It has 5 valence electrons, but only loses 3 of them to make a +3 ion. Why does this occur?
I believe it may have something to do with how losing 3 electrons leaves you with the p sublevel full, but I do not understand why Bismuth is okay with that.
Answer
Isn't it just that +5 is a lot of (positive) charge for a single cation? Which other (transition) metals do form a $\ce{M^{5+}}$ cation? Just out of my mind, I can't think of any.
Typically, these high oxidation states exist in the form of oxo-anions ($\ce{CrO4-}$, $\ce{MnO4-}$, $\ce{VO4^{3-}}$, etc.) and bismuth is no exception here: $\ce{Bi(V)}$ exists as bismutate ($\ce{BiO3-})$.
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