does Marley need a friend?

[spork92]

Hello everyone, I've been in and out on this board for a years, ever since I found Marley the peachface lovebird in my back yard 4 years ago. I don't say much I usually just read, but I feel I need some serious advice. So, I'm going to offically introduce us. As I said before, Marley landed in my backyard in CT in June of 2004. I am a huge animal lover, I like them more than most people, but I had NO experience with birds. We tried to find her owner but to no avail, so I decided to keep the little green bird as she must have come to me for a reason. I had her DNA sexed the first summer and maybe a year or so later she laid her first egg. She is definetly a she. I dont know what her history is but she is not hand tamed, in fact she HATES hands or being touched. She bites to see blood, if she gets a piece of you, she doesnt let go. This behavior has not changed, and I've accepted it, we still get along just fine. She will land on my arm or shoulder and travel around the house with me but thats the extent of our contact. She lives in a huge cage, I think its 18x24x18 or something like that. She will only eat seed, after years of trying everything, she simply will not eat anything else. Except for the occasional bite of a chip or pretzel. I give her nutriberries and avi cakes in the main dish and she gets a tablespoon of her nutriphase seed mixture once a day. She doesn't play with toys much, her favorite thing is her "birdie buddy" which she preens all day. She has a mirror that she likes to sit in front of and lick as well. These are the only two times she is quiet. Oh and when she's madly shredding paper. that is her favorite past time. she was starting to become a chronic egg layer, the last two years she's laid eggs about 4-5 times a year. Marley has had 3 homes with me, first my parents house where I found her and lived there for two years, then to my first place for 2 years and now I just moved into my own house a month ago. I dont think she is affected by the moves, she hasn't changed her behavior....much. Now she used to go through phases it seemed like, most of time she was quiet, sat in her cage doing whatever or following me around. when it came time to lay eggs about 2 weeks before she would get very very loud, like she was calling for a mate. This was fine as I knew it would end after she laid her eggs. Well, the last 4 or 5 months she has been screaming non stop. I know birds are loud and I know everyone's going to tell me thats just what they do, but she was never this incessant before. nothing has changed (except the move but this started before) I dont know what to do. Its so loud my ears are always ringing, I can't wait to leave the house because she just wont ever stop. she only home alone 4 or 5 hours a day, I work second shift and my live in boyfriend comes home around dark. she is allowed out of her cage whenever we are home, shes not trapped. The screaming is starting to take its toll on me. she starts in the morning before I uncover her, she never ever used to make a sound until I uncovered her, those days are over. Its the loudest possible scream repeatedly all day. A lot of her calls can be nice, this one is obnoxious, like she's searching for something constantly. Does anyone have a bird who does this? Do you know what might be causing it and how I can help alleviate it? I don't want to give my bird away because I am attached to her and I know that no one else in the world would ever want or be good to this bird because she really is a terrible pet, but I love her anyway. I just need some relief from the constant screaming. I thought maybe if I got her a friend it would help, but I dont want to make things worse. Has she been alone for too long now? Do you think with her aggressive behavior she will hate a new bird? If I do get one, do I get a male or female? someone please help me!!!! :very_sad:Thanks for reading this novel...I hope the background helped in finding my answers......

-Jen

[linda040899]

Hi Jen,
Living with as many birds as I do, I can tell you that two are no louder than one! :lol I just adopted an Mexican Red Headed Amazon and he screams like that all day long so I know what you are going through. The only difference is that Otis is much louder!

A friend may or may not help. As you have a known female, your choices may be limited to male. While there are females that get along, most lovebird hens do not. If you opted for a female, I would count on having 2 cages. If they were to decide they liked each other, that would be a unexpected plus.

In my own experience, my lovebirds do better in pairs or when I have 2. They are very social and most (not all) need the companionship of another feathered body. I would look around and see what's available.

[lemonypickett]

I had only one lovebird and he was very happy. I do spend about 3-4 hours just playing with him a day though. Your bird does sound a bit lonely though.

I just rescued a bird (which I happened to name Marley ;) ) and they are now going through the introduction phase. They seem to like each other, but I have not yet let them both out at the same time. I hope it works out.

I haven't seen any change in the orginal bird (Eddie) since the new one. He seems just as content to hang out with me. The new bird is not tame, but isn't mean either.

So... to sum things up..... I had a male and therefore may have a better chance at getting along with the new bird, whatever sex the DNA results show next week. I wouldn't feel guilty to keep your bird alone if you spend lots of time with her, but it is nice to have someone else to help get through a bag of food quicker with. ;)

If you have the room/funds for a second bird and second bird cage I would recomend it if you think what she is searching for is a mate. Be prepared if you get a male for all the trials and tribulations that can bring with eggies and babies though.

Sorry I am not much help. Good luck with your decision, I am sure it will be the right one.

[michael]

If I may add. While I too feel lovebirds fair better existing as a pair, I think its still very possible there may be a couple other reasons for her current behavior. One, is that parrots especially may feel a loss of security should they sense any disruption within their environment. This allows for the chance that should anything be displaced before moving, this may very well explain her behavior taking place prior to you and her finally relocating to a new home. Add to this a new cage location, different sounds, new live in boyfriend?, etc, along with perhaps a large amount of hormones, and this could lend good reason for her reacting the way she has been. All this leading up to the question....have you ever tried to decrease her desire to produce eggs? What I'm thinking is that her favorite pastime of paper shredding may not be so good afterall. I also have a feeling 4-5 cluthes a year is a little on the chronic side, but then, i'm not exactly an expert in those matters so maybe its not. Just a thought :confused:

With regards to your question of whether anyone else's bird has done this?......Well... mine has but he's a male, and at the moment I feel its difficult to make a comparison as I attribute his behavior as having been caused from reasons other than Marley's even though both our birds arrive at the same answer. I will add though, that finally (and I mean that literally), after refusing to acknowledge his frequent high level communicative skills, he's learned to live a much quieter lifestyle. This I found was helped by setting up at least some routines, one of which was a very good bath leaving little room for flapping his beak as he's too busy trying to preen and dry off.

So what may cause some birds to scream? Really, the reasons can be many. Some are taught this as a "direct" result of how their owners respond to them as in anytime they make noise should we respond back, it is then reinforced behavior. Other reasons for screaming can be caused "indirectly", such as what might be happening to Marley. This would include any environmental changes even should they appear rather small. As for being alone too long? I'm really not so sure, but think probably most anyones answer would apply.

Hopefully, you will soon manage to find whatever is causing her to be so upset. Poor thing :(..........Wishing you and her the best of luck.