TG>     Your lovebird sounds adorable.  I would love to have one if we
 TG> didn't already have a zoo.  Do they grow out of the chewing stage? 
 TG> My cockatiels haven't.  
I was told that the chewing phaze is an adolescent thing, but obviously not 
all outgrow it.  My boyfriend's cockatiel still chomps down on a lot of 
things.  They seem to be attracted to brightly coloured objects, as I have 
found out whenever I felt like putting on a bit of nail pollish (myself, not 
the birds! :)  Almost got my thumb chewed off by an african grey at one of 
the pet shops!
 TG> In the den, and other places that they can get to, we have plastic 
 TG> tubing on all of the electrical cords. Plus, in the bathroom,  
 TG> I've had to remove some silk plants because the birds keep triming 
 TG> them. 
I haven't had to do that yet, thankfully!  I don't let my lovebird loose in 
the apartment, because of the cats, but she does get some time to fly around 
my room, with the door closed, of course.  As for plants, the 'tiel does like 
chewing on them, so we make sure that any plants are non-poisonous.
 TG>  They love to chew paper. 
Seems to be a favorite here too.  If I'm at the computer, Cricket will jump 
off my shoulder and start munching on any stray piece of paper around.  She 
also likes to climb up on the keyboard, and gets very upset if I try to use 
it!
 TG> We keep a squirt gun in the rooms they normally go in to 
 TG> discourage them being bad. 
I'd read that using squirt-guns on birds might make them shy away from having 
a shower.  I tell Cricket "no" firmly, and if she insists on continuing, she 
goes back into her cage.
 TG>     I thought that I had read that you could not keep parakets or
 TG> parrots in a cage with cockatiels, because they're too agressive
 TG> (especially the parakets), and can physically harm the tiels?  Have
 TG> you read anything about this? 
I had been told this, but had also read they were compatible.  So with this 
little bit of conflicting information, I talked to a few people, got the 
budgie, and just watched them carefully.  They get along quite well, and the 
cage is more than large enough for the both of them.  I asked about putting 
the lovebird in with them, but was told that since lovebirds can be very 
aggressive, in a parrot-like fashion, that it was best to keep them 
seperated.  Depending on their personnalities, I might try to introduce 
Cricket to my Princess-Of-Wales parakeet, when I get it (heck, the parental 
pair haven't even layed yet, so I don't know when the heck I will be getting 
it! :)
Chris
--- timEd 1.10
---------------