Main Consideration
Whether you look for local breeders or visit pet stores in your area, the most important qualification to look for in a pet lovebird are good health and friendly personality. Lovebird owners often say,"The lovebird picked me". This statement contains quite a bit of truth. Sometimes you will feel an instant bond with a particular lovebird. It might be the way it cocks its head to look at you or how it chirps to be let out of the cage when it sees you walk by.
A frightened, biting lovebird might calm down, but you will certainly be way ahead of the game if you pick a lovebird who already enjoys being handled. While the lovebird might be nervous with you at first because you are a stranger, it should at least appear comfortable with the breeder or current caretaker. One of the most common complains I hear is that the seller claimed a wild, terrified lovebird would calm down with a few days of handling, yet months later the lovebird seems as intractable as ever. The best choice for a pet will always be the lovebird who is already quite tame and amenable to handling by humans.

 

Pet Stores
If you plan to purchase a lovebird at a pet store, visit the store a number of times first. Look for signs of sick lovebirds, dirty cage conditions, and poor diet, If the store smells bad, the workers do not know the difference between a lovebird and a cockatiel, and the birds have only dirty water and a bowl of seeds in the cage, you will want to look elsewhere. Be sure you go to the store a few times. Lovebirds do soil their water quickly, so to be fair, dirty water may actually have been clean just an hour before you arrived. However, if the water has film on it or is filled with rotting foods, this is not a good sign.

Breeders
Many people have found buying a lovebird directly from a breeder to be best. You often get much better advice because an experienced breeders will usually be much more knowledge about the care of lovebirds than a pet store worker who only sees them occasionally. Getting species-specific advice is always preferable to getting generic parrot advice. Another issue with store-bought lovebirds is that pet stores usually have birds from a variety of sources. Babies from different aviaries are often mixed together, increasing the risk of disease transmission should any one lovebird be sick.

 

Main Considerations When Picking A Pet Lovebird

Healthy, full feathering

Good padding on either side of keel bone (turn bird over)

Bright and alert

Clear nares and vent

Willing to be handled

Not biting

Completely weaned

Eating a variety of foods (not just seed)

 

CLOSED AVIARIES
Do not be put off by closed aviaries. This is when breeders do not allow outsiders into the aviary areas. They will bring a baby out to you so you can see if this is a lovebird you might like. They will not allow you into the breeding areas or any areas where younger babies might be housed. This is an excellent practice because it protects their lovebirds from disease and stress.

BREEDER QUALIFICATION
Many lovebird breeders belong to international societies dedicated to lovebirds or parrots in general. This often shows a dedication to the conservation of the species and proper avicultural practices. By joining such an organization, these breeders show an interest in learning more about the species they breed. They will often band each lbird with traceable society bands that give their initials society bands that give their initials and the year the bird hatched.

ADOPTING A LOVEBIRD
Another option is to adopt an older lovebird. Make sure the person selling or giving the bird up for adoption has a good reason. You do not want to adopt a lovebird with behavioral and health problems unless you are fully prepared to incur the expense and time necessary to remedy the situation. Some good reason a person might need to give up a lovebird could be moving to a pet free building, allergies, changes in their lives that give them little time to spend with the pet, and the illness or death of the original owner. However, if the lovebird is not tame, do not fail to realize taming an older bird set in its ways can be a difficult if not impossible task. Some people seem to have a give for taming such birds, but you need to ask yourself if you are one of these people before taking on this responsibility.