I get so many questions about lovebirds and sometimes I just start shaking my head every time I start reading them.
For example, "I am a lovebird breeder in ......, 'How do I breed for lutino opaline'.?" It always bugged me when anyone start asking questions about things I have already written on my website. It shows me that the person is just lazy and want the answer their way. It shows me that the person did not think about how long it takes me or anyone to write those articles and answer their questions. If they do not want to help themselves and the find that are already available out there, I do not see any reason why I should spend my time helping them. When I get those types of questions, I will always and will answer with, "Please keep reading. The answer is already provided on my website?"
Therefore, if you want to become a lovebird breeder, you should be reading as much as you can. And, you need to study on how the lovebird genetic works. If you do not understand certain issues after you read them, that is a different issue. Whether it's from my own blog or others, I will try my best to answer them. I do understand that lovebird genetics are not easy to understand. And therefore, that is the main reason why reading and studying is the key.
Now, let us go back to the question, "Are you a true lovebird breeder"?
Because I am always surprise to see emails telling me that they are lovebird breeders. And yet, the questions I get are very simple. That is the reason why I want to everyone to know who they are first before they email me about lovebird questions. If you have read up on all the links and also what I have written, most of the basic questions are already answer. Therefore, I should not be getting any simple questions about breeding lovebirds.
Do some reading and get those answers first. If it's basic and it's not cover by me or some other lovebird breeders, I am happy to answer to those for you. I have written as well as put links to other websites about trying to cover as many subject as possible. Because I want everyone to be able to help themselves. However, for certain subjects, I simply do not want to address them yet. It's probably something I am working on. And, I do not want to make that a public knowledge yet.
Now, about the question, "Are you a true lovebird breeder"?
If you are not a true lovebird breeder, you are either a novice lovebird hobbyist, or an intermediate lovebird hobbyist. If you are none of these, you probably just have birds that makes babies.
A novice lovebird hobbyist is someone who just a have a few pairs and testing out different methods of how to breed lovebirds and get some basic mutations.
An intermediate lovebird hobbyist is somone who has several pairs of lovebirds to about 20 pairs of lovebirds. Who also already understand the basic genetic of lovebirds and how to breed for them. They also have some understanding about higher mutations, but simply do not have enough knowledge to for breed them. However, some of the breeders in this group will experiment with color combinations. Some will understand why certain color combination comes out. Some color mutation, they may not understand. They one that do try, they keep on trying.
Now for the true lovebird hobbyist. This group of breeders normally do not have more than 30 pairs. Some do, but most do not. They understand a lot about lovebirds and know a lot their genetics and they usually breed for different mutation at a time. This group of breeders normally charge the most for their lovebirds. Because they understand the amount of time it takes to produce those types of birds. They also know how rare each type of lovebirds are. This group are usually the group that like to show their birds at bird show. This group is also the true lovebird breeders.
Any breeder beyond this point will either be a professional lovebird breeder or a specialist. They probably know as much as the next person when it comes to lovebirds and how to breed them. This group is probably the group that likes to share a lot of information about lovebirds. They probably have anywhere from 100 to a 1000 pairs. And always working on different mutations all the time. This group is just like the true lovebird hobbyist or the true lovebird breeder because they usually try to improve the quality of the lovebirds beside breeding for different color mutations as well.
When you are a lovebird breeder, you always have certain goals to improve the qualities of the lovebirds or breed for certain color mutation. What level you are on is up to you. But to become a true lovebird breeder, you need to keep on reading, studying, and experimenting on different color mutation combinations. And always try to improve the qualities of the lovebirds. That is what makes a person a true lovebird breeder.
Other the side, if you are not in any one of this group I have listed, you are not a lovebird breeder. You probably just have lovebirds that make babies. Whether you have several birds or hundreds of birds, you are just someone who has lovebirds that make babies. This group probably know only the basic principal of lovebirds. Probably do not understand or know the basic genetic of the lovebirds and how to breed them probably. Whatever comes out comes out. This group is also what I commonly called "The backyard lovebird breeder?" Now actually, they are not a breeder, they just have birds that make babies for them. Any normal 9 or 10 years old kid can do as well. Putting a bunch of birds in a cage or an aviary, changing the food and water, putting up nest boxes, and cleaning the cage once in a while. Just like I said, any normal 9 or 10 years old kid can do as well.
As a lovebird hobbyist, you are at different levels. It all depends on what you know and how long you have been breeding and studying lovebirds. The more you know, the more confident you will have. The more confident you have, the more pairs you probably have. The more pairs you have, the more mutation you can be working on. The more you read, study, and experiment, the more likely you would know and would want to have more pairs to breed for mutation faster and more efficiently.
Basically, if you want to become a better breeder or a true lovebird breeder, just keep breeding, reading, studying, and experiment more with different color combinations.
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