Not new to birds, but new to lovebirds!

[Griffinbirds]

Growing up I had a few cockatiels and budgies. I also bred zebra finches, I had two actively breeding pairs. They were so much fun to watch!

Now I am an adult with a growing family (three kids, one on the way). My oldest child is 5 and I thought it would be great to introduce her to the miracle of life, so I started looking into getting birds again. I found a bonded lovebird pair on craigslist and bought them. DH named them "Honor and Glory". The vet I took them to said he was expecting to walk in to see a pair of bald eagles with those names. lol Whenever they called us back it sounded like a battlecry.

I have a good sized cage for them that I enjoyed decking out with fun toys and comfy perches. DH got me a nestbox for them and rigged a wifi webcam into the lid so we can see inside the box whenever we want without disturbing them.

I am wanting to breed them, so I spoke to my vet and got some guidance on diet and cage requirements. They have clean bills of health too.

Today was the first day with the nestbox for them and the "flirting" has gotten a little stronger between the two. I'm hoping that they will mate and start laying soon.

 

[MikeyTN]

Welcome to the forum!

Since you already started the box, it is best for you to start reading up on how to hand feed!!!! There's other old postings of people breeding love birds that I give advice to, they ended up having to hand feed due to issues. That's a big possibility!!!! So have formula and feeding utensils on hand in case you do need to do so and study up on how to hand feed. Meet some local breeders and such and learn first hand. There's countless stuffs that may happen and you need to know about. So please do read up and understand how it works. If it's all too much, best to remove the nest box.

 

[GaryBV]

I'm in total agreement with Mike - zebra finches are easy compared to Lovebirds since the parents do all the work, but with Lovebirds there is a good possibility that you will have to do the feeding and the taming - and what will you do with the babies after they are grown? Why do you want to breed? Although they are bonded, do you know if they are related to each other? I have a bonded pair of Fischer Lovebirds and I know that they are full brother and sister although from different clutches. I understand you wanting to do it, but it really sounds like you have your hands full with 3 very young children and pregnant with another. Also, have you considered that you may have to be handling these birds, especially the young - there is a fair chance of getting salmonella. I found this link to the CDC you may find interesting:

Animals: Birds | CDC Healthy Pets Healthy People

Just something for you to think about.