How to Care for Untamed Love Birds

Originating from the dry regions of Africa, love birds are playful, active and attractive birds that make for well-suited pets because of their evolved adaptation to captivity. Love birds are extremely loyal to both their lifelong mate and often their human owner. Because love birds are so active and social, keeping a single love bird is usually rather time-consuming due to the overwhelming amount of attention and affection they need to thrive. In addition to affection and companionship, love birds also need a well-balanced diet, plenty of toys and a daily opportunity to fly freely outside the cage. Untamed love birds will need daily handling and interaction with their owner.

Things You'll Need

  • Bird cage
  • Perches, two per love bird
  • Food bowl
  • Water dish
  • Love bird toys
  • Cuttlebone
  • Bathing dish
  • Formulated pellet diet mix
  • Greens, vegetables and fruits
  • Mild dish soap
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Instructions

    • 1

      Provide a cage for a single love bird that is at least 2 feet wide, 2 feet long and 2 feet high. Provide a larger cage if you have more than one love bird.

    • 2

      Add two perches that are about ¾ inch in diameter per love bird to the cage. Add a food bowl and water dish, placing them far away from the perches so the water and food do not become contaminated.

    • 3

      Give your love birds plenty of toys to keep them active and healthy. Add swings, cage ladders, bamboo rings and a cuttlebone for beak conditioning. Place a heavy dish filled with warm water in the bottom of the cage for bathing.

    • 4

      Feed your love birds a commercially made "formulated diet" pellet mix, supplemented with green; such as spinach, endive, parsley and dandelions; vegetables including corn on the cob, peas and radish; and fruits such as berries, grapes, apples, bananas and pears.

    • 5

      Clean the water dish and provide fresh water every day using hot water and a mild dish soap. Disinfect and clean the cage once every week, along with the food and bath dishes and toys. Replace any wooden toys or items in the cage when they become soiled.

    • 6

      Let your love birds out of the cage once every day to allow them to fly around in an enclosed room, safely away from other pets. This is important for exercise as well as training untamed love birds. Handle your untamed love birds every day to help tame them and bond with them. Try hand feeding your love birds as well.