🦜Lovebird: gear and buying guides

A small African parrot with a big personality, the lovebird is energetic, playful and intensely bonded to its partner, whether bird or human. Its beak, powerful for its size, shreds toys quickly, so plan on frequent replacements. Its calls are short but shrill, worth anticipating in an apartment.

Profile : 13 to 17 cm depending on the species, 10 to 15 year lifespan, moderate noise with piercing calls.

Lovebird gear, family by family

• 🍖 Food

  Pellets for small parrots, a quality seed mix, fresh vegetables and greens daily. Avoid avocado and chocolate, toxic to all parrots.

• 🧴 Care & grooming

  Lovebirds love bathing: offer a suitable bird bath several times a week. Check nails and beak regularly, both heavily used by this committed chewer.

• 🎾 Toys & enrichment

  Keep a stock of destructible toys in wood, palm leaf, vegetable-tanned leather or paper, because it gets through them fast. Hens love shredding paper strips and tucking them into their rump feathers, a normal nesting behaviour.

• 🏠 Bedding & habitat

  A cage at least 80 cm wide for a pair, with sturdy bars since its beak tests everything, around 80 to 150 euros. Despite the name, a lovebird can live alone if you invest serious time, but a companion bird remains the better option.

• 🧳 Travel & safety

  A rigid carrier with metal bars, as thin plastic will not survive its beak. Supervise free-flight time: it loves squeezing into nooks and nibbling cables and skirting boards.

• 🧰 Accessories

  Hardwood perches, screw-mounted stainless steel feeders and sturdy play rings. Clip-on plastic bowls usually end up unhooked or chewed.

Guides to read

• Budgie starter kit: the full budget to get off to a good startAccessories

  Cage, perches, bowls, toys, food: the complete budgie starter kit broken down item by item, with a realistic budget of 180 to 400 €.

• Switching from seeds to pellets: the gentle method that worksFood

  Why and how to switch a budgie, cockatiel or parrot from seeds to pellets: a gradual 4-to-8-week transition, with brands and prices.

• Egg food for birds: when to feed it and which one to choose?Food

  Breeding, moulting, winter: when to give egg food to a canary or budgie, which recipe to choose in 2026 and at what price (4 to 12 €).

• Cuttlebone and mineral blocks: which one does your bird need?Food

  Calcium, iodine, beak wear: what cuttlebone and mineral blocks are for, how to attach them in the cage and which to favour for each species.

• Fruits and vegetables safe for birds: the complete listFood

  Which fruits and vegetables can a budgie, cockatiel or parrot eat safely? The list of safe foods, the toxic ones and the right amounts.

• Play gyms and perch stands: setting up the out-of-cage spaceToys & enrichment

  Perch stand, tabletop play gym, hanging playground: how to set up a safe, stimulating out-of-cage space for a budgie or parrot, from 25 to 250 €.

• Foraging toys for birds: shop-bought or DIY, which to choose?Toys & enrichment

  Foraging toys keep a bird busy for hours by making it work for its food: commercial models (5 to 35 €), DIY ideas and how to build up difficulty.

• Swings, ladders and rings: which gym gear for your bird?Toys & enrichment

  Swings, ladders and rings build balance and keep budgies and parrots busy: safe materials, sizes by species and prices from 4 to 25 €.