how to stop aggressive, territorial behavior?

[snailrice]

I have 2 lovebirds, Boba and Bunny. I just got Bunny recently, and he's a baby and the owner said that he's a male based on the feel of his pelvic bones. I've had Boba for a year, and I'm pretty sure she's a girl from her behavior. I felt like Boba was getting lonely, and I'm going to be very busy in the future, so I got Bunny. Boba is a peach faced, and Bunny is blue with a white face. He doesn't have any color in his face, but his owner told me that he was peach faced. Bunny also doesn't have any black markings on his beak, which I thought all baby lovebirds had? I thought he might me going from a baby to a young bird, but his behavior is pretty meek and reminds me of a baby. I introduced them a few days ago and now they live in the same cage. Boba isn't going out of her way to attack him, but she chases him away when he tries to get near her. She won't let him sit on the same perch as her and shoos him off perches that she wants to sit on. Sometimes poor Bunny ends up on the floor of the cage after being pushed off a perch or chased off from a food bowl (he's not starving, he just eats when she's done eating). I blow on her whenever she tries to attack Bunny while I'm watching, but I can't be there for him all the time. I went to my local bird shop to get their wings clipped, and the lady there told me that it was a good sign that Boba wasn't actively trying to attack Bunny and sometimes letting him try to preen her. I don't really know about that, because it has been a few days and they don't seem like best friends. And I don't think Boba wants to be preened, because she doesn't look like it. She doesn't get all fluffy like she's supposed to and has her feathers in normal mode. It doesn't seem like Bunny is going to be killed by her, but I'm still worried.

Boba is pretty territorial about the whole cage, but I think the platform perches are what sets her off the most. She sits on top of them and won't let Bunny on. I'm thinking of taking those out of the cage for a while, but I'm not sure how much it will help because she's territorial of the whole cage. I do switch up the set up of the cage every week or so, add new perches and toys, take old ones out, but she still goes back to being aggressive. Also, sometimes when I open the cage to take her out, she like to fly up to the top of the cage and over to the shoe drawer, where she hits her beak on it and growls at me. I this is some sort of nesting behavior? It takes a while for me to get her to step up when she does that, because she gets bitey. I usually ignore her when she does that, until she gets tired of being ignored and flies on my shoulder. Right now, she's in a smaller time out cage so that Bunny can freely enjoy the cage without her chasing him around. She's not happy.

I don't get bitten often because I'm pretty good at recognizing when Boba is feeling aggressive, so it's not much of a problem for me, just an inconvenience. I am worried for Bunny's safety and happiness, and I wish Boba could be happy all the time too.

How can I stop her behavior? Should I take away the platform perches? Would adding in a nesting box maybe give her the nest that she wants and make her happy, or would that just make her behavior worse? Should I separate Bunny and Boba and reintroduce them? Any tips on introducing them?

 

[Oscarbird]

I think maybe you should get separate cages for them if you can. Putting two birds in the same cage who barely know each other is not an ideal situation. If your lovebird is being aggressive and territorial of the whole cage then maybe you should allow her to have her own space. It is not fair for Boba not to get the same privileges as your other bird.

Would adding in a nesting box maybe give her the nest that she wants and make her happy, or would that just make her behavior worse?

I do not think that getting a nesting box will help, I think it might make the behaviors worse since they seem to be hormonal and you definitely do not want to encourage that.

 

[snailrice]

I think maybe you should get separate cages for them if you can. Putting two birds in the same cage who barely know each other is not an ideal situation.

Thanks for the advice, but I only have the big main cage and the small travel/sleeping cage. Would removing them from the cage and letting them roam my room for a few days be helpful? Maybe being away from the cage will make Boba less aggressive, but she does have a tendency to be protective of anywhere I put her, particularly flat surfaces. I think her personality is just like that. On that note, what do you think about the platform perches? Should I remove them? It seems like both birds like them, so I would feel sorry taking them away.



Here's a picture of them together. Notice the space between them; it because Boba will chase Bunny off if he gets too close to her.

 

[Wardy]

You need to seperate the birds before sommething serious happens its not as simple as just putting two birds into a cage together and they work things out until they get along.
Also ideally any new birds should undergo a quarantine period of a minimum of 30 days to ensure it has no health issues that can be picked up by the established bird.
If you cant accomadate the new bird in its own cage i would suggest returning to the shop you bought it from until you are better prepared to introduce them over a longer period of time where they both have there own cages where the new bird will be safe.

I dont have any experience with lovebirds however i am currently in the process of buying another GCC.
So have done a lot of research on introducing two birds to each other and asked a lot of questions i am aware that even following the above they may never get along to the point i can put them in the same cage together.

@Zara Keeps lovebirds and may be able to offer you more advice about them specifically.

Get the new bird into the travel cage asap until you can do something more permanent.
At the least he will be able to be feed you will be able to move to another room for qt purposes. Or give you time to return to the store or move him on.

 

[snailrice]

I separated the birds. Boba gets the whole cage to herself and Bunny has free range of my room and the small cage for now. My mom has suggested selling Bunny, but that doesn't solve the original problem. Boba seems to be left alone a lot, because her cage is in the backyard (there's a roof over a lot of the backyard and the weather is mild almost all year). I have been campaigning for her cage to be put indoors so she can have more human interaction, but my family is against it because they don't like messes and noise. I'll ask them to let her stay in the house for just a week and promise to clean any messes she makes. They might say no, and my mom is pretty stubborn.

I don't like the idea of giving up on a bird, so I want to keep Bunny if possible. I'll keep them apart for a while and try to reintroduce them, making sure that the only interactions they have are good ones. Boba used to have a friend that she got along with really well when I first got her, but he sadly escaped in January. That's why I was hoping she could make a new friend, but I guess it was my mistake for putting an older bird with a young one.

Good luck on your new bird.

 

[Oscarbird]

I'll keep them apart for a while and try to reintroduce them, making sure that the only interactions they have are good ones.

Yes, re-introducing them slowly would be better than just putting the two together in a cage and calling it a day. Make sure that Bunny has had appropriate quarantine time so they won't spread unknown illnesses to Boba. I hope everything goes well with your two lovies.

 

[Wardy]

I separated the birds. Boba gets the whole cage to herself and Bunny has free range of my room and the small cage for now. My mom has suggested selling Bunny, but that doesn't solve the original problem. Boba seems to be left alone a lot, because her cage is in the backyard (there's a roof over a lot of the backyard and the weather is mild almost all year). I have been campaigning for her cage to be put indoors so she can have more human interaction, but my family is against it because they don't like messes and noise. I'll ask them to let her stay in the house for just a week and promise to clean any messes she makes. They might say no, and my mom is pretty stubborn.

I don't like the idea of giving up on a bird, so I want to keep Bunny if possible. I'll keep them apart for a while and try to reintroduce them, making sure that the only interactions they have are good ones. Boba used to have a friend that she got along with really well when I first got her, but he sadly escaped in January. That's why I was hoping she could make a new friend, but I guess it was my mistake for putting an older bird with a young one.

Good luck on your new bird.

Thats sounds like a plan

Thanks

 

[Zara]

Boba is a peach faced, and Bunny is blue with a white face. He doesn't have any color in his face, but his owner told me that he was peach faced.

That is correct. Both are Roseicollis lovebirds (Rosy-faced / Peach-faced). Boba is Green series, she´s wild type, Bunny is Blue series, Turquoise mutation.

I guess it was my mistake for putting an older bird with a young one.

I don´t think that has much to do with it. It´s simply clashing personalities. Placing a new bird straight into her cage was not a good idea. She is very territorial over it as shown by her beak tapping and making noises at you when you open the door.
A nest box will make this much worse.

Not to drag on, but I think that clipping the wings was a mistake. Having their wings means they can get away from each other when out in the room together and not end up seriously injured. It also gives them confidence.

The best way forward right now, is to have two cages side by side in the same room. Have perches level with each other so they can sit ¨together¨ from the safety and comfort of their own cages. Use the platform perches if they both love them.

Allow some out of cage time so they can interact together under close supervision. When both are sitting near each other nicely, give treats to reinforce that they get rewarded for not biting each other.
You can only house bonded birds together, so until they are preening each other, snuggling and together ost of the time, do not house together. Always move both birds into the new birds cage (or a new cage) when housing two birds together.
Sometimes it´s quick, just days, others it´s months or years. Two of mine bonded instantly and lived together after two days, another pair took about 6 months transitioning, having time together in her cage during the day but sleeping in their own cages.

Just don´t try to rush the process. They need to choose their own mate. So allow them the time to bond.

I hope this helps Wishing you luck!