Hi all, I was hoping for some help in dealing with aggression in one of my birds. I have two Alexandrine Parakeets; Cookies and Pickles, they are brothers a bit over 2 and a half years old and have been with me for about 2 years. They've been caged together their entire lives in a reasonably big cage and I always have them both out when spending time with them. We have never had any issues with aggression between them before, honestly they always followed each other around and do things together.
This past weekend Cookies has become incredibly aggressive towards Pickles for no apparent reason, enough that at the worst times I'm actually a bit afraid for Pickles safety (though they've never really harmed each other), and when it's more mild I just feel bad for Pickles, it's not fair on him. Cookies will hog the food bowl in their cage, attacking whenever his brother comes near. He'll block Pickles from coming up onto the perches in the cage, forcing him to stay on the floor. Before they would sleep on the same perch cuddled up together but Pickles is no longer allowed on it at bed time. Outside the cage Cookies will chase Pickles around, attacking any opportunity he gets, sometimes even dive bombing him. However there is no fighting with the food bowl I give them outside of the cage, they'll happily eat together there. They always love to nap in bed with me during the day too and mostly there's no fighting here either. Also this behavior is not constant, yesterday there was much less aggression and this morning too, however it has started again this afternoon. I'll also point out that Cookies shows no aggression towards myself or my partner, just towards Pickles, and that Pickles never initiates it and will usually just try to get away.
I'm a bit lost as to what to do here. Some things I have done, to a small amount of success, is start using 2 bowls in the cage for food. This does help partially as Pickles gets to eat a bit easier but it's also made Cookies just try to control both bowls. I've also bought an extra sleeping perch at night so Pickles has a comfy spot to sleep, however he will still try to sleep on the same perch as his brother and/or Cookies will try to kick him off the other perch anyway. They will eventually settle and sleep on their separate perches though. I do have another cage in a spare room, though I am reluctant to keep one of the birds in there as they'll be alone (we don't spend any time in the room, it's basically used for storage, and there's not enough space in the room with the main cage) and the cage is old and has rust in some parts. I'm also not sure if having one bird out of the cage at a time will help either as anytime I've tried this the bird left in the cage gets visibly upset/frustrated and I feel it does more harm than good.
From my research aggression is often a hormonal thing, the 'bluffing' phase, or being jealous or territorial. If this is some kind of phase that I need to wait out and not do anything then that's fine, just some help on how I can help keep Pickles safe and limit the damage to the relationship between them and between Cookies and us humans would be great. I also do not think it's a jealousy thing. If its hormonal or territorial behavior though, that would mean I need to make some changes right? If anyone has any suggestions please go ahead, any help would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want this behavior to become reinforced and the new normal because it's not fair on Pickles.
This past weekend Cookies has become incredibly aggressive towards Pickles for no apparent reason, enough that at the worst times I'm actually a bit afraid for Pickles safety (though they've never really harmed each other), and when it's more mild I just feel bad for Pickles, it's not fair on him. Cookies will hog the food bowl in their cage, attacking whenever his brother comes near. He'll block Pickles from coming up onto the perches in the cage, forcing him to stay on the floor. Before they would sleep on the same perch cuddled up together but Pickles is no longer allowed on it at bed time. Outside the cage Cookies will chase Pickles around, attacking any opportunity he gets, sometimes even dive bombing him. However there is no fighting with the food bowl I give them outside of the cage, they'll happily eat together there. They always love to nap in bed with me during the day too and mostly there's no fighting here either. Also this behavior is not constant, yesterday there was much less aggression and this morning too, however it has started again this afternoon. I'll also point out that Cookies shows no aggression towards myself or my partner, just towards Pickles, and that Pickles never initiates it and will usually just try to get away.
I'm a bit lost as to what to do here. Some things I have done, to a small amount of success, is start using 2 bowls in the cage for food. This does help partially as Pickles gets to eat a bit easier but it's also made Cookies just try to control both bowls. I've also bought an extra sleeping perch at night so Pickles has a comfy spot to sleep, however he will still try to sleep on the same perch as his brother and/or Cookies will try to kick him off the other perch anyway. They will eventually settle and sleep on their separate perches though. I do have another cage in a spare room, though I am reluctant to keep one of the birds in there as they'll be alone (we don't spend any time in the room, it's basically used for storage, and there's not enough space in the room with the main cage) and the cage is old and has rust in some parts. I'm also not sure if having one bird out of the cage at a time will help either as anytime I've tried this the bird left in the cage gets visibly upset/frustrated and I feel it does more harm than good.
From my research aggression is often a hormonal thing, the 'bluffing' phase, or being jealous or territorial. If this is some kind of phase that I need to wait out and not do anything then that's fine, just some help on how I can help keep Pickles safe and limit the damage to the relationship between them and between Cookies and us humans would be great. I also do not think it's a jealousy thing. If its hormonal or territorial behavior though, that would mean I need to make some changes right? If anyone has any suggestions please go ahead, any help would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want this behavior to become reinforced and the new normal because it's not fair on Pickles.