My hormornal baby

[Michl]

This is very unusual to me as my baby is only 3 and half months (born Jan 13,2021) and she is displaying to my other bird who is 10 months old. I have had both my babies DNA tested and they are Male and Female. Here are the step I have taken thus far;

1. I have always kept them in separate cages, but allow them to play outside of the cage.
2. My female (Blue) has had her cage re-arranged every couple of days to keep her occupied and not thinking about breeding.
3. Anything soft/nesting like removed (shredded paper)
4. I have taken her off high fat foods such as seeds
5. Prevent her from (as much as i can) from regurgitating food
6. Cut down the hours of sunlight she is getting

One thing that I would like to have under control is all of her biting. She will not allow me to approach her without being so bity. She is constantly protecting the male bird. I've had to use a stick to pick her up. I miss the days that she used to be so cuddly and playful.

 

[Sparkles!]

I do not favor Lovebirds, so I’ll let some of those that do, chime in...
But taking away seeds from such a young baby is not something I would EVER consider without strict prescription from my avian vet.

 

[Michl]

I do not favor Lovebirds, so I’ll let some of those that do, chime in...
But taking away seeds from such a young baby is not something I would EVER consider without strict prescription from my avian vet.

Oh dear! I was not aware of this. I have been scouring the internet looking for ways to stop her from doing this at such a young age. I still feed her spray millet as she is still learning to come and station. I have only taken her off all the "other" seeds yesterday, but I am sure happy to know that it is something that I shouldn't be doing. Oh I forgot to mention, they are both eating veggies and fruit as well as pellets.

I want my cuddly baby back, not this mean biting protective girl she suddenly became.

 

[Sparkles!]

@Zara @fluffypoptarts

tagging a couple lovebird lovers for you.

 

[Zara]

If she is eating the pellets happily, then removing seeds is not bad. Especially if you´re still offering her some millet spray as rewards.
Removing seeds frmo a young bird would be problematic if they didn´t want to eat other foods, or prefered the seeds.
Just be sure tyo keep track of her weight so you know she´s eating.

How many hours are night for her? And is she able to sleep undisturbed? Also note that the ¨daylight hours¨ should be a nice bright light, so if it´s dim, you may want to look at additional lighting.

To compensate for removing the shreddables, you can add in some foraging activities, this will also help occupy her mind.

She will not allow me to approach her without being so bity. She is constantly protecting the male bird.

If they are housed separately , try spending some time with her alone. She might fly to his cage as soon as you open her door?, so roll her cage out to another room first, maybe the bedroom or something like that. Then you can work on a little training and interact alone just the two of you before letting her out to play with him.

Prevent her from (as much as i can) from regurgitating food

Eating it or actually regurgitating? It is usually the male that regurgitates for the female. Though I know that my youngest girl would regurgitate with her partner at first because he was bringing up food but not feeding her, so she would bring up her own food She was also displaying quite young, not as young as yours though, and she laid at I think 7 months.

 

[Michl]

How many hours are night for her? And is she able to sleep undisturbed? Also note that the ¨daylight hours¨ should be a nice bright light, so if it´s dim, you may want to look at additional lighting.

She usually has between a 10 and 12 hour night. There are times where her night sleep is disturbed by a television. As for daylight hours, the cage is situated near the window. She has plenty of sunlight (not direct)

To compensate for removing the shreddables, you can add in some foraging activities, this will also help occupy her mind.

Oops, yet another thing I forgot to mention. Yes, I make DIY foraging toys for her. I am also trying to be more creative, but also without her losing interest right away.

If they are housed separately , try spending some time with her alone. She might fly to his cage as soon as you open her door?, so roll her cage out to another room first, maybe the bedroom or something like that. Then you can work on a little training and interact alone just the two of you before letting her out to play with him.

I had not thought about that. Fingers are crossed that she does not call for him when I place her in a new room. Training might need to take a back seat until she is no longer distracted...lol.

Eating it or actually regurgitating?

Yup, actual regurgitation. It looked exactly like she's feeding her young, except she's feeding him. That is the behavior along with everything else that I am trying to stop.

 

[Zara]

She usually has between a 10 and 12 hour night.

I do 12 as a norm. And bump it up to 13 or 14 if I see nesty behaviour. So bump it up, and maybe turn the TV down just an extra notch at night. You don´t have to sit in silence , my birds hear keyboard tapping while they sleep and they are used to it and don´t wake.

Yup, actual regurgitation. It looked exactly like she's feeding her young, except she's feeding him. That is the behavior along with everything else that I am trying to stop.

That´s very strange. I´d be interested to hear if anyone else has seen that also. My girls have never fed my boys (except the obvious mother/son feeds).

 

[Michl]

Yes, very much so @Zara! I am also wondering if she is doing the regurgitation to "make him feel comfortable"? He's nervous around people, but he is beginning to not be as nervous when we are together alone. When my girl is with him, all fears are gone...lol. She even shows him how to move around to places because he is clipped.

 

[Zara]

I think just having her around will make him feel that way. A bird friend really does work wonders

As for the regurgitation, I have no idea.