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| Domesticated lovebirds in an aviary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
This is the second article in a series looking at breeding those loveable small parrots known as lovebirds. In the first article, we looked at the importance of diet and maintaining clean conditions, and noted that scientific sexing is usually required to identify a breeding pair.
Once you have your pair you will need to cage them either in an aviary or breeding cages. Some breeders will have groups of pairs in an aviary and successfully breed, but the easiest way to put a pair in a dedicated breeding cage. It must be a large enough cage to allow your birds freedom to exercise and have a variety of perches and toys. The minimum diameter of any cage is twice the parrot's wingspan and twice its height, with two parrots in a shared cage it must be larger still.
A nesting box must be provided. It is advisable to have a ledge that provides entry to the nestbox so that the lovebirds don't fly directly in and damage the eggs, furthermore, you should make sure that it has easy access for you to inspect the eggs. Suitable nesting materials include dried grass and eucalyptus leaves.
Some of the materials should be damp as this is important for successful nesting. Another option is just to pop along to your local pet store and purchase special nesting material.
In the next article in this series on breeding lovebirds, we will look at diet in more detail and the process of raising a young parrot.
Danny Oakes writes on http://parrotcare.tropicalpets.com/ about all aspects of parrot care, for those that keep parrots as pets. Article Source: EzineArticles |
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