Crazy mixed-up lovies - help please!

[Betrisher]

Sigh. Just days ago, all was well in our Lovies' Lane: the four pairs were all happily well-behaved and our little singleton, Nimbus, was sweetly helping Periwinkle to feed his wife, Mango, who's currently sitting on eggs.

Fast forward to today and things are going wrong! Firstly, Pumpkin, the peachy has been trying to feed Marigold (a Mask), who is also sitting on eggs. Marigold doesn't mind this and accepts the food, but her mate, Tarquin is *furious* and has bitten Pumpkin so hard on his toe that it's bleeding and all swollen up. What should I do? The colony has lived harmoniously together for nearly two years - should I pull the sitting couples out (and risk disrupting their nesting) or should I pull all the others out and put them in a smaller cage (which is all I've got for them ATM)? I'm worried!

The other thing is that Pineapple has spent almost the whole day in - er - humping Peachie's head. Poor little Peach just sits there with his head bowed and puts up with it. If he tries to move away, Pineapple squawks at him and slaps him with his/her wings. I know that Peach is a boy because he and his previous hen have had two clutches of eggs. I *thought* Pineapple must be a girl because they paired off as soon as P'apple arrived and have kept strictly to themselves. Now this! Should I act to separate the pair for Peach's sake? Should I try to find two more hens to balance things out (space is a problem)? WHY would a bird want to spend a whole day humping someone else's head???

I'd be very grateful if someone with a bit more experience than me could shed some light on these problems. I don't want my little guys to be unhappy!

 

[JadeB]

Sounds like all is not well on the homefront! I don't have a lot of experience, having just gotten lovebirds last year myself, but I'd be glad to offer whatever I can.

I don't think getting more hens is the solution. It sounds like maybe things are just too crowded. How big is the colony's cage?

If it were me, I would separate Pineapple and Peach to give Peach some peace. I would also separate Pumpkin and Tarquin so things don't get worse. Or has Pumpkin learned his lesson and stayed away now?

Maybe you could leave the nesting couples together and put the troublemakers together in the smaller cage?

Good luck

 

[Betrisher]

Thanks for your answer, Jade! I was beginning to think no one would! I've got four pairs of Lovies plus Nimbus in a cage that is 1.2m x1m x 80cm. Everyone was living together quite peacefully until I *stupidly* made snuggle beds so the guys could be warm.

Sigh. They nested in the snuggle beds. So I had to insert proper nest boxes for the sake of the eggs and that's when the trouble started. Pumpkin's foot is better now, but he's still feeding Marigold. That can't be right: he's not even the same species, let alone her spouse!

Pineapple has given Peach a bit of respite today because I found some nice clumps of dandelion and gave everyone a treat. It seems I'll have to add something New and Exciting every day until spring. I do have another cage, but it's not a very nice one and is difficult to keep clean. I guess the writing's on the wall. If the bad behaviour goes on, I might need to decant the unmarried pairs into the other cage.

I'm not sure what's going on with the eggs. One pair is sitting closely (but they had only infertile clutches last year) while the other is sitting on and off. I guess a couple of weeks will tell. I really hadn't planned on breeding at all. Sigh.

 

[cdnbirdlover]

A cautionary tale about snuggle huts. I have a singleton lovebird and even I won't get him a snuggle hut for fear of encouraging hormonal behaviour!

I can't offer any advice but thanks for the laugh.

 

[JadeB]

Well if you don't want to waste your time with the eggs, you could check them -if you think the parents won't abandon the nest if you touch the eggs. That way if you see they are infertile, you could remove them and the nest boxes to discourage the hormonal/territorial craziness.

I was afraid to touch my eggs this spring so I left them alone, then Tito & Lupita abandoned them around day 23 when they didn't hatch. Imagine how disappointed I was when I saw it was just yolk inside, lol. I didn't have a pen light so in a completely dark room I just held the egg up to a regular flashlight.

 

[Betrisher]

My Lovies aren't tame, so I'm reluctant to disturb them. One pair (the Masks) seems to have given up sitting, so I might remove their clutch in a day or so. The Fischer's pair is a little less wild and they might just allow me to check an eggy or two. Thanks for the idea of the dark room and the flashlight. I'll give it a go!

 

[Pajarita]

My dear, please make a strong effort to keep them to a strict solar schedule and reduce their protein intake because you are in the middle of the winter in Australia right now and winter is not the season for breeding. Lovies are INCREDIBLY hormonal little birds and very hard to keep on a good circannual (they become chronic layers at the drop of a hat if you are not very careful).

 

[Betrisher]

My lovies live in an outdoor flight cage and the only reason they bred is because I stupidly added snuggle huts to their cage (thinking to keep them warm). Hnnh! Won't be doing *that* again! I know about them being chronic layers because a previous pair did exactly that. I don't want my poor little hens exhausted by chronic laying - in fact, I don't want to breed at all. With luck, the eggs won't be fertile. If we get babies, then I'll have to invest in another cage. Sigh.

Now, this is the weird part. I know winter is not the season for breeding, but our local pet shops are brimming with baby lovies. What's with that? Last year, when I wanted to get a replacement hen for the one we lost, there wasn't a lovebird to be had for miles and miles. ???

 

[JadeB]

This may be a really stupid thought - but maybe it matters that lovebirds are indigenous to Africa, therefore it is summer there now? I don't know enough about biology and I don't know whether it's the weather that matters or the time of year...??

 

[Betrisher]

I dunno Jade... it just struck me that it was this time of year in 2012 that I was looking for a new pair of peachies and couldn't find any. Now, the place is suddenly flooded with chicks! On the same theme, IRNs and Alexes are getting pretty common here lately as well, although I haven't seen chicks for sale yet: only adult birds.

 

[Pajarita]

No, it's because all the small species are SUPER opportunistic breeders and breeders take advantage of that to breed them out of season (some of them do it all year round). Any bird can be bred at any time of the year in captivity because we can manipulate all three triggers. All you have to do is give them high protein food, long days and shelter from the elements and they will breed even in the middle of the winter but the small species are particularly easy to do because they will disregard the primary trigger (length of day) as long as they have high protein food and a nest. And, once their endocrine system goes wacko, it takes more than one season to get it back where it's supposed to be. That's why they become chronic layers so easily and often pluck and mutilate. I've taken in chronic layers that would take four seasons to get back on track...

 

[Betrisher]

That's disgusting! It never ceases to amaze me how unscrupulous people are prepared to be with animals. Mind you, things are tightening up here in Australia. Lots of new legislations are either in force or being investigated. Next time I happen to see lovebird babies in a petshop, I think I might comment loudly about how inappropriate it is - or at least ask why they're there. I used to be a mouse fancier and you wouldn't believe the horrible things petshops do with mice, rats and other pocket pets!