For future parents

I take adoption really seriously. I genuinely care for my birds and treat them as family members. I want their babies find good, loving homes, where they will be treated as they deserve it. I have some expectations and requirements for future families as I believe these are the key ingredients for a happy bird life.

Having a pet is a long-term commitment 

Lovebirds live about 15 years, up to 20 years with a good care. That is a long period of time. Think well before you decide to get a bird - are you planning to move sometime soon? If you are renting, will having a bird limit you in finding a new place and how do you feel about it? Is there a chance that you will move internationally? I moved my birds from the Netherlands to Canada and I can tell you - it was ten times more complicated than getting ourselves and our belongings. And expensive. With who will you leave the bird when you go on holidays?

Also, can you afford having a bird? Food and toys won't cost you more than 20 dollars a month (that is what I spend for two lovebirds, and they get the best food on the market), and once in a while a bigger investment like a new cage, new perches, stainless steel bowls. And then there are vet bills. If you have no one you trust to leave your birds with for the holidays, you will have to deal with boarding costs at the clinic. Do your homework before you get a pet - seems common sense to me!


Lovebirds are NOT good pets for kids

I often see the breeders advertise that lovebirds are good pets for kids. I totally disagree. Lovebirds are demanding, manipulative, they can bite hard, are totally not patient with the kids, and WILL bite them. In fact, they will bite everyone in your family at least once (parrots use biting to communicate, and you can reduce it to a minimum, but will hardly avoid a pinch once in a while, because you didn't get the message what the parrot was trying to tell you before he bit you). Lovebirds, and parrots in general, are not affectionate, and will not love you because you feed them (they will love you for loving them as your friend, but that's a whole different story). Get a dog, or a cat instead.

Lovebirds expect that you treat them as your equal and will treat you the same, if you are lucky and deserve it. I am not kidding! I honestly find lovebirds the most demanding pets I have ever had (I had dogs and cats). But also the most entertaining ones :).

If YOU want to get a lovebird, you can teach your kids how to behave around it. But in the end of the day, it should stay your bird. But if you want your kids to have a pet to take care of, or your child saw a super cute lovebird in the pet store, and is begging for it, you might want to take him or her to the bunny section instead. 

Having said that, every kid is different. When I was twelve, I desperately wanted a rottweiler puppy. And I got it. I toilet trained him, I took him to dog school, I taught him tricks and commands and socialized him. I ran home after school every single day, because I needed to walk the dog. I didn't do it because my parents told me, I did it because I felt responsible. My dog was the most well behaved, affectionate, loving rottweiler - so I did things right. If you have a kid like that, then we can talk.


If you are looking for your first lovebird ever ... 

Lovebirds are noisy! Consider your living situation and your neighbours.


I will NOT place my babies in homes where they will be alone in the cage

Lovebirds are extremely social and active birds. In the nature they live in flocks consisting of pairs. The amount of time spent preening each other and fooling around is huge. There is no way humans can do that for them. Even if you stay at home all the time, there will be times of travel, illness, job, other responsibilities, where the bird will be alone. They deserve better.

The biggest fear of getting a pair (and I get it) is that birds will have each other and will not be so tame. That is only partially true. Yes, they will not depend on you socially and will show less initiative to hang out with you. But it does not mean they will not like hanging out with you - in other words, the initiative is on you. When we take the birds to scratch their heads, they almost purr with excitement. They love hanging out with us when we are at home. It's just that we need to take them out of the cage, they rarely come themselves (unless they want to get a treat). But once they are with us, they love it and they stay with us.

Regarding the bird being less tame if he has a bird companion, it is not true. Whether bird is tame or not, depends solely on how much time you invest and spend with them. And regularity is the key - even once a tame bird can become a wild one in the couple of months time, if you don't spend enough time with them. Girls are usually more feisty than boys, but there are exceptions. Girls will be feisty even if they are kept alone, it's just in their nature. But girls are much more fun than boys (in my opinion) - they are like little diva's, and they are hilarious!

Another fear of having a pair are a potential of nests, eggs and babies. There are ways to avoid that, even if you have a boy-girl couple. I will be posting about trips and tricks about that later, but for now, let me tell you - I know people who have multiple couples, but they never ever had a clutch if they did not want to.

• Should the companion bird be of the opposite sex or can two lovebirds of the same sex live together? 

I recommend two of the opposite sex, that is the most natural way for the birds. Also, the dynamics of a couple is amazing - we laugh ourselves to pieces!

I heard that two boys can live together in peace. I myself don't have any experience with it.

Two girls is not recommended. Things might go fine till both of them get into nesting mood, and then they might fight over the territory till one is dead. And that can change in a day, so image yourself coming back home and finding one of your birds dead on a bottom of the cage.


Can lovebirds get along with other pets? 

Yes, they get along very well with dogs, cats, bunnies, turtles. They will try to dominate the other pet though. Needless to say, they should hang out together under supervision only. When you get a new pet, they should be introduced slowly to each other. If you have a cat that hunts and brings in birds regularly, I would not trust it around lovebirds either. Trust the common sense.


Babies will go to smoke-free homes only 

Fumes can cause respiratory distress and irritation of eyes / nose tissue in parrots. And, in case you didn't know, smoking is not good for you too.


Birds should get enough of out-of-cage time

At least a couple of hours a day. They deserve it.


Birds should get a spacious cage, toys and good nutrition

Lovebirds are really active birds. They need space to move, things to climb on, things to chew and tear. The risk of not giving them enough entertainment is that they will develop behavioral problems - screaming, feather plucking, depression (yes, they can get that).

A good size of a cage for a lovebird couple is about 22 inch in length and 18 inch in width. The height for lovebirds in not too important, they usually stay at the top of the cage anyway. My birds have a Hagen Vision Large cage, which is great in length, and if it was slightly wider, it would have been perfect. But it costs a fraction of what the heavy parrot powder-coated cages cost, so I think it's a good compromise, for now.

Good nutrition is essential to bird's health and your vet bills! I give them a combination of quality pellets (Harrison's), seeds (TOP), both dry and sprouted, Lafeber's Nutriberries and sunflower seeds as treats, and some vegetables / greens / legumes. You can read more here about what works best in our home and also why quality pellets is essential to happy lovebird life.


Lovebirds are capable of learning tricks. Teach them while they are young

It will be really rewarding to play with your birds later. Birds will love the attention and admiration they are getting and you will be entertained!


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Are you still reading? Good, that means you are determined! Ok, so I didn't scare you away. Now let's talk practical.

Birds are ready to be picked up when they are about 9-10 weeks old, when are able to feed themselves and do not rely on their parents anymore. It differs per bird and per clutch, so times can vary. They are raised by their parents, which was a very conscious decision of mine (read here about what I think of handfeeding and why).

They come with a DNA sex certificate (or, sometimes, based on their colours, I can tell you the gender with 100% certainty) and a lifelong free advice. I am planning to get registered for AACC, but unfortunately the eggs came faster than my registration in 2015, so no leg bands for 2015 babies. The babies are already tame, step up and come to you to hang out.

Please bring a transport box and a cotton kitchen towel, when you come to pick up your bird (not the fluffy ones, as the nails will get stuck). If it's a long drive, have a small bowl for water attached inside the transport box. I will give you a some of the food they were getting here to help them ease with the transition to the food they will be getting in your house.

My lovebird male Juju has been tested and is negative for PBFD, polyoma and chlamydia. Didi has not been tested, because she joined the family later. We will test Didi sometime soon, but she is a healthy female bird who already raised several clutches without any symptoms (usually the babies will not survive or show some signs of disease). Our birds do not have any contact with other non-tested birds.

You are always welcome to come over and see how the birds are doing before you come to pick up a baby bird.