Not getting along anymore ????

[TurquoiseMel]

I was on vacation for 2 and a half weeks and I come home to my birds occasionally trying to kill each other. What the ?????

I've seen both Loqui and Lila start the fight.

Lila gets territorial in her cage and the same behavior she displays towards fingers in the cage she will display towards Loqui sometimes and it starts a fight.

I don't mean a quick arguing/screaming and done. I mean a talons locked, feathers flying, death screech until they fall to the bottom of the cage & they STILL keep at it. Even me screaming won't stop them. I have to hit the cage bars for them to let go of each other. I've got my spray bottle prepared for the next time it happens.

Loqui will start a fight if he's got a toy or treat in his mouth that Lila wants. It seems he purposely will get her to try and take it from and when she does he'll latch on to her and they end up at the bottom of the cage again.

So far they haven't drawn any blood, but with how serious the fights are getting I'm assuming it's only a matter of time.

& like I said I have never before have I seen them doing this. They have always gotten along so well. I'm shocked. And honestly a little sad.

1. They are both a year and 4 months old. In Feb will be their 1yr anniversary as cagemates. I know after a year they get territorial and hormonal. So, is this just a phase?

2. Anyone else have a pair of conures? What's your experience? Do they ever fight like this?

I'm sure I will get suggestions to separate them. I do have an extra cage so that's possible but would a bigger cage help? Maybe they've just had enough of being stuck in the cage together while I was gone. I've been looking into getting a large flight cage for them.

 

[TurquoiseMel]

/: it would be nice to get an answer from somebody before they actually hurt each other please.

 

[friedsoup]

First get them seperated!!!!!! it's early for hormonal change but it could be I had a female senegal who got along with my Male what seemed swimmingly one day I came home and she ran to the cage door and never wanted to be near him again I didn't react fast enough and she blamed me for her situation and wanted nothing to do with me and my sweet little female would beat herself against the cage to get away from me afraid (I'm guessing) I was going to put her back into the cage with Bogart. I sold her to a woman who a year later came back to see us at the pet store and invited me to come see her bird who upon site of me fled screeching. So I say again seperate them now, don't try to negotiate between the two just keep them apart, if in a year or so they seem to have gotten over their snit introduce them to each other durring play time but for now keep them both safe.

 

[DannyA93]

^^^ Agreed.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Wow. These stories are kind of freaky. I'm sure things like this happen all the time, but since Pritti is an only fid, I haven't experienced it. I had multiple finches over 20 years, but they were always good buddies and just ignored the outside world completely. Are there any suspicions about why birds seem to suddenly shun a flockmate like that?

I wish we could just understand what their sweet eyes are telling us. I think most of us become excellent at reading the body language, but there's so much more being said that I would love to know.

 

[Total_Dejavu]

Who really knows what could have happened, but I agree with the others. I would separate them. In time, they may want to be friends again, but for now I'd give them their own space.

 

[lene1949]

/: it would be nice to get an answer from somebody before they actually hurt each other please.

I agree with the others: separate them..

Whatever happened to common sense?

 

[TurquoiseMel]

I find the common sense comment offensive. We're all here to help each other aren't we? So what's the attitude for?

I'm not dumb obviously if I felt it was100% necessary I would separate them especially since I have another cage anyway. What I was asking was would this be best for them given the situation?

I should've mentioned that they get along amazingly when they are not fighting AND (Lila especially ) shows extreme separation anxiety when she's away from Loqui. I cannot keep both cages in my room coz there isn't enough space and when they're away from each other and cannot see each other it turns into a contact calling symphony in here if you know what I mean lol so those of you who so urgently suggested to separate them could you kindly tell me HOW to do so with minimal emotional damage to the birds and to my ears lol

Anyway I was originally looking more to UNDERSTAND the situation and work through it with them instead of just separating them from their mate and the companionship they provide each other that I cannot provide for them.

Also I was wondering if me being away had anything to do with the change. They weren't let out of their cage in two weeks while I was away because they didn't trust the sitter enough to step up for him and if they won't step up he can't get them back into the cage when he needs to and with me being so far away I just didn't wanna take the risk. Again I mostly want to understand what's happening and fix it /: which is why I asked if getting a larger cage may help or not and I only get comments about splitting them up.

Believe me if I see it escalating any more.or happening more frequently I'll separate them and reintro another time but right now it just seems like the easy way out. After all they are animals these things will happen.. we should expect them to happen.

 

[Pedro]

I find the common sense comment offensive. We're all here to help each other aren't we? So what's the attitude for?

I'm not dumb obviously if I felt it was100% necessary I would separate them especially since I have another cage anyway. What I was asking was would this be best for them given the situation?

I should've mentioned that they get along amazingly when they are not fighting AND (Lila especially ) shows extreme separation anxiety when she's away from Loqui. I cannot keep both cages in my room coz there isn't enough space and when they're away from each other and cannot see each other it turns into a contact calling symphony in here if you know what I mean lol so those of you who so urgently suggested to separate them could you kindly tell me HOW to do so with minimal emotional damage to the birds and to my ears lol

Anyway I was originally looking more to UNDERSTAND the situation and work through it with them instead of just separating them from their mate and the companionship they provide each other that I cannot provide for them.

Also I was wondering if me being away had anything to do with the change. They weren't let out of their cage in two weeks while I was away because they didn't trust the sitter enough to step up for him and if they won't step up he can't get them back into the cage when he needs to and with me being so far away I just didn't wanna take the risk. Again I mostly want to understand what's happening and fix it /: which is why I asked if getting a larger cage may help or not and I only get comments about splitting them up.

Believe me if I see it escalating any more.or happening more frequently I'll separate them and reintro another time but right now it just seems like the easy way out. After all they are animals these things will happen.. we should expect them to happen.

IMO you are exercising commonsense TurqioiseMel, You know your birds better than any of us. I breed GCC & let me tell you they are the pitbulls of the bird world. (ment in a nice way) This is normal behavior at this age of maturing. However i am all for letting them sort out their own differences & we should only intervene if things get serious. The spray bottle is a great idea.

 

[TurquoiseMel]

Thank you Pedro
they actually have been behaving a LOT better. Only one or two small fights since I've last posted.
I've also been thinking of purchasing a split double flight cage. It would give them more space and it would also give me the option of splitting the cage in two with a divider in case the fighting gets worse. I didn't even know these things existed before a couple days ago but it seems like the perfect solution in case they keep fighting and if they don't it's still a nice upgrade

 

[friedsoup]

The split flight cage was going to be my suggestion and I too took the common sense jab as unnessary . keep us posted.

 

[sarafigal]

That double cage sounds like a wonderful option if you can afford it. I wish I could afford one for my volatile, delightful, unpredictable birds.

 

[SilverSage]

Any updates? Did you get the big cage and are they besties again?