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Mate plucks other mate?

Bekahlands

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I have a blue parrotlet and a green+yellow budgie. They have been bonded for a year now, and the blue one is absolutely in love with the budgie. The parrotlet is a boy (Roger) and the budgie is a girl (Lily). I adopted Roger about a year ago with my cockatiel, but as soon as he met Lily he completely ditched the cockatiel and went for her. (Don't worry, the cockatiel is just fine and she's bonded to me).



Lately Lily has been plucking Roger's head completely down to the skin. It will start to grow back, and she'll pick it again. It hasn't bled luckily and Roger doesn't seem to even notice. The problem is that I can separate them, because Roger will SCREAM and fly around the cage trying to get out, in a complete panic. Roger also has paralyzed legs, so he has trouble getting around. He can't really preen himself with some help from Lily.



I'm not quite sure what to do. I've added tons of new toys in hopes that she'll pick at those instead of him, but no matter what I try she still plucks him. I really don't want to have to separate them because Roger truly loves her, but I don't know what else to do. Any tips?
 

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Kiwi's Dad

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Is there a way to separate them but still have them close to each other?
 

April

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@webchirp has this issue with one of her mated Greenie pairs.
 

Pixiebeak

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I'll think on it....
It could just be a hormonal surfe and will pass? Is her cere dark brown
 

Pixiebeak

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We have lots of active budgies owners here. So they msy hsve things to offer.

With brown cere she is peak hormones for sure.

What's your light dark routine?
 

webchirp

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I have this problem but essentially, I got nothin. No word of advice but Carlton would rather be plucked than apart so here we are…he’s actually looking much better than normal but hormones have started so he’ll likely be close to bald soon.
97D55D9F-9E8A-40F8-B40B-D20F8F1461B8.jpeg
 

Bekahlands

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We have lots of active budgies owners here. So they msy hsve things to offer.



With brown cere she is peak hormones for sure.



What's your light dark routine?
I keep my blinds open continuously, they put themselves to bed around 6pm as it gets darker outside. I also turn on a little lamp around then
 
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