Any Advice Please?

[Livvylou]

Yesterday we adopted 2 lovebirds... We know nothing about them except that they could possibly be around 5 years old (according to a neighbour of their previous owner!) and they've been very neglected!

As these are our first Lovies could anyone please tell us what sort they are, is there anyway we can sex them? We have a vets appointment booked for Sunday as the green one has plucked it's back and tummy and in the meantime they're settling into a clean cage with a variety of foods - there was a box of budgie food next to the cage when we collected them!

And tips or advice would be appreciated please - is there any hope that they will tame down a little with patience? At present they're completely wild and rush to the top corner of the cage if we go anywhere near them!

 

[Flboy]

Yes they will calm down, just time and gentle patience! I only kept these guys for a few weeks, fostering, but I got them to the point of eating treats I was holding.

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[Livvylou]

Thank you

It's heartbreaking to see them so scared but so far we haven't found any feathers whereas their old cage was full of them so we're hoping the feather plucking was purely down to their conditions!

 

[OOwl]

Those poor, poor babies. So glad you rescued them. They both look like Peachfaced lovebirds. The one with the plucked back looks like a Jade green (one dark factor). The other, I'm not sure of, some kind of whitefaced pastel with a violet factor involved, perhaps? I hope someone will weigh in on that. I bet your vet will have some great ideas for improving their condition. Please report back. Thank you for saving them and giving them a better life.

 

[Livvylou]

Thanks... And I hope the vet has good news for us as they deserve some better luck!

I can't help smiling watching them snuggling up together and preening one another

 

[Allee]

Thank you for adopting these little darlings!

It's unusual for the smaller parrot species to pluck. A clean environment and adequate diet will probably make a huge difference. I would provide a bath dish for them, frequent baths will improve feather condition for both birds. Mist baths with a spray bottle are ideal, but your little ones probably aren't ready for that just yet.

I hope you get excellent news from the vet. Looking forward to a positive update.

 

[Livvylou]

Thanks Allee, I have actually misted them with warm water this morning, they looked a bit confused st first but seemed to enjoy it... We've also ordered some skin soothing spray for them but I'll try putting a shallow bowl in for them tomorrow morning too

I gave them some sheets of folded paper this evening and the paler one eyed it up for a while then gleefully started shredding!

It's the eating I'm struggling with at the moment, they will take millet, but won't touch any fruit or veg and of the 3 types of food I've put in for them they seem to be picking out the millet from the seed mix and ignoring everything else - should I just wait it out and hope they start trying the other foods?

 

[Livvylou]

Just back from the vets, they weighed in at 50 and 65g, he says they're both underweight.

They've had invectermin for mites and are on baytril for 10 days for an upper respiratory infection but he says with a better environment, good food and lots of love they should get through it.... Although the bonding may have to take a back seat as they're none too happy with me squirting meds in their beaks!