Why Your Lovebird Is Shredding Paper and Tucking?

Most of the newbie lovebird owners don't know the reason why their lovebirds shreds paper and tucking. In general lovebirds think that they are born with an objective to shred and take every opportunity to do so. Some times, you can notice that the females will often tuck strips of shredded paper in their rump feathers. In some flock, males will also tuck the shredded paper but they're not so good in carrying the shredded paper. Both these lovebirds are carrying the shredded paper mainly with an intention to strengthen their nest by carrying more nesting material back to the nest.

Reasons for Beak Grinding in Lovebirds

Most of the lovebirds do grind their beaks daily. This made some of the lovebird owners to get worry about this act. Do you know why birdies do this? They will grind their beaks before going to sleep. The sound of beak grinding would be like the nails down a chalkboard thing.

Some of the lovebirds owner think this behavior is method of calming down. It is true! Moreover, your bird is grinding the beak as a sign of happy and contentment.

Sometimes the lovebirds will grind their beak as well as squinting, which mean your bird is tired, but happy.

Grinding beak also conditions lovebirds beak. This act of beak grinding behavior is similar to that of a kid sucking their thumb. Although it's a weird grating sound, it is an act of self-stimulation behavior. If you're having more than three lovebirds, it is really hard to figure out which one does that.

Let's you know your lovebirds are happy, and keeps their beaks in good shape by grinding them in a perfect manner.

Common Lovebird behaviors

Most of the owners think that lovebirds should be kept in pairs. It is untrue! In fact single lovebirds often make the best pets.

As a owner you should know about the meanings for each and every behavior of your lovebirds.

The common behaviors observed in lovebirds are Beak Grinding, blinking, wing flopping, head bobbing, head bowing, Paper shredding and tucking, puffed feathers, tail rubbing, head on back, body couched, wing spread.

If you notice any of these behaviors, you should know what your lovebird is telling you. I'll discuss in detail what it means in the ensuing days.

Hatching Lovebird Eggs

Most of the lovebird owners (Newbie) are really don't know when their lovebirds will lay eggs. Normally a female lovebird will start to lay eggs after 10 months of age. Breeding lovebirds is very EASY task for the lovebird breeders. But it is very difficult to find a new home for the young ones because the young ones can't be placed along with their parents for a long period.

The hatching period of lovebird eggs is usually 18-20 days of hatch. The clutch size would be 4-6 eggs. Both male and female will nest the eggs in a phased manner. It is not advisable to perform nest inspection because both the parents would be aggressive. If you're so keen to see the eggs, it always advisable to see the nest only after both parents are away from the nest.

If you want to hand feed the young chicks, it is advisable to pull hem out from the nest only after two weeks old.
For further information, please consult the following pages:
1. Menu For Your Weaned Lovebird Chicks
2. What do you Feed For the Peach-faced Lovebirds?

Baby Lovebird Diseases

Do you know at what age the baby lovebirds should be separated from its parents? Baby lovebirds should be weaned (separated) from its parents at the age of 14-18 days.

I have heard so many stories of baby lovebirds being attacked by parents after this age. Some of the parents are even worse to peck the chicks until it gets bleeding. Apart from mechanical injuries received from the parents, baby lovebirds are suffered from few more dreadful diseases.

You might have noticed a sudden death among the baby lovebirds after getting separated from the mother. You might think it is due to lack of parental care. NO... It is your deficiency of providing proper temperature in the chicks cage. So do provide proper lighting to provide enough heat. You can place them in a large "brooder"-which you can make by putting a few inches of Carefresh Cage Liner in a plastic reptile container. You can get this stuff in all pet stores.

Other common disease of baby lovebirds are pachecos (PD), which nothing but Herpes infection. The symptoms of this disease is blisters which will burst and bleeding is noticed at the site of burst. Moreover, the lovebird chicks may be affected by this condition because the parents may transmit this virus.There is ever possibility of liver failure in this condition.

The affected lovebird will defecate blackish fecal material with offensicve smell. It is really difficult to cure this condition. The only way is culling the parents or retire the pair from breeding.

Other Common Baby Lovebirds Diseases

Other common baby lovebirds diseases include-

• Favus (ringworm)
• Knemidocoptic mange (scaly face)
• Hypovitaminosis A (nutritional roup)
• Candidiasis (thrush, oidiomycosis, moniliasis)
• Trichomoniasis

As a lovebird owner, you ought to know about these baby lovebirds diseases. This will help you to provide better lovebird care for the entire flock. You should remember that enough care should be given to the baby lovebirds because it is very important to make them as a perfect parents in near future

Toxoplasmosis in Lovebirds

Do you know lovebirds are prone to Toxoplasmosis? Toxoplasmosis is a disease of zoonotic importance. Although toxoplasmosis is more confined to cats, lovebirds are also affected by Toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by a protozoan parasite- Toxoplasma gondi. Drinking water contaminated with Toxoplasma is the usual entry of the organism in lovebirds.

Toxoplasma infection has two stages- Acute Toxoplasmosis and Latent Toxoplasmosis. Most infected lovebirds have no symptoms and are never diagnosed. The affected birds will have swollen eyelids with nasal discharge.

In humans, the affected individuals will show muscle weakness, eye damage, and abortion in pregnant women. So it is always advisable to avoid handling of lovebirds during pregnancy period of a woman.

Usually the diagnosis of the disease can be confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This is the confirmative test for Toxoplasmosis in lovebirds.

The common medicines employed to control toxoplasmosis in lovebirds include clindamycin, spiramycin, etc. In the latent toxoplasmosis, the common drug of choice is atovaquone. It is always advisable to prevent the occurrence of this disease among lovebirds than curing the same.

Psittacosis in Lovebirds

Psittacosis is a disease of parrot family. Lovebirds are also commonly affected by this disease. Moreover this disease would spread to other human beings also, if the lovebirds with psittacosis is being stressed too much. Thats why Psittacosis is considered as one of the Significant Zoonotic Diseases of Lovebirds

Other factors that predisposes Psittacosis include poor quality of feed, overcrowding and other infections of the lovebird. If you want to prevent this disease among lovebirds, you need to follow sensible hygiene as well as proper feeding.

Regular cleaning of the cage to remove fallen feathers and droppings will help to check this disease. This disease will spread through the dust. while cleaning the lovebirds cage, it is mandatory to wear a mask and hand gloves to prevent exposure to this dreadful disease.

Symptoms

The common symptoms of Psittacosis are-

• Conjuctivitis
• Discharges from eyes and nostrils
• Diarrhea
• Weight Loss

Treatment

If you have discovered the disease in early stages, it is really possible to get rid of Psittacosis provided the lovebird should not suffer from any other underlying disease. You should quarantine the sick birds immediately. Keep in mind that only the sick birds need not to be treated, but rest of the lovebirds in the cage should be given suitable treatment.

Usually Tetracycline group of antibiotics are found to be very useful in containing this disease. Disinfect the cage using disinfectants like Glutaraldehyde, etc.

Last not to be least, do love your lovebirds, but don't kiss them to get exposed to Psittacosis.

Microchipping - a Perfect method for lovebird Identification

Most of the lovebirds owners find difficult to identify each and every bird, if they are maintaining more than 10 birds of same variety and color. Hence it is mandatory to do microchipping of your lovebirds.

This method is helpful to identify your lovebird in case of escape or loss. Your avian vet will inject a custom microchip under the skin. Microchipping is the safe method of lovebirds identification. Within few seconds, your vet can implant the microchip under the skin of the lovebird.

Why Microchipping?

This is the only permanent way to prove that the lovebird is yours in case of theft or escape. This is the safest method of bird identification with no stress on the bird. In addition, it can be implanted within the bird without undue stress to the same. But with a microchip you can prove the bird is yours.

Advantages

This micro chip never move within the body. Earlier chips are having problem of migration which causes stress for the birds. This chip is of rice grain in shape and encourage to form a scar tissue around it, thus anchoring them into place. The chip has an average life of around 25+ years

AVID and HomeAgain are the two companies that made microchipping for lovebirds. AVID providing common scanners used in pet birds.

So, do microchip your lovebirds to get identified easily. ALL THE BEST!!!

What Kind of Perches are Better for Lovebirds?

Perches for lovebirds are an important criteria for making them happy (???) in the cage. The girth of the perch should be more than the diameter of the lovebirds wrapped feet. i.e. the lovebirds foot does not wrap completely around the perch. This is an important criteria in selecting perches for your lovebirds. There are two types of perches available for lovebirds viz., natural perches and cement perches.

Natural Perches

If you want to provide comfort to your lovebird, then natural perches are the best not only for resting but also for chewing. The normal behavior of the lovebirds is removing bark and demolishes the perches. So you need to replace the perch regularly.

While selecting natural perch from trees, you should be careful that the branch should be devoid from pesticides or insecticides. Any how, it is better enough to clean the perch material with 10% bleach solution.

The natural perches for your lovebirds include willow, poplar, pine, manzanita, mulberry, fir, elm, dogwood, crabapple, cottonwood, cactus wood, birch, beech, ash, and apple.

Cement Perches

Some of the lovebirds owner prefer cement perches, which helps in trimming their nails. As these perches are very hard, place them in the place where your lovebird goes everywhere but spent not much of time.

The ideal place for placing these cement perches are just in front of food and water dishes. You will have to clean these lovebirds perches frequently as they use these as an area to wipe its beak. The optimal size of th cement perches would be in such a way that the foot ought to go 3/4 of the way around the perch.

Lovebirds perches are really an important thing to be selected with utmost care to avoid bumble foot and beak disorder(pecking). So perfect perches for your lovebird will definitely help to keep them hale and healthy.

When Lovebirds Fly In the Rain, Why Doesn't It Hurt Their Eyes?

Have you ever thought about this question? My daughter asked this question. As a vet I supposed to clear off her doubt. In my third year of undergraduate, in the wild life sciene subject, the same question was asked by me. My professor answered for this question.

You can get the answer HERE...

How Lovebirds Fly in the Rain without Hurting Their Eyes?

Do you know answer for this question? If so, please don't read further. As other birds, lovebirds have a special third eyelid, called the nicitating membrane, under their regular eyelids.

It is transparent like motorists goggles on their eyes. It is drawn across the eye to moisten or clean it while flying. Many ornithologists believe the nictitans is held over the eye most or all of the time a lovebird is in the air.

The nicitating membrane in the lovebirds eye protects against collisions when birds are crashing through bushes. The birds of prey especially peregrine falcon knows very well about this membrane- thats why they closes the eyes of the prey immediately after grabbing their prey before the impact of the nicitating membrane.

One step further, Swifts (fastest flying bird) have been widely believed to be able to sleep while flying, although this has not been proved experimentally. Any how scientists believe this fact. But lovebirds never sleep while flying.

Will Lovebirds Enjoy Showers?

Have you ever asked this question - Where are All the Lovebirds When It Rains? They will usually huddle under the leaves of shrubs and trees.

Many places, though, provide no shelter. Consequently, birds have their own rain-evolved feathers. Birds stay relatively dry and warm under these feather.

Still, birds get wet. Most of the birds don't mind to stay in the rain, if they don't find hiding place. After the rain they fluff up their feathers to warm up and help themselves dry off. After a dry spell, even with trees galore, they sit sometimes out in the rain and enjoy showers.

Woman, Already Married, Takes Macaw as Lover

Just now visited a forum called- "BirdBoard.com/forum". I have found an interesting news there. A woman already married takes MACAW as lover.

You can meet a woman, her husband and a moustache parakeet who are very happy together in this link..

Love Birds - What Does it Take to Care For These Special Pet Birds?

You've probably seen these gorgeous birds in your local pet store. They are the miniature green parrots with the big expressive eyes. Love Birds are a good choice for someone who wants a parrot, but doesn't want the commitment that a large parrot requires. A large parrot such as a Macaw can live for 60 or more years, while a Love Bird seldom lives more than 15 years.

Before you go out to buy a Lovebird, you should be aware of what you're getting into. Lovebirds, like all parrots, are relatively high maintenance pets and therefore require a dedicated and special type of pet owner. Here are some important factors to keep in mind.

Companionship

Love Birds, like all parrots, are extremely social creatures and crave the company of others. If you don't have a few hours to spend with him every day, then you'll need to buy another lovebird to keep him company. Without the companionship of humans or another bird, your bird is likely to exhibit problem behavior such as extreme aggression, excessive preening and constant squawking.

Choosing The Right Lovebird

An ideal lovebird will be 6 to 10 weeks old and hand--fed. A young, hand--fed bird is much easier to tame and train than an older, parent--fed lovebird. The most commonly available species are:

• Peach Face - This species is usually green, with a peach head, face and neck.
• Fischer's Lovebird - This bird has a green body with shades of yellow and orange on their head and neck.
• Masked Lovebird - This bird has a green body, with a dark brown colored brown mask around their face and neck. Just below this mask is a yellow band of feathers.

Housing

Love birds require a large cage with plenty of room to stretch out their wings and play -- obviously a pair will require a larger cage than a single bird. The majority of the cage bars should be horizontal and there needs to be a few perches located at varying levels. Place plenty of toys in their cage to keep them stimulated.

Health

Love Birds require daily exercise to keep them healthy. This means you should let them out to fly every day in a safe room. Make sure there are no open windows or predators (such as dogs or cats) in this room.

You should feed your love bird a quality parrot seed mix and plenty of fresh, clean fruits and vegetables that are bird--safe. This will give them a good variety that matches what they might find in the wild. You'll need to remove any uneaten food every day.

Learn more about Love Birds at http://www.petcarejournal.com/love-birds.html - a website designed to provide you with pet articles and resources that will help you get the most out of your pet keeping experience, no matter what type of pet you own.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Manning

Lovebirds Droppings- The Secrets Revealed

Most of the pet bird lovers are confused with the normal droppings of lovebirds with that of abnormal one. Generally the lovebirds pass watery droppings. As a lovebird owner you should know the constituents of normal droppings.

Lovebird's droppings consist of three separate components including feces, urine and urates. Since the bird pushes the droppings out of one orifice, the vent, all three portions of the droppings are mixed in the cloaca before being passed out of the body.

The Feces

The feces of the lovebirds are solid and worm-like, may be dark green in color. In addition to this, the color of the feces varies mostly what the bird has recently consumed. It can be alarming to the owner if he sees reddish color feces, as this may be interpreted as blood. Hence it is utmost important for the lovebirds breeder to see what their lovebirds are consuming, so that color changes can be correctly evaluated.

If the fecal portion of the droppings is very sticky, tarry, dark, and dark green, then the lovebird doesn't eat any solid food for the past 24 hours. Usually the lovebird breeders often mistaken for digested blood in the droppings, but it is really a kind of bile (biliverdin) from the liver.

The Urine
You can notice the watery droppings in case the feces portion is missing in the droppings, which is an indicative of increase in the urine level. Most of the lovebirds breeders will consider that their bird is passing diarrhea, but it is not so. If the feces is solid with no urine at all, it is not diarrhea.

Missing of brown or green solid fecal portion with watery droppings is an indicative of diarrhea. Some types of diarrhea will show gas bubbles in the droppings, which is an indicative of presence of anerobic bacteria.

Urates

The last part of the lovebirds dropping is urates. It is the end product of protein metabolism in the avian system. This product is filtered in kidney and evacuated in droppings. If your lovebird is showing yellow and green urates, then the avian patients are suffering from liver problem and chlamydophila infection respectively.

As bottom line, the lovebird breeders should aware that when birds consume greens or fruits, it would lead to diarrhea. Some of the breeders are having false opinion about this fact.

Moreover, if your lovebird is nervous, the droppings would be more watery, which is due to high blood pressure than normal.

Any deviation in the lovebirds dropping should brought to the notice of your avian vet immediately to save your valuable lovebirds life.

What do you Feed For the Peach-faced Lovebirds?

Peach-faced lovebirds are voracious feeders. Give these birds a seed mixture suitable for lovebirds which you can supplement with small amounts of fruit, berries, green food and Italian millet.

During the breeding season, they like to eat small quantities of supplements and egg food and they should also have access to a grit mixture.

In my aviary I feed my birds frozen mixed veggies- any variety is fair. Do serve the vegetables after boiling it in a pot (place the veggies in a pot, bring to a boil) and cool them by running cold water.

Some of the lovebirds owner place broccoli stems in a food processor or cabbage and carrot together- most of the lovebirds love it like anything.

The main prerequisites to make your bird hale and healthy is be patient and do provide your lovebirds a good variety of fresh veggies for at least three weeks or until your lovebird eats the treat.

Even you can use good cockatiel seed mixture with added raw sunflower seeds, 12 grain cereal mix, and wheat germ for the lovebirds feed. Even you can add about 2-3 teaspoons of oyster shells to each batch of seed mixture.

Housing Tips for Peach Faced Lovebirds

Peach-faced lovebirds , which during recent years have become one of the most popular sorts of cage birds, can be kept whether in a cage or an indoor or outdoor aviary. It does not matter much if the cage or aviary is higher than it is long or vice-versa.

However, the cage or aviary must be made of sturdy materials and be resistant to the birds powerful beaks. There is not much point putting plants in the aviary because the lovebirds will gnaw them to pieces in no time.

Peach-faced lovebirds are strong birds which do not require any heating if kept in an outdoor aviary during the winter. However, they should have access to a frost-free night house. You should also provide them with a (roosting) box in which they will use on cold nights.

Social Characteristics of Peach Faced Lovebirds

As you know already peach faced lovebirds are native of Southwest Africa. At first glance, there appears to be no difference between sexes. An experienced breeder can feel the difference between the pelvic bones which are wider apart in the case of the females of the species.

These lovebirds usually get on well together. They occasionally squabble but these confrontations are rarely serious. They can be kept together with other, spirited species of parakeet. Delicate and smaller birds should not be kept in the same aviary or cage.

Single birds can also be kept provided they are given sufficient attention. You can keep two birds, of whatever sex, in a cage in the living room without any problems arising. However, you should never simply introduce a new bird into a cage containing an existing single bird. The new bird will often be regarded as an intruder and will also be treated as such.

It is better to keep both birds in different accommodation or let them get used to each other for quite a long time by placing the cages close together.

Peach-Faced Lovebirds Breeding

Peach-Faced Lovebirds are quite easy to breed when compared to other species. However, pairing the birds can be quite difficult since the two sexes are very similar. It is best not to try breeding lovebirds younger than a year.

Lovebirds can be called as "pitbull of birds" and for good reason. Generally the hen can show aggression towards on its mate with no warning. You can find one dead bird in the cage once you return from office. Hence getting a suitable pair is really difficult. If you're successful in finding a suitable pair, then you will be rewarded with few clutches of cute little baby lovebirds.

A nest box with a surface area of approximately 10 sq. inches (25 sq. cm) is sufficient. In contrast to most other parakeets, these birds do make nests, usually using coarse twigs that they gnaw into strips.

Between 3 and 5 eggs are laid which the female incubates for between approximately 18 and 20 days. Fledging occurs at least a month or one and a half months after hatching. The very young birds of this species are recognizable due to their partially black beaks. Peach-Faced Lovebirds may well produce a number of clutches per year.

Lovebirds Need Grit - Dr. Hanson, DVM

One of the visitor to this blog is an avian vet- Dr.Hanson, DVM. He commented about an article on "Need of grit for lovebirds". I have given his opinion as a blog post today. Hope this info will be an eye opener to the pet bird owners.

I have been an avian veterinarian for more than 20 years and the most sad bird problem which I treat is when an owner brings in their dying bird who has not had access to a good quality mineral grit. These people have been badly informed by articles on the Internet and by mis-informed people who write bird owner "help" books. These people have never studied avian physiology.

A bird's ventriculus requires pieces of grit in order to pulverize seeds and fibrous plant leaves. Without grit birds become impacted especially if these poor birds are fed pellets instead of seeds.
Pellets turn into a thick paste in the bird's ventriculus and then blocks the outlet to the intestines (pyloric sphincter obstruction). Insoluble mineral grit combines with the hydrochloric acid in the bird's proventriculus so that a chemical reaction releases electrolytes so that the bird's gastrointestinal tract neurons are stimulated. This prevents proventricular dilatation which is inflammation of a bird's GI tract.

Mineral grit is absolutely essential for all seed-eating birds. Most birds eat seeds. Seeds are the heart of the plant and they provide birds with the necessary energy to fly. It is good that you are telling people about the necessity of grit for ALL seed-eating birds.

It's not true that some seed-eating birds remove the hulls from all of their seeds before ingesting them. This is not true. All seed-eating birds pack their crops with un-hulled seeds before perching for the night so they can have energy in the morning at sunrise. So they do not remove the hulls.

The only time a bird will take the time to remove the hulls from seeds is possibly when it is playing with the seed after it has already ingested sufficient nourishment. It is sad to remove a piece of impacted pellet-paste from a bird's stomach.

Sometimes these birds become so impacted with pellets that they do not have normal stools. The owners are gullible and they have been providing pellets for their unfortunate birds. How sad.

Birds require a species-specific seed and grit diet along with fresh greens and fresh water. Seeds have fat in them and this provides a bird with the extra energy they need. Just because a bird is in a cage doesn't mean its metabolism has slowed-down and shouldn't eat high-fat seeds. The reason birds get liver and kidney failure is due to pellet diets.

Mutation of Peach Faced Lovebirds

There are great many mutations of this species. In fact, the mutations are so popular that is difficult finding a bird with purely natural plumage.

One of the most recent and also very colorful and attractive color mutations is the orange head variety. There are also light, dark, olive, and (light and dark) sea green colored birds, often in combination with white mask, cinnamon or isabel characterisitics.

Lastly there are also (light) yellow birds with dark eyes, lutinos (yellow with red eyes) and pied birds.

Social Characteristics of Fischer's Lovebird

As you know very well Fischer's lovebirds are native of Northern Tanzania. Both the sexes have identical coloring. The females are often slightly larger than the males, but this is not always the case. An experienced enthusiast can feel the difference between the pelvic bones which are wider apart in the case of the females of the species.

You can keep the birds as a pair but also in a small group. Although skirmishes may occur in the group these will not have serious consequences in a spacious aviary.

A pair of Fischer's lovebirds can also be kept in a cage in the living room without any problems occurring. You should purchase a pair simultaneously however, since a solitary Fischer lovebird may not readily accept an intruder, something which could have catastrophic consequences.