A Randy Sticky!

[Gill]

This morning i didnt get Sticky and Bobble out as i spent a little longer in bed this morning than i should so was running late! Bobble was playing with her cat ball a lot so I kept looking over as I had never seen her do this this before. Then I looked over again and Sticky was trying to get "friendly" with her! :blush: She kept warning him off and beaking at him as she is quite feisty and he did a few clicks (quite quiet) which I thought was cute but he is only about 3 months old! Is this about the right time he gets like this?

I thought it was sweet, Im not looking forward to eggs in the future but I think judging by this mornings antics Bobble is a little harder to Woo than he may have thought so maybe I won't get as many eggs as i thought! :wink:

[michael]

This morning i didnt get Sticky and Bobble out as i spent a little longer in bed this morning than i should so was running late! Bobble was playing with her cat ball a lot so I kept looking over as I had never seen her do this this before. Then I looked over again and Sticky was trying to get "friendly" with her! :blush: She kept warning him off and beaking at him as she is quite feisty and he did a few clicks (quite quiet) which I thought was cute but he is only about 3 months old! Is this about the right time he gets like this?

I thought it was sweet, Im not looking forward to eggs in the future but I think judging by this mornings antics Bobble is a little harder to Woo than he may have thought so maybe I won't get as many eggs as i thought! :wink:

Hi Gill. After reading what you mentioned about "putting up a thread but no answers to what it could be yet" I searched to find your thread that had yet to receive a response. Please forgive :(...Sometimes we lose track of a thread every now and then depending on the volume of posts compared to the number of administrators on board. Best I can do for now is to share my knowledge which is based mostly on the experience of those who breed and/or keep two or more lovebirds.

I read a few of your earlier posts and understand "Sticky" the male is the first of your two wonderful companions. At the time of this post 7/21, if my estimate is correct he would then have been about 8 months old. "Bobble" the female, who arrived a little over a month later, would have been about 3 months old. I think your question may have caused a little confusion as I'm sure your it was meant to read ("she" is only about 3 months old!) instead of "he" is only about 3 months old!....:wink:....I really had to do a double take just to be sure :). Hopefully, I'm correct.

My thoughts on both their behavior would be as follows..... Even though Sticky is still a little ways away from becoming a fully mature lovebird, his natural instincts to proliferate are already in place. Because he simply does not understand Bobble's age difference (or maybe even her gender), his actions would be characteristic of a normal lovebird following his own basic instincts. Bobble, who's 3 months of age could easily bare her more towards the position of being a "dependent", may very well be showing behavior thats not yet relative to her age because she is still not physically mature. In a sense, you could say she's "unpredictable" until which time her hormones decide to influence their relationship. And at this point, I think it would be correct to say there's no way to tell how their relationship will play out. I also don't think this will do much to influence egg production either as females will often lay eggs regardless whether there's a male around or not.

The other thought that enters my mind is the fact that they are both "too young" to breed yet. My understanding in regards to the proper age for breeding is they should be at least a year before this should be allowed to take place, with a safer prefered age of 15 months or more. The importance of their age relative to breeding and behavior is something I feel you should take into consideration for both their health and safety.

[Gill]

Bless you for going out of your way to find my thread! :D Bobble was born in May this year (female) and Sticky was born in April this year (male) so there is less than a month between them in age. I just thought it was weird for him to be doing this at such a young age when i thought this type of behaviour was displayed at 6 months old? I did mean to say "he" as he is only 3 months old, her being a little younger. I am not allowing them to breed nor did i buy them to breed, i wanted two males but unfortunately my breeder kept getting females! I was just wondering if it is normal for a male of 3 months old to be doing this. Thanks a lot for your reply :D