Cage aggressive

[venuslovebird]

Hi,
I wanted to ask your advise on my lovebird. Recently she has become really cage aggressive. If I put my hand in to change her food and water bowl she will bite me and there is no way I can get her to step up while inside the cage.
Outside of the cage is no problem, no biting and she steps up without a problem.
However she doen't really want to stay with me anymore. She used to fly to me every time she was out of the cage but now she just wants so fly on top of the curtains and hang out there by herself. If I go and get her she just jumps right off me as soon as she can.
Her wings were clipped when I got her but now she has started to fly again even though she has not lost the clipped feathers which I don't really understand. Should I take her to the vet to have them clipped even further? I'm not comfortable with doing it myself just yet, want to learn more first.

All advice appreciated:)

[mayaexquisite]

The cage aggressiveness could be due to hormones... is your baby a confirmed female? Hens can be territorial in general, but can intensify when they're hormonal. You'll want to avoid giving her anything that could be perceived as nesting material - paper, shreddable toys, Happy Hut, etc. Not wanting to be with you could also be due to hormones... she may be wanting to breed and she may not see you as her mate.

As far as the flying goes, even clipped birds can fly a little. Also, a lot of times when birds first get clipped they don't fly 'cause they don't know what happened. They could fly and suddenly they couldn't. But as times goes by, the bird flaps flaps flaps it's wings and gets stronger and stronger and can learn to fly on what seems like sheer will alone sometimes!! If you would like her to not fly on the curtain, then perhaps you could get her clipped a little more (not sure how short the clip is currently)... but a little flying is really great exercise for your baby!!

What is your baby's name? Can we see pictures? I love birdy pictures!!

[amanda143]

I agree with maya. Our female is generally pretty sweet but lately she's been acting a bit hormonal. We have been just giving her her space. lol Have you changed anything recently? Taken her favorite toys out?

[Lori~D]

Female Lovebirds! GAH! Yes they can be terrtotial and aggresive when they begin to mature. 1. move her cage to a lower spot so you are looking "down" at her. 2.If it is a confirmed female take out any happy hut or places to "hide" in. You can cover her cage at night for her secure feeling. A female lovebird will Viciously guard her "nest" site. 3. lower her daylight hours to no more than 11 if you can even ten. Daylight hours induce hormonal behaviors radically. 4. Lovebirds can seemingly fly with almost NO feathers I swear. She needs a bit more trim. As babies get older they get stronger and an almost fully clipped lovebird can still fly quite well.
hope this helps

[venuslovebird]

I forgot to mention that she just got a new cage 2 weeks ago. Her old cage was way to small for her. Could be the reason she is acting all strange.
She is not a confirmed female, I haven't had the chance to have her tested yet but for some reason we always refer to her as a "she".

Her name is Venus and is a peachface, ringeyed hybrid (I think).
Here are some pictures:

On this one you can see her wing feathers. They are clipped a bit more than they seem on this pic.

Here she is hiding. She was under there for like 1 and 1/2 hour and when I went to get her to put her in the cage she was really grumpy. I think she fell asleep:)

Cutiepie:)

[Lori~D]

That would be a Peach faced - Fischers Hybrid. If it were me I would have her DNA tested. male or female makes a big difference in what to expect in a lovebird and what kind of behavior not to allow to escalate. Example: I never give female pet lovebirds a happy hut or something to hide inside of inside the cage, females get real aggressive over it when they get to sexual maturity and it can be harder to keep them tame. Cute birdie but I think it looks kinda like a boy but the hiding thing and aggression is soooooo girl like ,lol.$20 bucks will tell you for sure Oh and she looks to not even being CLOSE to being clipped enough. there should be at least five flights clipped at least half on a lovebird and she will still learn to fly across the room

[mayaexquisite]

I agree. If you get him/her (what is her name anyway?? ) DNA sexed, you'll know typical behaviors to expect. I say typical because not all females act like females and vice versa. My Mika is a boy but he acts like a girl a lot of the time because he's the boss over Kano and gets first dibs on everything. Hehehe.

[venuslovebird]

Thanks for the advice. I'm planning on having him/her sexed as soon as I can. And see if the vet will clip her a bit more. I have no clue as to his/her age or who clipped him/her since I got her as a rescue not so long ago but they said she was supposed to be quite young which fits how she acts and how easy she was to train.
She didn't even know how to step up when I got her and it only took me a few hours to teach her.
Maby he/she is just reaching maturity... Do males get aggressive as well?

You mentioned not to give her anything she can use for nesting, I give her lots of paper to shred... she loves it. Should I stop that? She has no happy hut in her cage and really doesn't do anything with the paper after she's done shredding it to pieces, just leaves it.
She has no real hiding place but I was planning on getting her a sleeping tent. Maby that's a bad idea while this behavior is going on?

You guys are helping me sooo much!

[mayaexquisite]

Yes. I would say until you get him/her DNA sexed, stop giving paper to shred. You can give other toys for him/her to play with for the time being.

Males usually don't get "hormonal/aggressive" like the females, but they can get protective of their mate during nesting/baby time. Overall, males tend to be more mellow.

[expressmailtome]

Males are much less aggressive. I bred lovebirds for years and have also had them as pets. Even the male breeders were pretty calm unless they had eggs (usually). As a pet the female should calm down. Just try to bear with her! I hope that this helps.

Matt