A young hand-rasied lovebird, though a little more costly than parent-raised lovebirds, is the best choice for an inexperienced bird owner. Parent-raised lovebirds are tamable, but require a lot of love, patience, and tolerance to bites. You also want to make sure that the lovebird you purchase was bred in captivity, as opposed to being caught in the wild. Besides having conservational and ethical reasons, wild caught birds are more likely to get sick and to die.
Lovebirds are very active birds and therefore require an appropriately sized cage. They require a cage with at least two places to perch and enough space to fly from one to the other. They also require lots of toys and things to chew on and play with. Cockatiel-sized toys are more suited for lovebirds as opposed to toys designed for parakeets and budgies. This is because lovebirds have strong beaks and may easily break these items. Lovebirds are extremely social birds, and there is debate on whether they can be kept individually. However, the consensus seems to be that they need social interaction, either with other lovebirds or humans, for their emotional as well as physical well-being. That is why cage placement is also very important. It should be in a quiet area of an active room, such as the living room, so that your bird knows it is part of the flock, but also feels safe at the same time. Without this interaction, daily exercise, a roomy cage, and many toys to play with, they may resort to feather-plucking or other behavioural problems. Another factor to consider when decided on placement of the cage is that birds have a sensitive respiratory tract. They should not be exposed to smoke, room deodorizers, scented candles, or any noticeable fumes. They love to take baths almost every day and may sun themselves after bathing in order to dry. This means their water bowl must be cleaned and refilled everyday. As for food, it is important to keep in mind that their food bowls may look full, but be filled with husks of seeds and not actual food. So the shells of seeds should be blown off regularly.
Lovebirds require a variety of food, such as pellets, fruits, seeds, and vegetables. As a regular food, pellets are recommended, as the millet food generally sold in pet stores has too much fat in it and is not very balanced. Pellets specially made for birds provide a well-balanced diet. Fresh greens, such as spinach, are also extremely beneficial if not essential.
Younger birds are easier to tame than older ones. Lovebirds rarely talk, but there is a chance they may learn to mimic human speech if taught to at a young age. To have a tame lovebird, choose a young single bird. Young birds have an amazing ability to learn tricks and be affectionate, whereas adults are very difficult to tame and generally won't learn a lot of tricks or imitate behaviors. Hand-raised youngsters are easiest as they are already quite socialized and tame, but are not always available. Taming involves acceptance and trust between you and your bird. It means spending a lot of time with your bird daily. Start with talking softly and making slow movements. Once your bird is comfortable with you, then you can begin hand-taming. Use a dowel and push it gently against the birds chest while offering a treat to coax it up onto the dowel. This may take many tries. Once it is comfortable with stepping up onto a dowel, substitute your finger for the dowel. Lovebirds are not considered one of the best talkers, and only some may learn a few words.
Lovebirds are very vocal birds, making loud, high-pitched noises that can be a nuisance. They make noise all day, but especially at certain times of day.
As stated above, lovebirds are also very active, and love to chew things. When they are let out of their cage, it would be wise to watch them carefully, and protect any furniture, electrical wiring or anything else that they could possibly chew on.