Need help with an extremely scared (?) Lovie!

[EspeonValesti]

Hello! I'm having a couple issues with a Lovie my wife and I purchased from a breeder two days or so ago.

TLDR: Lovie seems extremely scared, pacing the bottom of the cage and SCREAMING. Sepperated from flockmates at 8 months old.

So while we were at the breeders looking for toys for our darling 5 month old GCC (He's absolutely wonderful, barring that tiny bit of bluffing bites), when we saw a cage that had about 5 lovies in it. My wife fell in love with them instantly. We picked out the one she was most fond of and took her home. The breeder clipped his wings for us, to help along the taming process.

Fast forward to later at home. Zeveran seems to be like a normal first day home bird (We've had a few others, a Budgie and a Cockatiel). No signs of anything out of the ordinary besides being scared. Later that evening, however, my GCC (Solas) was out chilling with me over by my desk while my wife went to go change Zeveran's water out. Zeveran took off before she knew what happened (impressive for a clipped bird) and proceeded to fly out to the living room and attack my GCC! He left a pretty nice mark on my GCC's head, while he himself got a nice scratch on his beak in return. He was caught and placed back in his cage.

Today we woke him up in the morning and everything seemed okay. About a few hours later starts the weirder behavior. Zeveran proceeds to start rapidly pacing the front wall of his cage (a decent sized cage, covered on three sides to help him settle in.) and screams up a storm. These are no normal lovie sounds I ever heard. This lasts for around 5 minutes and the screeches are almost ear piercing. We've been heading over to him and talking to him for about 15~20 minutes at a time over the last 2 days, but it doesn't seem to have any effect, it just drives him into a corner to hide...

I'm really worried about his anxiety and stress levels at the moment as I've never seen a lovie act like this before and it's making my heart ache. The only things I can think of is taking him back to his flockmates, wait for the behavior to pass and let him settle in, or try to grab one of his flockmates too and hope they get along..

This morning he's letting out a rather short and distressed sounding tweet. I'm just really concerned for his health and well-being... Any help is appreciated.

 

[Birdbabe]

Bump!

 

[Happynme]

He could be in pain. Perhaps he hurt himself or was hurt in his attack of the gcc. He could also feel threatened and as if he has to "warn off" anything near his cage. He could have mated a lovie that was in his cage with him at the breeders and is flock calling. The pacing and repeated calling sounds very much like missing a mate/flock to me. Its hard to know for sure.

 

[Begone]

The only things I can think of is taking him back to his flockmates, wait for the behavior to pass and let him settle in, or try to grab one of his flockmates too and hope they get along..

If he is well, I would have taking him back, see who of the others flockmates he has a bond with (because I'm sure he has that) and get them both home.
Some birds just need another bird 24/7 (and that is natural too) and it is a pleasure to see them interact with each other.
And don't clip the second bird, they need to fly to stay healthy.

 

[Valkyria]

My evil twins does this manic pacing and flock calls if they want to get out OR if one bird is in cage and the other one is out. They are bonded to each other. So to me it sounds like he is missing his flock.

 

[LunaLovebird]

It does sound like he wants out and is missing his buddy. If you get his mate, which sounds like a good idea if you can manage it, I would suggest not clipping. It doesn't really help with the taming process, and allowing them full flight allows them an extra bit of security if they get scared of something and need to get away.

 

[LunaLovebird]

Besides all that, just be patient. He'll settle in with enough time. Poor baby does sound lonely though.

 

[EspeonValesti]

We got in contact with the breeder, and she said she'd be happy to have him back as the rest of his flockmates seem to be displaying some erratic behavior as well...

At this point I'm just more concerned with his well being than trying to have another pet bird.

I wish my GCC wasn't clipped, because the people we got him from a few weeks ago had clipped his wings too short and before he even really figured out how to fly... So he's really clumsy (even if it is adorable watching him work his little wings trying to chase after me xD).

Thanks for all your advice guys!

 

[EspeonValesti]

Update for everyone:


With a heavy heart my wife and I reluctantly brought little Zeveran back to the breeder yesterday afternoon.

The last straw was when, yesterday morning, Zeveran flew to the floor of his cage, let out one of the most distressed bird calls I've ever heard, and proceeded to pluck 2 tail feathers. After rushing over in a (mostly) futile attempt to calm him down, he quit before plucking the third (Honestly I believe he froze out of fear, not out of a need for my company...).

Good news though! If you could have seen the little lovie's face upon returning to his flock... pure and absolute joy! The breeder admitted that after hand weening that particular batch of lovies, they had neglected to keep up with their tame-ness, not out of malicious intent.. Just they have a lot of upkeep for only 2 people. (They're also a rescue/boarding house.)

Thanks again for your suggestions and help.

 

[Begone]

Good news though! If you could have seen the little lovie's face upon returning to his flock... pure and absolute joy!

Thank you for being so unselfish! And their is a reason that they are called Lovebirds.

 

[schnitzle]

You and your wife are awesome for reuniting him with his flock!