Different species cohabitating?

[Eliza]

By different species I mean housing a peachface with an eyering lovie.

Is this even a possibility, assuming that both birds are of the same sex (to avoid hybrids) and got along?

Has anyone had experience with this or is it just considered to be a no-no?

Thanks much,

-e-

[sdgilley]

Hi Eliza,
Unfortunately, you shouldn't assume the sex of either bird and they should not be allowed to mate. The offspring of the two different species would create "mules" - sterile offspring.

I'd recommend that you DNA sexed the birds and make your decisions from there. How long have you had them? How old are they?

If you have two males, you'd have a better chance at a happy pair. If you have two females, you may have problems if they get territorial. If you have male & female, you can separate them or avoid letting them hatch any eggs. That is a long story, so I'd start first with finding out their sex.

I hope this helps.

[Eliza]

I'd recommend that you DNA sexed the birds and make your decisions from there. How long have you had them? How old are they?

I currently share my home with one DNA'd male lovebird, Beetle. He turns 1 on 8/6/06 and was brough home in early October.

I had a much longer, well-thought out and typed response but it got eaten!

Long story short, I thought that it would be in my best interest to get another DNA'd male, regardless of the species.

Thank you for your feedback. It is certainly appreciated!

-e-

[linda040899]

I have a known male Peachface residing with a known male Fischer's and they get along just fine. I've not found a mate for the Fischer's but I will separate them when I finally do. A lot depends on the individual birds.

[Elle]

I have a fisher and a peachface, both asssumed to be females. They get along wonderfully outside the cages. I have not attempted to put them in the same cage nor do I intend to in the future due to the different level of agressiveness.
They play together, take nap together in the same cage in the afternoon but they each go to their own cage, on their own, at nigh when its bed time. I think one of the reason they get along so well is because they have seperate housing. They see each other and get to socialise but it's always fun when it's time out of the cage because they relly get to spend time together.

Regards,

[graushill]

Hi Eliza,

I don't have anything new to add to what's been said, but I thought I would just tell you that I had also the same idea for my single male mask, that is to get a buddy for him, and if it were male, I was also considering another species. In my case, I was still thinking of another eye ring, mostly because of size issues, as peachies do tend to be bigger than masks, and my lovie is not all that large to begin with. I didn't read about any potenital problems from such a scheme, except for the fact that, as you have been told, there's no guarantee that my lovie would have taken to another lovie, let alone another species, and that the introduction would have to be monitored with extra care.

Good luck in your decision,

Gloria

[jknezek]

I have two peachies living with a black mask in a large cage. The mask is bonded to one of the peachies and will chase the other peachie around. Fortunately the cage is more than big enough to allow the birds their own space. The two peachies are loosely bonded as well. The one peach splits his time between the mask and the other peach. It works, but I wouldn't want to try it in a cage where they can't easily move far away from each other.