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any bird keepers here?

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MCW

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30 Dec 2011
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699
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Leicester UK
Just wanted to know something...

I live with mum and dad, and a 21 year old Senegal Parrot (billy) Bill lives in the living room in his cage and is normally quite a happy lad when dad is about, bill normally sits on dad for hours and what not. During the day bill is always in his cage as the little git likes getting into places where we can't find him :lol:

Recently a friend of mine had a budgie which I got for her and it sadly passed away aged 9 months (don't know what killed it) and subsequently I have inherited a cage. I would love a budgie, canary (or two) or a cockatiel.

I need to convince my dad before anything but before I even go that far I want to know if they are safe living in the same house together. they never would meet each other face to face and certainly would be kept away from each other... I'm just concerned about our bill though, would it be bad for him? Bill lives in the living room but the bird I would have would be in my bedroom.

also I am a guitar player and a rocker at heart, the only issue with that is.... is loud noises.... I don't know if I would drive one mad. (although billy is never bothered what goes on at all, he even dances to music!!!)
 
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Giugiaro

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Valongo - Portugal
Right now my home is starting to look like an aviary!

I had a Rosella lutino early this year that was feeling very healthy until it got ill suddenly and died. The poor thing just stayed home for 3 months and I guess it caught a fatal lungs disease, since it was having a very bad time breathing.

Right now we have a canary, two lovebirds and four finches.
The canary is on a hold since it's changing its feathers, but it'll start singing just after this summer, as normal.
The four finches were bought this Thursday and I bought the ones that had their wing feathers torn off. I'm now treating them so that they can fully recover. Right now they're the only lousy ones around.
The two lovebirds are my favourites. Parrot like, they're fun to watch. Since they are a couple, right now they're attempting to become a mommy and a daddy, so playtime is closed while the female incubates her little eggs. :D
 

MCW

Member
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Messages
699
Location
Leicester UK
Right now my home is starting to look like an aviary!

I had a Rosella lutino early this year that was feeling very healthy until it got ill suddenly and died. The poor thing just stayed home for 3 months and I guess it caught a fatal lungs disease, since it was having a very bad time breathing.

Right now we have a canary, two lovebirds and four finches.
The canary is on a hold since it's changing its feathers, but it'll start singing just after this summer, as normal.
The four finches were bought this Thursday and I bought the ones that had their wing feathers torn off. I'm now treating them so that they can fully recover. Right now they're the only lousy ones around.
The two lovebirds are my favourites. Parrot like, they're fun to watch. Since they are a couple, right now they're attempting to become a mommy and a daddy, so playtime is closed while the female incubates her little eggs. :D

that Rosella looks just like our bertie did..... he died in 1990, he got parrot hepatitis, which is triggered by stress and trauma, a cat got into the house a year before and scared him..... :(

but yeah, I will contemplate something :) Will have to be a budgie at least, I want to hand tame a bird, I have the patience for it. :)
 

Giugiaro

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Joined
4 Nov 2011
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1,129
Location
Valongo - Portugal
Fischer Lovebirds are one of the cutest and most affordable parrot birds you'll possess.

If you get to buy one, buy a couple.

Check 1:
A "married" male and female is easy to look for since they're very close to each other. Try looking for a petshop or a breeder who'll guaranty you a married couple. If you separate a married couple, or get the couple wrong, they may die of stress and melancholy.

Check 2:
You may need a spacious bird cage. Mine are using my Rosella's cage since he passed away. Beware of any easy opening door or wide grids! Fischer Lovebirds are parrots and are very intelligent and flexible. They'll try to crack any door or pass through any wide space on the grid.

Check 3:
If you buy a couple, you definitively have to buy a nest. A proper nest for a lovebird is a box nest. If your cage doesn't have an hole for a nest, make one, unless it is a parrot sized cage and you can put it inside, like mine.
If you ever need to clean up a nest, do it quickly, has the female may force herself out of the cage, looking for it.

Check 4:
The nest will need material that your couple will get by themselves. Put a little palm tree branch inside the cage.

Check 5:
Like parrots, fischer lovebirds need wooden toys to bite in order to polish their beaks.

Check 6:
Your cage will need a bar of calcium, especially for the female. Eggs use calcium and, after they're laid, the female will need to have her calcium replenished. While she incubates her eggs, the male will provide her food, calcium and water.

Check 7:
Lovebirds have their own food suply. Mine eat A LOT, far more than my Rosella, Canary and Finches all together! Cleaning the bottom of the cage is then a regular thing to be done or else you've have a mountain of seed husks. (< - Not sure if this is the right word for "casca de sementes")

Check 8:
Water is something that has to be changed everyday. They drink from it, clean themselves on it and sometimes leave rubbish on it. Don't put too much or it will be a waste, but also don't put too less! I use mineral water from our casual bottles, no pipe water, the last one only for cleaning.


OK! These are the ingredients you need to have an healthy couple of lovebirds. It's quite easy to treat them if you have checked everything well.


Your bought couple won't be tamed, so they'll avoid any contact. There are tips and tricks on the web about taming these birds, but doing such is really difficult and you may get to lose them if they get away.

If you really, but REALLY, want to tame a lovebird, you have to hand-breed the birds your couple will hatch, sooner or later. Get informed well about this process. I've been told that lovebirds are easy to breed, but since mine still haven't got a successful hatch, 'can't say anything.


If you want to have a bunch of lovebirds, the lovebirds with a white ring in their eyes are the most sociable. Each couple will have their own nest and try to find the balance between females and males.


Hope this helps you if you get to have these lovely birds. Mine are so quiet now since the female is treating her eggs. They're a bit awkward now but they'll get the hang of breeding their own family. :)
 

caliwag

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Joined
29 Mar 2009
Messages
608
Location
York
Ha...nothing like a cage-bird thread in a railway forum, excellent.

My wife presented me with a 6 year old cockatoo (no jokes please) which turned out to be a nightmare. Plainly had been poorly brought up, so to cut a long story short, we sadly donated it to Flamingoland near Malton.

Now they are very keen and caring but even they found Jasper (sorry peeps) impossible to train. So it entertains the troops by looking superb and , with clipped wings, flying to a tall tree and returning when it's hungry.

If there is a moral, don't be seduced by the fact that they look great and have a long life...if it hasn't been well reared from chick, forget it.

BTW, if your feathered friend is losing its feathers (age, stress, etc) give it water with a high magnesium content...like Pellegrino. I've read that it extends your bird's life.
Perhaps WE should heed that...drink high mag bottled water.:D
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hey btw...I'm a gricer from 50+years ago, waiting for the Metrovick to appear and love all things railway development...so I like parrots, where's the conflict?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Mmmm...just to elaborate, should you be interested.

A woman wrote to a parrot weekly paper a while back saying that her old parrot (40 odd) had starred falling off its perch (no sniggering or python jokes there in the back!), and somehow changed its water to a magnesium one (think she read it in a newspaper or something),.

The thing recovered big style and the feathers grew back, and the rest is history as they say.

So apart from the risk of growing feathers, it seems high magnesium bottled water is excellent for arthritis in parrots and humans...

In following this up Badoit is 85mg/l, San pelligrino (which the parrot got) is 53.5mg/l and vittel is 36mg/l. i would mention the fourth but it's owned by cocacola so bu++er that.

Dr Caliwag...
 
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