biting

[cgreenaway]

Hey,
I have 2 male lovebirds. One is about 8 months old and was raised in my house by his parents. The other one is about 6 months old and was raised by humans. I put them together and it was like immediate attraction. For the most part they get along great. The one thing I see most is my older parent-raised lovebird biting my other one in the face (more of a big push) until he falls of the perch or flies away. What does this mean?

 

[suncoast]

It means they need to be caged seperately before the older one injures the younger one. (Like biting his beak off.) How do you know they're males?

Ginger

 

[Cory]

It means they need to be caged seperately before the older one injures the younger one. (Like biting his beak off.) How do you know they're males?

Ginger

Claire and I are friends and I've seen her lovebirds interact. From what I've seen personally, it doesn't look like dangerous aggression. It just looks like normal interactions. Sometimes birds will show that kind of behaviour when they are competing for resources such as space or food.

That being said though, there's always a risk when you have to birds together. I've heard horror stories of birds living together for a long time before something devastating happens. One of my lovebirds Jalen recently passed away. At first my vet suspected a contagious disease such as chlamydia, but it was discovered through her necropsy that she passed away from a small lesion in her trachea from trauma. The injury was most likely caused by one of her four sibling or parents who were all caged together at the time. That's why I'm extremely careful when I let my birds interact with other birds.

At the same time birds that are best friends can show some harmless aggressive behaviour as a means to communicate. I guess it's up to us knowing the risks and benefits of them interacting to make that decision! It's always a tough one!

 

[cgreenaway]

I know they are males because I had both of them DNA tested. I know Cory and I've noticed a lot of this "aggression" when they are at the food bowl as well as when I'm working on training and have treats in my hands. Baby always fights Tico away and grabs the seed first. I've never seen them hurt each other but its definitely hard to train because he fights off Tico and grabs the seed faster than I can take it away which makes me wonder if I'm rewarding bad behavior just by trying to train them. From what I can tell Baby is just trying to prove he is dominant over Tico but it doesn't always happen over the food bowl. It happens when they are in the cage playing, eating or out of the cage playing and flying around. I definitely don't fear for their lives but I want to understand really what they are saying to each other and if there is a way to make it stop happening.

 

[Bokkapooh]

I know they are males because I had both of them DNA tested. I know Cory and I've noticed a lot of this "aggression" when they are at the food bowl as well as when I'm working on training and have treats in my hands.

With that said I agree with Ginger then. If there is ANY "competition" or aggressive behavior when your around, just imagine what you do NOT see.

I house two of my male cockatoos together. Bokka is my 15y.o sexually active male cockatoo, Opa a 2y.o male cockatoo. They have NO problems at all sharing food bowls, water, toys,etc, which is why I house them together. HOWEVER when Bokka is being a sexual male..trying to hump me, he can show frustration to Opa if he gets too close (Opa just comes right on up and wants to cuddle with Bokka when Bokka wants to get his groove on). This is different type of aggression.

If there is any cage territorialness type aggression or possession aggression, its best to keep the birds housed seperate.

We handraised a baby lovebird and cockatiel together. Buzz and Petrie are best of friends. They have shown absolutely NO aggression towards eachother. However with that said, Petrie has become cage territorial. They are both turning 1 in May. Birds who like eachother a lot shouldnt have any if at all, issues inside their perceived nest/territory.

 

[suncoast]

I would also take them out seperately for training sessions because like you've observed the undesirable behavior is getting rewarded. You can bring them out together after your done. But I think one on one training will be more effective.

Ginger

 

[Cory]

I would also take them out seperately for training sessions because like you've observed the undesirable behavior is getting rewarded. You can bring them out together after your done. But I think one on one training will be more effective.

Ginger

That's what I do most of the time with my lovebirds. They get very competitive with each other for the treats and it's very hard NOT to encourage any aggressive behaviour amongst them.

 

[Shade]

I would definitively house them separately as well.
When I was living with my parents, Piper was in the same room as my parents' two lovebirds. They all had their own cage. Although they very good with each other when out, the moment a cage was involved some aggression could be seen at times.
They seem quite content with being next to each other in separate cages.

 

[Sharpie]

If they're having issues at the food bowl, and you already have two or three bowls in the cage, they need to be separated. As they mature socially and sexually, competition won't fade away and may increase until someone is injured. OTOH, my two girls would get into if there was only one bowl, but now that there's two bowls AND foraging on the floor, they get along peacefully.

 

[cgreenaway]

Thanks. I will definitely work with them separately but I'm not sure how I feel about separating a bonded pair. Besides fighting over food they do everything together and are inseparable. They just have little squabbles over food and toys. In terms of behavior is there any sign I should look for that would make me separate them immediately? Like not just the food fights and toys, something more serious that I should look for?

 

[JLcribber]

Don't put the food bowls right next to each other either. Put them as far apart as possible. They can't be in two places at once and keeping distance between them will keep the bully from preventing the other from eating.