Twitter, twitter: 'At one stage we had about 25 parrots... The house was quite noisy and chaotic'

We're moving to a rented house where you can't keep animals or pets so we have to sell our two peach-faced lovebirds. We've had lovebird parrots for seven years. Not the same parrots we're selling obviously – they are only two years old. We first got into keeping parrots as pets when our daughter was one and we decided that she needed a pet to learn more about caring for a living thing. We couldn't get a dog because they are more high-maintenance, so we took a while to decide between getting turtles and parrots. The parrots won out in the end because we felt that turtles weren't as interesting for a child. Parrots are more vibrant and stimulating in terms of behaviour. Plus the lovebird parrots are small and very easy to look after for people like us who didn't know how to deal with birds and had a lot to learn. But over time we did learn and it's been great.

When the parrots live in a pair they interact more between themselves, but if you separate them they become very friendly and will sit on your shoulder as you walk around and will eat from your hand. At one stage we had about 25 parrots because we started to breed them. The house was quite noisy and chaotic but it was very interesting for our little girl. They are easy to breed. You keep the pair of lovebirds warm, put a breeding cage in and they will breed quite often. They can produce anything from one to 10 chicks about three times a year if the conditions are good. When these parrots pair they pair for life – that's why they are called lovebirds. They are so in love with each other.

We didn't keep all of the 25 birds for a long time. We sold most of them as soon as we could. We kept two pairs of lovebirds but one pair flew away when their cage was accidentally left open. And now unfortunately we have to sell our final pair if we want to move. We'll be sad of course to sell them considering we've had parrots for seven years, but we're left with little choice and have to be sensible.

We haven't told our daughter yet. I'm dreading it but she'll have to understand. We'll explain that we have to finish with the birds for a little while. But we've all grown interested in parrots so maybe down the line, when we are in a more suitable house, we can get a bigger parrot like a macaw or an African grey. They are more difficult to look after so we had to learn with smaller parrots like the lovebirds first. For now though, we have to take a break. Hopefully she will be happy enough with that explanation. We haven't had any responses to the ad yet though, so the birds won't be going anywhere immediately.

My husband and I are from Lithuania. We've been here for nine years and we go back to Lithuania every summer to visit our families. I studied architecture back in Lithuania and while living here I finished a course in computer-aided design but I did it at a bad time; the construction work and planning has stopped completely. I can't get a job at the moment so will probably continue to study and get more qualified until things get better. My husband works in our small business. We make educational toys for children: paper building blocks with letters and pictures of animals, that teach them how to put words together, but because of the recession, the shops don't want to order new products and it's been quite difficult.

Our daughter is almost eight and was born here. She's Irish but loves going back to Lithuania because her grandparents spoil her so much. Even though things are very difficult here at the moment in terms of the economy we think we will stay. It has become our home.