the biggest bird fight ever

[bookworm0550]

so jada does not like the lovies, especially Pan for some odd reason. Pan, who always avoids her, who always never does anything to any of the birds. He never starts a fight, always backs down, and moves over.

yesterday I put the lovebirds away and took Jada out. in the middle of playing w/ her, she flew over to Pan (and this happened super fast), and started fighting w/ him thru his cage. i was panicking. I couldn't find the spray bottle and i was powerless to stop it. she wouldn't back down from attacking him so he got her good. she still has her toes, no bleeding, but she was hurt for sure. she has a cut on her foot cuz he had grabbed it w/ his beak and held on. i got them to stop by putting happy hut between them.

she's fine. she was back to cuddling and playing w/ me right after that, but i was no longer in the mood. i was just worried and scared.

i'm starting to wonder if adopting her was a good idea or not. i just feel like a bad fidma. i don't know if i should put her in my bedroom and keep her there since she hates it when the lovebirds are flying around. i don't know if i should give her back to cindy since we both agreed that if it doesn't work out, cindy will take her back. but i also don't want to give up on her since there is nothing wrong w/ jada. i'm just worried she's gonna get hurt even worse. i mean, they were not even out together and she got hurt. I don't even know why she flew over to him and started attacking him. Pan was just eating his food.

and i feel even worse cuz she has a bruise on her beak and i don't know how she got it. she got it over july 4th weekend and i was barely home that weekend. they didn't even get out of cage time til monday the 6th and that's when i noticed it. i think she must have been flapping around or something in her cage. :(

[linda040899]

First of all, you are NOT a bad fidma! You just aren't used to something as tiny as a parrotlet being as quick and aggressive as Jada is! Some parrotlets are like that. Others are not. My Kiwi (male) is very laid back and Peanut (my late female) was the biggest exception to the parrotlet species on the entire planet!!!

Suggestions for the future. When I know I could have a potential problem, I keep a water bottle always within easy reach. I may not need it at any particular time but it's there......just in case. There's nothing like a stream (NOT mist) of water to restore peace when chaos prevails! Pan would have been the target of the water in this case, as he had Jada by the foot. Granted, she started it but she got herself in a situation where she could have been seriously hurt. She was lucky.

Are Jada's flight feathers clipped? You don't necessarily have to take away her flight ability, just her ability to fly to the lovie cages. In the mind of a parrotlet, their size is bigger than the largest macaw!

Returning her to Cindy is an option but that would have to be your decision alone. I've had to rehome or return a couple of birds that I thought would work out and found out they just did not fit in the flock dynamics.

[LovelySydney]

Bookworm Im so sorry to hear this:very_sad: It seems that Jada is just used to being an only bird, not used to having brothers and a sister to hang out with or fight for attention. I cant believe she charged pan like that - & through the cage?! My goodness!!! :omg: I understand your concerns for the safety of your birds and as Linda said, it would be your decision if you feel you need to re-home her for her safety. I must admit I do struggle thinking what might happen if I bring 2 lovies into my home with Oliver. At the time Oliver is very laid back and timid, but who knows what would happen if I added more birds to the mix; there's always the opportunity for birds not to get along and fighting to break out (as it did in your flock). You are NOT a bad fidma - you adopted this bird into your home out of the goodness of your heart, you did the right thing!! I think that you should try the water bottle idea that Linda suggested and see how it goes - this could make a huge difference in terms of keeping them from fighting. This could all be an adjustment period, too - maybe they just have to all get used to one another. Remember Pan used to be the odd one out at one point??

I wish the very best for you and your flock - please keep us posted! & dont get down on yourself, youre doing the best you can and thats all you can ever do!! :blush: (((hugs)))

[rob]

I thought it was a no no to put parrotlets and lovies together. I might be wrong-- I am still a beginner, but with me a fisher is with a fisher a black masked with a black masked, and not in a community. am I wrong about that? tell me-- I can take it. besides I'll learn something. that's why I ask. thanks new member Rob. I have peach faces, white faced and 1 lutino peach face. I have 6 in all. bye for now I couldn't get into the introduce me part. not to good on the computer anymore. my little lutino is laying on 4 eggs that should be hatching, but aren't it's killing me-- all 4, gone?

[LovelySydney]

She doesn't have the lovebirds and the parrotlet housed together - the parrotlet is in a completely different cage. & you are right, it would be dumb to house birds of separate species together and it is highly recommended that people DONT do that. Her parrotlet just seems to have some aggression issues. & actually I had a hybrid (peach faced x black mask) housed together with a pied creamino and they got along swimingly - I've also seen a parrotlet be best friends with a GCC - so sometimes it does work out:)

[Pips mom]

This must be so hard for you, but PLEASE remember.....this happens to other people too and you are used to your happy flock....all getting along just fine! Some people feel they need that peaceful, co-existing flock and cannot deal well with a problem like what you have. I am probably one of those kind of people. I think if it was me, I would be scared for poor little Pan.....he is such a sweet little guy, and I'd be so afraid of him being hurt. Sometimes you have to put the well being of the birds before your own feelings.....I don't think it's being a bad parront at all. As much as I wouldn't ever give up any of my birds unless I was forced to for some reason, and even then I'd fight to the end to keep them all! Sometimes though when you add a new bird, you have to decide what is really best. Birds are like people....they can't always live together in the same house!
Ok, for instance, when I got my female tiel, I was told she was a male, put her with my male tiel and all was well! They loved each other! a little too much in fact! Once I realized he was a she, about two, or three weeks later, I had the option to return her and get a male....she came from a rescue and they knew of a male I could have.....the thing is.....as scared as I was of egg laying (my sister had a female tiel that died from egg binding) I just looked at these two together and they were SOoo happy! How could I then take them apart? plus I had already started getting attached myself. I sat and cried! but in the long run I knew it would be better for them to stay together and that they would be happy.....I was the one who had to learn to deal with whatever may come up in the future, so I had to learn to get tough and deal for the happiness of these two! So far it's worked out like it was meant to be! No egg laying at all.....she's such a good bird!
Now in a case where a bird could get hurt, I would think alot differently. With this new lovie, if I ended up with a situation like yours, I'd probably want to try to find it a home where it do best and be happiest. If Jada does better as an only bird, maybe that's what Jada should have. Maybe she's not really happy sharing her life with lovies......considering all options as to what's best here for Jada, and your own birds is being a GOOD fidma! not a bad! I'm sure even Cindy would agree.....you are such a great home for this bird, but if it's putting somebirdy in danger and causing unhappiness, then you HAVE to consider that Jada might be better off and happier as an only bird. This coming from someone who knows how it feels to suddenly see your bird with it's toe nail bit off! It's a horrible feeling! and what if it happens when the vet is closed? on a weekend......I personally would do whatever it takes NOT to ever go through another day like that again! Luckily though with Pip, it's a pretty easy fix with a solution.....just keep something over his cage when he's in it and others are out, when I am out of the room.
It's a tough decision, and one you'll have to decide for yourself what's really the best.....we give out advice here, but I've found that the best choice can only be made by the person IN the situation! I don't see things firsthand and maybe this problem can be worked out, or maybe you'd like to give another shot and see if this happens again. Whatever you decide, remember that I just love Ivy's and Pip's previous owners and think the world of them both, and think they are both great bird parronts! even though they felt they had to give up their bird. I understood the circumstances and they had good reasons and I could really feel in my heart that truly wanted the best for these birds......plus I got some great little buddies out of the deal!
So, please don't ever feel like a bad fidma.....we all know you are the best! :)

[Pips mom]

Ohhh.....and welcome to you Rob!

[Enko_chan]

Benny will occasionally attack the lovies, through the cage- I don't let them out together- and I will grab him immediately- they haven't hurt one another yet...

but this DOES happen, it doesn't make you a bad fidma.

Over time, Benny has come to accept the lovebirds' right to be here and he hasn't gone after them in a while. Of late, they have even started to chatter in a good-natured way to one another, and make contact calls. It may take more time with Jada as she was an only bird and Benny isn't- but he is very protective of me and doesn't like anything or anyone that demands my attention. He IS getting better though. He has really started to warm up to Chris and the lovies. I recommend giving it some time, and keeping a squirt bottle on-hand. If possible, play with her in a different room... I try to play with the birds away from each other and away from their cages these days.

[bookworm0550]

thanks guys. i just felt so bad. and of course it happened right before i had to leave for a baby shower too. luckily, she wasn't missing a toe nor was she bleeding. she was hurt though, kept holding her foot to her body. of course i found the spray bottle after they fought. and she was good today about not flying over to them.

she always makes this noise when they are flying around back forth from the curtains to the net to chandalier to my bedroom and back to the living room. i know it bothers her when they are doing that. i personally like it cuz it's good exercise for them, but I can tell it bothers Jada. i think she might find it kinda scary that they are all over the place like a bunch of wild parrots ;) because she's not like that at all.

it is hard cuz i know Jada's more of a one bird home type of bird. she does well w/ me and only me. she's an awesome and sassy girl. but she's fearless and that fearlessness is what got her hurt on sunday. and it just scared me cuz the last thing i need is a bird w/o a toe. i do think that perhaps she needs more time and that's fine, but i also know that if it doesn't work out, I may have to return her. she doesn't have to be friends w/ the lovebirds, but i just don't want her to get hurt.

they honestly do not seek her out, but she definitely likes to snoop on them and they hate that. i really do not know why she always goes after Pan though and I mean ALWAYS. Usually he flies away or hides, but I think he just had enough on Sunday. i have never seen him like that before. it was nuts. joey and evolet were going crazy in their cages too. Evie was super puffed up, lunging into her cage bars to get Jada. *sigh* oh well, it's over now.

[momo]

I had the exact same thing happen with Elmo and Spotty. Spotty was the one that bit Elmo's toe. I began to think the same things that you did. But I found the day after because Elmo has been the aggressive one.. this has toned down ALOT since she got her toe nipped. Not that I wanted for that to be the way that she learnt not to mess with Spotty.

Maybe you are best keeping them in separate rooms? At least this will reduce her sight of Pan. Or when the lovies have their time out put Jada in a sep room and vice versa.

Im not sure how big your cages are or if you have the material. But what I do is.. I cover three sides of Spotty's cage when Elmo is out.. or when she decides to turn her attention towards Spotty. So Elmo can only look at Spotty through the front door. Be mindful.. I have to peg down the blanket because Elmo will go under the blanket..

But you aren't a bad fidmum at all! Kids fight all the time.. most of the time you can catch them but sometimes they are just too quick.

[LauraO]

This is not at all shocking and pretty normal for those of us with multiple birds. The more birds you have, lovie or not, the more chances there are of fights. I would think Jada chases Pan because he is scared and she is dominating him. I sometimes give dominate birds wing clips, but it's tough in this situation cause Pan is smaller and the lovies can really hurt her.

I would continue to give it some time. Giving them separate out of cage time is good. You could continue out of the cage time when highly supervised. The good thing is birds seem to mellow as they get older. So what is true now may not alwasy be.

Good Luck

[Enko_chan]

I thought of some other parallels-

Benny also goes after Odinn and not Freyja- Freyja and Benny are the more aggressive birds. Odinn is frightful and NEVER EVER bites, he hides when another bird comes around usually, but he tries to fight Benny when Benny goes near the cage. I think Laura is right- that Pan is the most submissive and Jada the most dominant. The lovies are mildly interested to completely indifferent toward Benny and never seek him out. They're on me right now and Benny is dinging around his cage making word soup. They don't even give him a second thought.

I think its fairly common for these kinds of dynamics to take place when a new bird is brought into the flock. I am nervous about the end of the quaker's QT... how he will interact.

You've got to do what's best for your flock and for each individual bird... but bear in mind that things may change in time.