My conures are fighting

[Aphios]

Hello All,

I really need as quick responses as possible as I don't know what to do about this dilemma. I have a sun conure (Mango) and a green cheek conure (Kiwi) who have been together since they were young, possibly from right after hatching. They have been rehomed twice and now having been in their third home for about a year they have begun to fight. It really is strange because they have been the best of friends for the past year and get along really well, I just don't know what would cause this fighting. They would preen each other and snuggle and be the sweetest little couple. Their behavior is out of the ordinary. They don't seem to currently be hurting each other but I am worried that it is getting more aggressive. Can anyone help?

 

[JosienBB]

I don't have any insight, but please separate the birds before the fighting escalates.

 

[Tweet]

How old are they? I would think hormonal.

 

[webchirp]

You need to separate them. I had a female green cheek who liked my male gold cap and then all the sudden she turned on him. The sun beak can do a LOT of damage. Don't chance it. It can be hormones or just birds.

 

[Aphios]

Is there a eventual solution though other than separating them? I don't want them to have to continue separately forever and they seem right now to be happy preening, it just starts occasionally all of the sudden. After a bit they will cut it out and then be the best of friends again.

 

[SueA555]

I had a Meyers and a Grey Cheeked parakeet who were best friends for about three years. Then the Meyers got hormonal, bit off part of the Grey cheeked toe, and the GC has to have transfusions and spent the night at the vet. I wouldn't risk keeping them together if they are already fighting.

 

[QBird]

As I cannot see what they are doing I'd have to agree separate them as the hormones could be going wild. In addition this stops them doing damage that the other will remember and will give you more chance to reintroduce them
But in saying this I will also add if a bird rules then it will put the other bird in it's place when it wants something, I do not know your situation fully or your birds, so would not be able to comment sorry but given that the balance has changes it's likely to be for another reason so better safe then sorry and separate them fighting birds are unforgiving.

 

[QBird]

Is there a eventual solution though other than separating them? I don't want them to have to continue separately forever and they seem right now to be happy preening, it just starts occasionally all of the sudden. After a bit they will cut it out and then be the best of friends again.

is there a trigger for these outbursts?

 

[Aphios]

is there a trigger for these outbursts?

It is hard to tell. One time when I caught them fighting Kiwi had her foot holding Mango's ankle to the perch. They stopped when I came over but it seemed maybe like he had been
trying to mate her and she didn't like it. She wasn't hurting him, I have watched and they don't seem to do anything damaging to each other, they just will set off screaming and racing around in the cage chasing each other. Sometimes they will open their beaks at each other in what seems like a threat but they never do any harm and after a moment go back to eating together or sitting next to each other preening on their perch.

 

[Nikomania]

Could you put them into separate cages but then allow them monitored out of cage time together? My duskies are in their own cages, but also get to spend time together outside their cage. They have little tiffs which pass as quickly as they start. To me it looks like their version of establishing a pecking order.

 

[Aphios]

I could probably do that though Mango becomes highly anxious and depressed when they are not in the same cage. He will scream incessantly usually and I don't want to put him under too much stress. Would this have to be permanent?

 

[Nikomania]

If it's a hormonal thing, then most likely it'll only be a temporary thing.

 

[JLcribber]

Is there a eventual solution though other than separating them? I don't want them to have to continue separately forever and they seem right now to be happy preening, it just starts occasionally all of the sudden. After a bit they will cut it out and then be the best of friends again.

The eventual solution that is going to work "long term" is you're going to have to create two environments for the times you can not give them 100% supervision. You can not watch them every minute of the day. This is the only way to keep them safely because this IS going to be for a long time.

It's not that hard to break up a room with a barrier/divider for cage time. Instead of cage time. They will still be together, see each other, but safe. This may pass but if it has already happened. It will happen again. If they are allowed to continue. The battle will escalate.

 

[Aphios]

Ok, I will try to work something out. It will be challenging though because even if Mango can see her he will get really upset after more then 10 minutes. I can give it a shot though.

 

[SandraK]

Not a sun and a green cheek but I have a Quaker, JJ, and a green cheek, Beni - both boys who've been best friends since I brought them home though thee is a 3-4 month age difference. They live and sleep in different cages, JJ by himself, and Beni with a small group of 5 other gccs. When everyone comes out of their cages when I get home, JJ & Beni will hang out on me together.

They are usually very friendly, but every now and agin they'll start bickering like a brother and sister will. They get the "behave, be good bird" speech and behave a bit while they're preening.

But they do go through certain times a year, ahem, when the little buzzards act as if they are the only birds in the house and are competing for everything. They usually only hang out together when sitting on a human, hubby Fred or I. I've noticed that if they try to hang out together apart from a human the rest of Beni's gcc flock will gang up on JJ as if were a danger to Beni.

First 3 photos are JJ & Beni on my hand and the fourth is sitting on Fred's shoulder.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Having experienced a few incidences of "buddy" birds starting to fight with one another the best thing to do is to separate them and then allow supervised visits out of their cages.

 

[Monica]

What happens if you put them in separate cages side by side? Or into a divided cage?

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Do you know the gender of each bird? If they are both the same sex it's quite possible they are both trying to establish a higher pecking order now that they are more mature. As suggested, you should separate them and when you are home and able to supervise allow them time together. They will adjust in time. When Casey was given to me he also had a "cage mate" male Green cheek that I did not know was coming in as well. I made my promise to take care of them and kept them together. It was obvious Casey was less dominant than the Green cheek but they got along well until a year later. The green cheek was a bit younger but his hormones began and his "advances" to Casey were not favorable. One day when I made my evening rounds the Green cheek had plucked Casey's entire back down to the skin. Needless to say… they were permanently separated and not allowed any social time with each other. As much as that may sound cruel, it wasn't considering the next step could have been mutilation or a severe fight. In case I haven't mentioned, Casey is a male. Two females will bicker at the onset of breeding season. It may only be the end of January but many of the conures will begin the ritual of nesting this time of year in a controlled environment. If one is terrorizing the other it's not healthy for the less dominant bird to be subjected to abuse from the other bird… it has no where to get away in the confined environment of a cage.

 

[Aphios]

Mango is a male, Kiwi is a female. Yesterday I tried separating them and Mango was good for about 15 minutes before he got upset. I put them back together and they both cuddled and preened each other. About two hours later they had another tiff but when I went over to them they gradually settled down. I am still keeping and eye on them, but I don't think separating is going to work for longer than a half hour at most.

 

[JLcribber]

Mango is a male, Kiwi is a female. Yesterday I tried separating them and Mango was good for about 15 minutes before he got upset. I put them back together and they both cuddled and preened each other. About two hours later they had another tiff but when I went over to them they gradually settled down. I am still keeping and eye on them, but I don't think separating is going to work for longer than a half hour at most.

Whenever you change anything you must be prepared for there to be some resistance to it of course until it is accepted and that's going to take some time.

Today a half hour. Tomorrow 35 minutes. The day after 40 minutes. And so on.