Hi everyone,
I really need some advice. I adopted these two magnificient birds last Sunday.
About the birds:
Their previous owner had them for more or less one year. He first adopted the white-headed Lovebird (which he named Snowball). Snowball is a one year old hand raised Lovebird. He is a male (DNA-tested).
Having less and less time to spend with him, he decided to take him a companion, the black-headed lovebird he named Coco. The sex of this lovebird is unidentified, although I think it probably be a female. Coco, is a bit younger than Snowball, probably hatched in the beginning of this year, or maybe he is a bit over 1 year, but I don't really know his age.
I have to say that both are already pretty used to humans, when they flew in their owners room, they came on my head and my shoulders.
When I did go adopt them, I saw them fly in the owner's house, and I saw the first indication which made me think that Snowball was the male, because he actually regurgitated food for Coco (who accepted the food). And apparently Snowball tried his luck with mating one time but it didn't worked / he probably got rejected.
So, I went home, everything was fine. The birds were a bit excited and a bit loud once in their new cage (which is totally fine and normal). During the day, I sometimes spoke to them, put my hand in the cage so they got used to it. They actually already accepted food I gave them through the cage grid and also food directly rom my hand (when I put my hand in the cage).
Day 2, I already tried to make them learn how to step up and it already worked with Snowballl. Coco actually nibbled my fingers more than stepping up... Both chewed my hand at first, Coco had a more bitey intention, but Snowball just "tested" to see if my hand was stable. It worked too well, Snowball after some step-ups decided to be confident enough to walk all the way up to my shoulder (which I would not have expected) and decided to fly in my room (which wasn't actually goin the plan). I totally panicked, my first reflex was to take tape, and put paper sheets all over the windows, because I didn't wanted him to fly into them! He actually was enjoying flying around XD. Coco of course followed. For one hour they flew in my room casually stopping on some of my furniture or my head/a friend's head which came durin the next hour (we planned doing chemistry, which wasn't easy with two birds flying around). After one hour, both birds decided to go back into the cage to rest and I closed the grid.
The same day in the evening, they had lost a bit of confidence for stepping up but they came eat food from my hand.
This was my mistake, I didn't expected Snowball to be this confident.
3rd day, monday. Confidence regained, first day with me having uni classes from home, every pause I go talk to them. Step up went well with Snowball. This day I trained them to be less scared of my finger. I'm doing it like this: slowly approaching my finger to their head, if they try to bite, I back off, come again, until I can touch their beak. If they don't try to bite me, or they try to bite but hold back, I give them a treat everytime they are doing well.
- I noticed something weird, I'm not sure what to think of. Since the first day, Coco and Snowball seem to show very few signs of partnership. I can see them cuddle together in the evening or when they take a nap around noon. Else, it's mostly Snowball who scares Coco away, snowball is bigger than Coco and seems to have a "dominant" male character (don't know if it's common in birds, it is in rats....). I didn't saw them regurgitate food. Also sometimes they "kiss"/cuddle/groom eachother (mostly coco grooming/kissing Snowball) and instead of continuing to kiss Snowball pecks Coco strongly enough to push her back/away from the perch she is on. She then goes to another perch and he follows her. This can go on for minutes, she screams a lot and seems to be really bothered, sometimes it seems that she can't find a safe place in the cage..... And I start to ask myself if the owner actually made a mistake by putting them together. The first day, only one perch was the "highest" perch, I quickly added another at the same height so Coco could go to this one if he annoys her, but if she does, he just follows her.
4th day, same thing. I bought sunflower seeds to change from millet (for rewards). Actually Coco, who was very bitey, let me touch her right under the beak (she was chewing on a seed). Snowball stepped up from a perch (I never tried to "follow" them with my hand since they seemed to be scared of my finger and let they come to my hand) but this time I tried and it worked. I was super happy in the evening, because, although they had tried to nibble, it actually went well. I actually had lab work, so I had to spend 8 hours is the laboratory, I had a babysitting in the evening and came back preytt late, but I spent my whole evening with both birds. One thing my mother noticed, was, that they were both pretty silent as I was not home, are they louder when I'm home to get my attention?
Yesterday. High hopes, high expectations.
It was a nightmare. Coco doesn't let me approach her and bites as in the beginning. Snowball, doesn't want to step up anymore and he starts to really BITE. Not nibble-bite like Coco who already had a "strong nibble" does, he really BITES. So hard that I have little red points on my hands from the incision of his beak (I'm pretty pain resistant and I don't directly take my hand away, since in the beginning they nibbled, but if I see that their intent is to bite, I take my hand away, close the cage and go away, to show that this is not the right behavior to get my attention/food). They did this the WHOLE day.
I'm at a point where I have no idea what to do. First for their btining behavior and second for their partnership. The more I observe them, the less I have the impression that they like eachother. Since the beginning, it's Coco who speaks 90% of the time, either she is sitting somewhere making noise (not specifically screaming just talking). Snowball says nothing, he only talks when he is excited/angry/happy. During the time I write, they already had 1 argument, and Coco started to scream pretty loud. It really seems like the arguments are pretty heavy, but maybe I'm not used to Lovebird arguments? At the beginning I thought that it was more of a "dominance" behavior since they are in a new environment, but it doesn't stop.
Is it maybe better to separate them? I have the owners old cage (who is really smaller). Do you have any advice. I'm pretty frustrated, because it worked so well and suddenly evrything seems to go wrong, and I'm really trying my best... Does anyone have any advice? Their arguzments and the behavior isn't normal, right? What am I doing wrong? If i do anything wrong, don't hesitate to tell me!!!
Best regards,
Xefalen
(Sorry if my english isn't always good, I'm not a native english speaker...)
Thanks for having the patience to read through all of this. I know, it's super long, but I try to give as much information as possible... I'm really clueless.
I really need some advice. I adopted these two magnificient birds last Sunday.
About the birds:
Their previous owner had them for more or less one year. He first adopted the white-headed Lovebird (which he named Snowball). Snowball is a one year old hand raised Lovebird. He is a male (DNA-tested).
Having less and less time to spend with him, he decided to take him a companion, the black-headed lovebird he named Coco. The sex of this lovebird is unidentified, although I think it probably be a female. Coco, is a bit younger than Snowball, probably hatched in the beginning of this year, or maybe he is a bit over 1 year, but I don't really know his age.
I have to say that both are already pretty used to humans, when they flew in their owners room, they came on my head and my shoulders.
When I did go adopt them, I saw them fly in the owner's house, and I saw the first indication which made me think that Snowball was the male, because he actually regurgitated food for Coco (who accepted the food). And apparently Snowball tried his luck with mating one time but it didn't worked / he probably got rejected.
So, I went home, everything was fine. The birds were a bit excited and a bit loud once in their new cage (which is totally fine and normal). During the day, I sometimes spoke to them, put my hand in the cage so they got used to it. They actually already accepted food I gave them through the cage grid and also food directly rom my hand (when I put my hand in the cage).
Day 2, I already tried to make them learn how to step up and it already worked with Snowballl. Coco actually nibbled my fingers more than stepping up... Both chewed my hand at first, Coco had a more bitey intention, but Snowball just "tested" to see if my hand was stable. It worked too well, Snowball after some step-ups decided to be confident enough to walk all the way up to my shoulder (which I would not have expected) and decided to fly in my room (which wasn't actually goin the plan). I totally panicked, my first reflex was to take tape, and put paper sheets all over the windows, because I didn't wanted him to fly into them! He actually was enjoying flying around XD. Coco of course followed. For one hour they flew in my room casually stopping on some of my furniture or my head/a friend's head which came durin the next hour (we planned doing chemistry, which wasn't easy with two birds flying around). After one hour, both birds decided to go back into the cage to rest and I closed the grid.
The same day in the evening, they had lost a bit of confidence for stepping up but they came eat food from my hand.
This was my mistake, I didn't expected Snowball to be this confident.
3rd day, monday. Confidence regained, first day with me having uni classes from home, every pause I go talk to them. Step up went well with Snowball. This day I trained them to be less scared of my finger. I'm doing it like this: slowly approaching my finger to their head, if they try to bite, I back off, come again, until I can touch their beak. If they don't try to bite me, or they try to bite but hold back, I give them a treat everytime they are doing well.
- I noticed something weird, I'm not sure what to think of. Since the first day, Coco and Snowball seem to show very few signs of partnership. I can see them cuddle together in the evening or when they take a nap around noon. Else, it's mostly Snowball who scares Coco away, snowball is bigger than Coco and seems to have a "dominant" male character (don't know if it's common in birds, it is in rats....). I didn't saw them regurgitate food. Also sometimes they "kiss"/cuddle/groom eachother (mostly coco grooming/kissing Snowball) and instead of continuing to kiss Snowball pecks Coco strongly enough to push her back/away from the perch she is on. She then goes to another perch and he follows her. This can go on for minutes, she screams a lot and seems to be really bothered, sometimes it seems that she can't find a safe place in the cage..... And I start to ask myself if the owner actually made a mistake by putting them together. The first day, only one perch was the "highest" perch, I quickly added another at the same height so Coco could go to this one if he annoys her, but if she does, he just follows her.
4th day, same thing. I bought sunflower seeds to change from millet (for rewards). Actually Coco, who was very bitey, let me touch her right under the beak (she was chewing on a seed). Snowball stepped up from a perch (I never tried to "follow" them with my hand since they seemed to be scared of my finger and let they come to my hand) but this time I tried and it worked. I was super happy in the evening, because, although they had tried to nibble, it actually went well. I actually had lab work, so I had to spend 8 hours is the laboratory, I had a babysitting in the evening and came back preytt late, but I spent my whole evening with both birds. One thing my mother noticed, was, that they were both pretty silent as I was not home, are they louder when I'm home to get my attention?
Yesterday. High hopes, high expectations.
It was a nightmare. Coco doesn't let me approach her and bites as in the beginning. Snowball, doesn't want to step up anymore and he starts to really BITE. Not nibble-bite like Coco who already had a "strong nibble" does, he really BITES. So hard that I have little red points on my hands from the incision of his beak (I'm pretty pain resistant and I don't directly take my hand away, since in the beginning they nibbled, but if I see that their intent is to bite, I take my hand away, close the cage and go away, to show that this is not the right behavior to get my attention/food). They did this the WHOLE day.
I'm at a point where I have no idea what to do. First for their btining behavior and second for their partnership. The more I observe them, the less I have the impression that they like eachother. Since the beginning, it's Coco who speaks 90% of the time, either she is sitting somewhere making noise (not specifically screaming just talking). Snowball says nothing, he only talks when he is excited/angry/happy. During the time I write, they already had 1 argument, and Coco started to scream pretty loud. It really seems like the arguments are pretty heavy, but maybe I'm not used to Lovebird arguments? At the beginning I thought that it was more of a "dominance" behavior since they are in a new environment, but it doesn't stop.
Is it maybe better to separate them? I have the owners old cage (who is really smaller). Do you have any advice. I'm pretty frustrated, because it worked so well and suddenly evrything seems to go wrong, and I'm really trying my best... Does anyone have any advice? Their arguzments and the behavior isn't normal, right? What am I doing wrong? If i do anything wrong, don't hesitate to tell me!!!
Best regards,
Xefalen
(Sorry if my english isn't always good, I'm not a native english speaker...)
Thanks for having the patience to read through all of this. I know, it's super long, but I try to give as much information as possible... I'm really clueless.
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