Birds are quite social creatures, lovebirds, in particular, thrive when they have another lovebird living with them. If you’re keeping two lovebirds, and one dies, you may be wondering what to do when one lovebird dies. This article looks into it
If one of your lovebirds die you’d need to give the remaining bird more affection, allow it to be outside and, you may need to take the bird to the vet if its erratic behavior gets out of hand
What to do when one lovebird dies:
Give the bird love and attention:
Lovebirds enjoy company and companionship, they get company and companionship when another lovebird lives with them.
If one dies, you can replace this feeling by offering the remaining bird love and companionship yourself, the bird will often feel better if you do.
Giving love and companionship can involve giving the bird cuddles and verbal praise.
Keep the bird outside the cage:
If the bird was living in a cage with the other bird, then your bird will likely feel very lonely in the cage on its own, its sadness will likely be magnified if it’s left alone for too long.
Taking your bird outside the cage, and allowing it to be with you more often, will be helpful to your bird. You can even allow your bird to sleep on your palm if this helps
Give it space:
Giving the bird more attention may not work for every bird. Your bird, in particular, may simply need time to grieve the other bird and may need space to do this in.
You’ll know that the bird needs space if it is not receptive to all the love and attention that you give it, this is normal, giving your bird space will help it get back to normal.
The bird may bite, peck or act aggressively towards you when you try to do something with it. If this is the case, leave it alone, each bird will grieve and deal with loss differently
Keep them occupied:
If the bird allows it, and reacts well to it, you can give the bird new toys to play with, put a mirror in its cage or turn the tv on while you’re away.
The toys will keep them busy while grieving, the tv will give the illusion of company when you’re away, and the mirror can give the illusion of the company of another bird (a bird won’t understand that the bird in a mirror is itself, read more here)
Take it to the vet:
Your bird will likely go into a deep sadness when its partner dies, this may negatively affect its health, (More on this below. If this is the case with your bird, you may need to take it to the vet for a check-up if you can.
If possible, take the bird to a certified avian vet. The vet will be able to check if the bird has a chronic condition and check whether anything else is wrong
Don’t bring a new bird in:
Your bird needs time to grieve, let it grieve before you introduce a new lovebird into the bird’s life. Allow the bird to grieve and allow it to get used to the other bird not being around before you introduce a new bird.
You can bring a new bird in after the bird is feeling better.
House the two birds in separate cages at first to allow the two to get to know each other without pushing them onto each other.
Keeping them in separate cages also keeps them from hurting each other
Do lovebirds die when their mates die?
A lovebird will not die if its partner dies, or if it is separated from its partner, but the bird will fall into what seems like a deep sadness.
The remaining bird will grieve by calling out to and looking for their mate, they will become confused when they don’t get a response in return.
The lone bird will start to behave erratically and their health may decline because of this.
This may look like the bird not playing like they usually do. They will have a lack of appetite and can suffer from nutritional deficiencies as a result of this. They may even self-mutilate and thus, develop scarred skin.
Thankfully, this deep sadness will only last for a few weeks and this episode will not lead to the death of the bird.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken With One Droopy Wing, Sugar Water For Sick Chickens, Chicken Laying On Side, How To Tell If A Mother Bird Has Abandoned Her Nest