Feeding baby lovebirds video
| apple | cherries (not the pit) | pear |
| apricots | Chinese vegetables (bok choy) | peas |
| asparagus | coconut | peppers (red/green & hot) |
| banana | corn | pineapple |
| beans (cooked) such as: | cucumber | plum |
| chick peas | dandelion leaves | pomegranate |
| kidney | dates | potato |
| lentils | endive | pumpkin |
| lima | fig | rapini |
| mung | grapes | raspberry |
| navy | grapefruit | rice (brown) |
| soy | kale | romaine lettuce |
| beet | kiwi | spinach |
| blueberry | melons | sprouted seeds |
| broccoli | mango | squash |
| brussel sprouts | nectarines | strawberry |
| cabbage | orange | sweet potato |
| cantaloupe | papaya | tomato |
| carrot | parsnip | zucchini |
| carrot tops | peaches |
Millet and sunflower seed is often chosen preferentially. Owners will often also offer a millet spray or branch. This, of course, is more of the same seed and leads to further malnutrition. Honey Sticks are often offered, but once again, they contain more seeds that are stuck together with sugar and honey. Molting foods, song foods and conditioning foods are also available. These products are simply different combinations of more seeds that really have no particular bearing on the condition they claim to treat. Healthy molts, vibrant song and strong condition is achieved with a balanced diet all of the time.
5 level measure tablespoons of seeds per bird, per day in a shallow dish depending on the size of the bird. If there is more than one lovebird in the cage, separate dishes should be used for each bird to ensure those birds at the bottom of the pecking order have a chance to eat. This may not be possible in a flock situation. Any seeds left over in the dish at the end of the day could suggest that too many seeds were offered originally.
There are many good brands of pelleted foods in the market place. Pellets come in different flavors, colors and shapes.
Consult your veterinarian regarding these situations.
It was believed that grit was necessary for the mechanical breakdown of food in the gizzard as an aid to digestion. However, we now know that birds do fine without grit. Some birds will in fact have problems if grit is over eaten.New Georgia Animal Hospital - Veterinarian in Dallas, GA USA
Lovebirds are very social and form deep bonds with their owners.
If you are short on time to spend with your lovebird, then it is best to get him or her a companion.
There are several species of lovebirds, such as the genus Agapornis. But the most commonly found species in the pet trade include peach faced lovebirds, or Agapornis roseicollis, masked lovebirds (Agapornis personata) and Fischer's lovebirds (Agapornis fischeri). There are many color mutations found in peach faced lovebirds and several mutations in some of the other species, so there are many color variations of lovebirds available. Lovebirds are small, compact parrots about 5-6 inches in length and can live up to 15 years or more.
Temperament
Very active, curious, and playful, lovebirds pack a lot of personality into a small package. They are also feisty little birds. They are very social and form deep bonds with their owners and are sometimes very cuddly birds, but their intense personalities can also make them prone to nipping and territorial aggressiveness and jealousy.
Hand-raised babies make the best pets. Some experts believe that females are more prone to jealousy and territoriality than males.
Find a Hand-Raised Baby
Hand-raised babies definitely make the best pets. Still, regular handling and training are needed to maintain a tame lovebird (so a hand raised baby that hasn't been handled much as it gets older may be hard to hand tame again). If getting an older lovebird try to find one that was hand raised and has been handled regularly and has some training. Older lovebirds that are not hand tamed may require a great deal of patience for taming.
Social Needs - A Common Myth
A common myth about keeping lovebirds is that they should always be kept in pairs. If you have more than one lovebird they may become more deeply bonded to each other that to you. A single lovebird will do well, as long as it gets the social interaction, contact, affection, and attention that it needs from its human family members. If you are short on time to spend with your lovebird, then it is best to get him or her a companion, though.
Vocalizations and Speech
While not as loud as some larger parrots, lovebirds can produce a loud high pitched screech, especially if looking for your attention. Their normal chirps and squawks are not overly loud, but they do like to chatter. As a general rule, they are not known for their ability to mimic speech or sounds, although there are exceptions. Some say females are more apt to mimic sounds or speech than males.
Housing Lovebirds
As a bare minimum, I would recommend a cage at least 2 feet wide by 2 feet long (and 2 feet tall), but a larger cage is definitely better (with the length being relatively more important than the height). Bars should be no more than 1/2 to 5/8 inches apart, and should be oriented horizontally to allow the birds climb the sides of the cage. Avoid round cages. Provide a variety of perch sizes (including natural branches if possible) as this is healthier for a caged bird's feet.
Feeding Lovebirds
Lovebirds should be fed a variety of foods.
A good pellet diet can form the basis of the diet, supplemented by a variety of fresh foods and some seeds (seeds should make up less than 25 percent of the total diet). A cuttlebone can be provided for extra calcium.
Toys
Lovebirds are quite aggressive chewers, which must be kept in mind when choosing toys. Make sure there are no small parts that can be chewed off and ingested, and no clips, loose strings, or other parts in which your bird could get its beak, feet, or head trapped. Safe toys include wood, sisal, leather, acrylic, and rawhide toys (including hanging toys as long as they are not long enough to strangle your bird), bells, and ladders. As well, household items such as the cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls, paper cups, ink-free cardboard, and dried pasta shapes may also be used by your lovebird. Lovebirds are very active and playful so it is a good idea to have lots of toys on hand to rotate through the cage to keep them occupied. All toys including their hanging devices should be zinc and lead free.
Cotton ropes are good too, but may be best used only under supervision since threads can come loose and entangle birds easily.
Lovebird chicks
Lovebird chicks, housing conditions
Sometimes situations arise when very young lovebird chicks, unable to feed themselves, remain orphans. Such an outcome is possible in the event of the death of an adult lovebird or if he simply stops feeding the chicks and begins to lay eggs again. If time does not intervene, the chicks will simply die. The ideal course of action in this situation is to transfer the cubs to another nest of lovebirds that have chicks of about the same age. But if there are none, you need to do their artificial feeding.
Raising fledgling lovebirds is a rather complicated and time-consuming process, the result of which directly depends on the correctness of the actions performed. Since immediately after birth, the chick's body is not able to secrete a sufficient amount of enzymes, the food it absorbs is not absorbed, only filling and clogging the stomach, which leads to its death.
When an adult parrot feeds its cub, it passes on the missing amount of enzymes to it, which contributes to the normal digestive process. Only two weeks after birth, the lovebird can be safely fed gruel, without worrying that the intestines may not digest it.
Not yet feathered parrots require not only constant feeding, but also additional heating, which can be achieved by using a home-assembled thermostat. To do this, take a three- or five-liter container filled with water, which is heated using a boiler. A vessel with hot water, placed in a box, must be covered with hay or cloth, put the chicks on top. In order to avoid rapid heat loss, a box with holes made for ventilation, having a diameter of about 10 millimeters and located near the nest bed itself, is covered with a pillow.
Depending on the age of the lovebird chicks, the maintained temperature should be gradually reduced, after they have feathered, there is no need for additional heating.
So, for a chick on the 10th day of life, a temperature of about 30 ° C is acceptable, and at the age of 15–20 days - 20–25 ° C. It should be borne in mind that a sharp temperature drop can have a detrimental effect on the fledgling lovebird.
Do not think that after covering the chick's body with feathers, all problems will instantly disappear. After all, if a fledgling lovebird, when a feeling of hunger arises, immediately begins to squeak and voluntarily takes food, then a slightly grown up chick refuses to eat, so initially it has to be force-fed the lovebirds. It must also be remembered that the air temperature for the normal existence of a fledgling chick should be 18–20 ° C.
Artificial feeding of lovebird chicks can be conditionally divided into three stages:
1 ) immediately after birth, it is necessary to cook semi-liquid porridge with milk from semolina or millet, to which add a little fish oil and sugar;
2 ) after the lovebird chicks learn to sit on their fingers, the porridge cooked for them should be thick;
3 ) after waiting for the first flapping of the wings, the parrots are gradually accustomed to grain feed.
To do this, dry food grains are placed in the feeder along with the porridge, which can be soaked in water for the first time.
Parrots also need vitamins and minerals for normal growth and skeletal development, so vegetable or fruit juice and powdered mineral food shells should be added to the porridge.
By following this schedule, the chick will gradually learn to feed exclusively on a grain mix. Until the parrot has learned to eat on its own, water is given to it only on hot sunny days, when it becomes independent, the constant presence of fresh water in the drinker is a prerequisite.
Unfortunately, artificially fed parrots become frail, so they need careful care.
Breeding lovebirds: what and how to do
Only by creating the best conditions, a pair of lovebird parrots will be able to bring offspring. You need to carefully prepare before you start breeding lovebirds - choose the perfect partner, create the perfect place for the nest, show maximum attention and care to the parrots during the planting period, it is necessary to ensure proper care for the hatched chicks.
Preparation process
Early spring or late autumn is the best time to hatch chicks.
The nest should be built on top of the cage. In addition, the cage must be very free so that the birds can easily move and fly in it. It will be prudent if there are several doors in the home of the lovebirds.
The diet of parrots must be approached with great responsibility, they must be provided with a complete and healthy diet, and they also need a lot of greens every day. If the birds are weak or sick due to the wrong diet, they will not be able to produce a healthy offspring.
It will be just fine if the parrot develops a little fat on the abdomen, but obesity should be avoided.
One of the important factors in the preparation process is the humidity in the room and the air temperature. It is also worth increasing daylight hours - most of the day in the room should be sunny.
Selection of a partner
Finding a partner for lovebirds is not an easy task, because it is important for them with whom to breed offspring.
Breeding lovebirds is a very responsible process. It should be remembered that in breeding chicks, the compatibility of the female with the male is not the least important. In the case when the parrots do not approve of each other, constantly quarreling and cursing, they should be put away for a while. Most often, after separation, relations between birds are improving. But in the case when mutual understanding could not be reached in any way, another partner should be selected. In no case is it recommended to cross between direct relatives.
Birds less than a year old are still underdeveloped for breeding, older than four years are usually sterile. Therefore, the optimal age for breeding chicks is considered to be the period from 1 year to 3-4 years. If the parrots are healthy and paired, then mating will occur very soon.
Nesting requirements
Hanging out nests in the same period of time allows a pair of lovebirds to adapt to a certain regime.
If there is no nesting at all, this will affect the slowing down of the egg maturation activity in the female parrot.
More than two clutches in a year can weaken lovebirds, resulting in offspring that are weak and unviable, so this process should be monitored.
The height of the nest should be 20-25 cm, the bottom should be square with sides 17-18 cm. The entrance should be no more than 5-6 cm in diameter and should be located at a distance of 2-4 cm from the edge of the roof . A perch should be attached under it and a rail should be installed a little lower, at a distance of 2-4 cm from the floor.
In order for the eggs to always be in one place, and not roll out, you should make a recess on the bottom of the nesting box or simply place a small container in it.
In order to make the access for cleaning the nesting place not problematic, it is better to make the cover hinged.
Before hanging a nest in a cage, it must be doused with boiling water with a special disinfectant, rinsed thoroughly and dried.
Lovebirds incubating eggs
When a female is incubating eggs, a few simple conditions must be observed. The optimum humidity in the room is 50-60%, the air temperature should not exceed 20 °C and fall below 18 °C.
If there is not enough moisture, chicks may appear with pathologies, and excess may lead to the death of the embryos.
The eggs should be white with a milky or greyish tint, and there are 4 to 6 eggs in one clutch. Planting time from 19 to 26 days.
Do not disturb the female when she is incubating. It is better to clean up the nesting place at the time when she eats, twice a week will be enough. In this case, you should once again not touch the masonry.
Unfertilized eggs are best removed. Such eggs are easy to identify by color - fertilized ones are white and have a matte shell, and not fertilized ones are shiny, have a yellowish tint and small spots. If all the eggs are empty, then it is better to leave them in place and let the female parrot finish hatching so as not to bring down her cycle.
