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Question:

July 13, 2020

Lovebird Napping Positions


Hello. My lovebird is about 5 months old. He loves to lay down when he takes naps. He also loves to be in pockets and in our hair. We bought him a hanging coconut toy and he loves to sleep in there at night. Is that normal/okay?


Answer:

Hi Sierra,

I would take this toy away. He is too old to be sleeping in a nest – in the wild, he would have already left the nest and moved on. The parent birds might still be teaching him and helping him find food, but nests are only used for the incubation of eggs and while the chicks are developing. Once they leave, the nest is abandoned and the birds will sleep in trees for the most part.

While this coconut nest – and for him, he views it as a nest – may be OK for now, he is going to start maturing by about 8 months of age. While this is too young for him to breed, he still will start to feel hormonal. If he has something around like a nest to encourage these hormones, he will become territorial and will start biting anyone who puts a hand in the cage. He may become obsessed with the nest and refuse to leave it other than to eat. He will possibly stop being a pet altogether and only want to breed and nest.

Baby lovebirds do love pockets and small places to hide. As a young bird, this is cute. But then it becomes a hormonal behavior and stops being cute. Your little guy sounds like a great pet. Rather than encouraging these nesting behaviors, try working on other things to keep him busy. Limit his pocket time, and time spent in your hair. Get him a play area, or some interactive toys and spend time with him that way. Lovebirds can learn a few simple behaviors or tricks, so look into this as something to do with him. Foraging for food is a natural behavior and how parrots spend much of their time in the wild. If you visit the link below, you will find articles on training, bird behavior and foraging among other bird care topics. There are some videos demonstrating foraging ideas under our Foraging, Enrichment & Play section. Try some new activities to keep him tame and playful while avoiding hormonal triggers. This includes when petting him, limit it to head and neck scratches and avoid petting him on his body as only his mate would be allowed to do this. All of these things can help him to remain a good family pet and minimize behavior issues.

Caring For Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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