your bird.

Any bird which has runny stools when it is not eating fresh foods should be seen by a veterinarian, as diarrhea is often one of the first symptoms of disease. When changing the food your bird is given, do so gradually. A sudden change may upset your bird's digestive system, or the bird may refuse to eat the new food. Birds like to bathe, but different birds prefer to bathe in different ways. Some like to bathe in a shallow dish , some like to be sprayed with a fine mist and still others like to get in the shower with their owner.

Most lovebirds come from the equatorial regions of Africa and should be given the opportunity to bathe every day. Clipping your bird's flight feathers is not necessary but usually helps in taming your bird. It also helps to prevent escape and injury. Birds like lovebirds cannot survive in the climate of most of the US and would not survive without a flock a flock protects them from predators as there is safety in numbers. For this reason, please consider carefully before allowing a bird to remain flighted.

Consult your avian vet to have the wings clipped by a qualified professional. Nails should be trimmed by a qualified person if they get too long, unhealthy, or hinder the bird's movements. Lovebirds are often the choice of many people who like to keep birds as pets. Small and delicate, they are always in pairs and have an average lifespan of fifteen years. Knowing that your feathery companions are going to be with you for so long, it is in their best interest that you find out the ways you can keep them healthy and strong.

Most people just run down to the shop and buy a bag of bird food or seeds for their birds, but did you know that there is a whole variety of food that your birds will love and benefit from? Here are some lovebirds food items that you should know about:. You can give your lovebirds apples as long as you remove the poisonous seeds.

You can also give them fresh bananas, citrus fruits, berries, mangoes, melons, grapes, kiwis, papayas, peaches, plums, any kind of pears, and star-fruits. Foods such as barley, amaranth, couscous, flax-seeds, oats, whole grain pasta, quinoa, wild rice, whole wheat, and whole rice can also be given to your lovebirds.

Cabbage leaves, cauliflower leaves, broccoli, bok-choy, dandelion leaves, mustard leaves, kelp, spirulina and seaweed are some greens and grasses that your bird can benefit from. There are certain edible flowers that are great to feed lovebirds. Flowers like chamomile, carnations, dandelions, honeysuckle and many others can be turned into bird food.

Just be sure to do your research as the leaves of certain flowers can be poisonous to your pet birds. Lentils, beans, nuts, tofu and peas are all good for your pet lovebirds because they are full of proteins that your birds need. However, consult your vet about nail trimming. In the wild, lovebirds feed on seeds, berries, fruits, grains, grasses, leaf buds, and agricultural crops of corn, maize and figs.

A diet consisting of a small parrot mix along with a variety of supplements and vitamins is generally regarded as suitable; also a formulated diet along with greens, fruits, and vegetable supplements but without additional vitamins is also regarded as suitable, and is a more current trend.

Supplements include fresh vegetables, greens, and tree branches for the bark, some fruits, and millet spray. Some of the fruit supplements include berries, apples, grapes, pears, bananas, and kiwi. Some of the greens and vegetable supplements include spinach, endive, watercress, chickweed, radish, parsley, dandelions, carrot tops, and corn on the cob, peas, endive, field lettuce, and various garden herbs. Additional proteins can be offered such as nuts, try some unshelled peanuts as well as hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and chestnuts.

A cuttlebone, or gravel and oyster shell in a separate dish should be offered to provide calcium. Do not feed avocado, as it can be toxic to birds! Their food and water dishes should be earthenware or porcelain as lovebirds will chew the plastic dishes and this can be lethal. Lovebirds drink a lot of water, so be sure to change their water dishes frequently through the day.

Lovebirds are very active birds, so a cage best suited to adequately house them must provide a lot of space. Remember, they are extremely active birds. Be sure the spot you pick has good light and is well ventilated, though free from drafts. It should be away from doors and windows where direct exposure to sunlight can make it overly warm, but placed close to at least one wall to enhance a feeling of security.

Average daytime temperatures can range from 60oF to 70oF with nighttime temperatures down to 40oF. As a rule of thumb, ambient temperature comfortable for you should be adequate for your bird. Whether your bird is sick or healthy, be sure to watch for tell-tale signs of temperature-related discomfort: cold birds will often remain fluffed up for extended periods of time, and overheated birds will hold their wings away from their bodies and pant.

The cage should be covered at night to prevent drafts and disturbances. Lovebirds like special resting places. They have a large bill and a tail that is either round or square. Their average life span is between years with some living even longer. The lovebird has been recorded at 17 years and several people have reported their birds living even longer than that. We had one person state that their lovebird lived for 25 years!

The different species of lovebird are identifiable by their colors and markings. They vary greatly in their coloring, and each species can be viewed for their unique combinations.

Younger birds are duller in color and they have black in their beaks. The young birds coloring intensifies as they reach maturity. Regardless of the species, mature lovebirds are gorgeous parrots. Three of the nine lovebird species are most commonly available lovebirds for pets. The other six are more rare, and in some cases, absent at least in the United States.

The three common species are the Peach-faced Lovebirds, the Masked Lovebirds, and the Fischer's Lovebirds, and all three make wonderful pets. There are a variety of color mutations in lovebirds, developed from these three common species.

This is especially true for the Peach-faced Lovebird, which can be bred in hundreds of different combinations of mutations. As a result, there are many new lovebird colors available. A wide variety of lovebirds can be found in the pet industry and from breeders. Some lovebirds and lovebird mutations that are commonly available include:. Care and feeding In the wild, lovebirds feed on seeds, berries, fruits, grains, grasses, leaf buds, and agricultural crops of corn, maize and figs. Their food and water dishes are best if earthenware or porcelain as they will get gnawed if plastic.

Housing Lovebirds are very active birds. When housing your lovebird, bird cages or an aviary best suited to them must provide a lot of space. Maintenance It is important For the health of your lovebird, it is important to keep bird houses and accessories clean and in good shape.