Love Birds: an introduction for beginners---follow-up!

It was one year on Mothers day that my children surprised me with a little friend. It is hard to believe that it's been a whole year since Chuckey Babey the love bird (check out the original hub here) has become my new 'love interest'.

Update!

As I said already it's been just over a year now that the Chuckster has come into my life and has become my new best friend. We now know he is a he and my daughters Gonzo is a she. Both have developed their own awesome personna...

They both are total clowns who love nothing more then to ham it up, next become mischievous little imps that want to nibble on a beauty spot or two, then they become little cuddle bugs that can't get close enough to snuggle, all within an hour...............

Funny that almost feels as if I've said that already... well look at that, I did... in the last paragraph of my original hub about Love birds ...  sorry to keep repeating myself but that's what Lovebirds are all about. Loving little companions.

Chuckey Babey is a Peach-faced Lovebird. He was one of a four bird clutch and they were hand-fed since day one by one of the greatest breeders I have ever met. That might possibly be the secret of success with these little parrots.

Chuckey is an 'alone child' whereas Gonzo lives with a Girl Budgie companion. Chuckey has bonded with me and we're the best of friends. Don't let me misguide you and make you think that he is an angel. He has shown his dis-pleasures with a couple of nifty bites that hurt like the dickens, but every time he has there was an explanation.

For example, he has a total hate for the stainless food scoop that I use to put his seeds into his dish. If I forget and use the scoop while he is near or heaven forbid in his cage he goes nuts and attacks... now the scoop probably wouldn't mind that much... but my hands definitely do.

Another one of his sore spots is if I haven't been home and he's been cooped up in his cage for too long... man-oh-man watch out... he pretends to happily come out of the cage, steps up onto my finger croons a bit then the minute I want to give him a kiss the little devil surfaces and 'ouch' any part of my lips, nose, eyelids, cheek... doesn't matter what part of me, it's fair game (in his little mind). When he gets into that kind of a mood the only way to get him to stop is to put him right back into his cage scold him with a few harsh words and wait 20 minutes then start all over again. By then he's so happy to be out that he forgets that he had been miffed just a short little while ago.

Alright, alright I'm talking about the differences between a boy and girl Lovebirds 'scheesh'...

Up until Chuckey and Gonzo, the love birds, were about eight months old they both behaved similarly, total little show-offs, into mischief at the drop of a hat. Both love to improve on the shredded colored paper, which we use as bedding in the bottom of the cage. When totally fresh Chuckey actually goes and dives into it and plays ostrich... digs his head into it and thinks I can't see him, then pops out... with a little chirp that seems to say "tada here I am". Up until the age of eight months Gonzo usually did everything almost identical to Chuckey then we started to notice changes. Gonzo found her new favorite place... the paper recycling bin. She started to shred even light cardboard (cereal boxes, cookie bags, etc. Gonzo would then tuck the strip under her wing and somehow fly or waddle to her cage, willingly go in and deposit and hoard, hoard the paper shreds in one of the corners and then play in there for hours.

After watching Gonzo for a while my son-in-law cut openings (windows) into the sides of an orange juice carton (naturally a rinsed out one). He used a plastic tie-all to hang the carton up in the bird cage. Gonzo was in heaven, she loved it. She would bop in and out, play peek-a-boo. Naturally taste test all the corners and give it her general seal of approval. Eventually she transported (tucked under her wing) every bit of shredded paper and cardboard into her 'new home'.

This is where we started to notice a big difference between the two birds. Chuckey loves his carton he plays in it and does his acrobatic in and around it but does not create a nest the way Gonzo does continually.

At about 11 months of age Gonzo layd her first clutch of three eggs inside her 'orange juice carton nest'. Obviously these eggs were going to be duds as she didn't have a mate around to have fertilized them. She sat on the eggs faithfully and would not let anyone get near even to clean out the cage. She became a little birdscilla, nipping and biting at one and all. 2 - 21/2 weeks in I guess she maybe realized that nothing was happening or she just lost interest she pushed the eggs out of her nest and became her loving self again.

A variety of seeds and nuts--- A mix of niger , silver millet, flax, safflower, sun-flower seeds... Peanuts, roasted soy nuts (no-salt), walnuts, filberts...

Raisins, dried currants, dried cranberries, dried banana chips,

Banana, apples, peaches, grapes, cantaloupe, mangoes, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries...

Corn on the cob, red-green-yellow peppers, broccoli, dandelion greens, spinach, snow peas...

Chuckeys favorite drinks (other then water) sips snitched from my glass or cup include:

Lemon-aid, orange juice, five-alive, carrot juice, papaya juice, coffee and herbal tea

Chuckey the party animal has been caught taking sips of beer and wine and going back for more. He loves (this proves he is a sweet mouth) my homemade elderberry cordial. I will not have any when he's out of his cage because the little rascal just will not stop dipping in his beak.

Be careful the following are poisonous and can kill lovebirds as a matter of fact most birds....

Apple seeds, Avocado, Rhubarb leaves

So in conclusion Love Birds in general are the cream of the crop, the cats meow, the top of the heap in my book.

To be honest I believe that the lovebirds are a bit trickier then a budgie or even a cockatiel and need a more experienced handler. One who has more patience and time to spend with the little buggers. It all comes down to the facts that the lovebirds are a parrot but their little bodies are deceiving and hide the enormous personalities or egos of the parrot.

However a well trained one of these little guys is a total delight.

My little pal Chuckey Babey on the other hand is the crème de la crème, who has become the apple of my eye thoroughly. I wake up to his little squawks and go to sleep with them. Life is so much better with my sweet little feathered friend.