Lovebird love triangle

[hellsbutterfly]

I need help with my one year old sibling fischer's.

I think that they are both male; they tried for a while to court each other and would spend hours dancing and regurgitating for each other. Since neither would let the other mount, it always ended up in fights and now they don't get along so well.

They started fighting over my attention and Kero, the more dominant one, would viciously chase Tiki away from me and would just torture him when they were in their cage, so I had to separate them. Now I've got Kero regurgitating whenever I go near him, and he will chase after me outside his cage and inflict some nasty bites on my shoulder to try to get my attention.

I can't help but be really mad when he bites, so I don't want him on my shoulder anymore. I ignore him and put him back in his cage but he doesn't seem to get the message. Will this behavior pass? Will they ever get along again? How do I discourage Kero from courting me?PLEASE HELP!!

[LovelySydney]

Oh boy! Sounds like Kero is in love with you! As far as discouraging the behavior, Im not the best in that department - I had two lovebirds who were in love with one another, so I didnt have to worry about a triangle!

[Pips mom]

I ignore him and put him back in his cage but he doesn't seem to get the message.

And he won't get the message! I see this behaviour all the time with my lovie and my pionus Ivy. He is totally and hopelessly in love with her and he bugs her constantly! Luckily she is very good with Pip and obviously likes him because she puts up with alot! The thing is, it gets old and she gets tired of him constantly following her and bothering her, so she'll go at him with an open beak and try to scare him away! She would never bite him, but she does make him fall sometimes while doing this so I keep my eye on them and when I hear feet running on the cage, I know that she's had enough! I have to chase him away over to his own cage and play area. He doesn't seem to get the message from Ivy no matter how much she shows him she's had enough! I think when a lovie is in love, not a whole lot will stand in their way, and they are bound and determined to be with their love! It may be an instinctive thing too.....to be with their mate and raise babies. I know Pip is just bound and determined.....no WAY anything I do will change the fact that he wants to be with Ivy, and he won't give up!
As far as if this behaviour will pass or if your two will ever get along again, I really have no advice to offer there because I've never been in that situation. I HAVE seen a lovie in love though! and trust me.....there is NO stopping them! :rolleyes:

[hellsbutterfly]

I don't Kero to see me as a mate, he has his brother Tiki who has always been with him, I don't understand how he suddenly jumped species to decide he would court me!!

And the thing is that neither is getting the social interaction they need right now. I can't leave them together in the same cage because Kero will just torture Tiki whenever i'm in the room. I've moved them around, switched cages and taken them out to 'outings' together and still Kero seems more concerned with me than anything else. Could a break from seeing me possibly get them back together? Is this a seasonal change due to hormones? I need some advice.

[Bubblelady]

I HAVE seen a lovie in love though! and trust me.....there is NO stopping them! :rolleyes:

AMEN to that! I had a similar situation with Bo, my first lovie. I got him as a rehomed 4 year old named Katie. He had been a hand fed baby, raised by his original owner. But after coming to live with me it became immensely clear that Katie was NOT a hen, and that HE was in love with ME! And so it remained, for the rest of his life. I tried interrupting his clicky dance everytime he started it om me. That only made him MAD and MEAN. Tried female hormone shots. That worked--for 3 weeks per shot. Gave up on those after 2 or 3 months. I never thought of a humpy toy, as others here have had success with, but somehow I don't think that would have worked with him. And I didn't try getting him a hen. I just ended up with putting up with the humping and gacking in my ear. He loved me, and that was that! Buddy's compulsive shredding was, I must admit, easier to live with...Good luck!

[CompassionAk]

I've had a couple male birds who have been in love with me and I have to say the hump toys sure help =p I just put the birds on the toy when ever they are acting frisky and eventually they got the message and would go to the toy on their own and leave me alone.I used a fuzzy steiff kitty cat and that worked great =p

[hellsbutterfly]

There are bird hormone shots!? I asked my vet about it when my bird Mansano became a chronic egg layer with aggression issues, and she said there was no such thing! She (I thought he was a he when i got him so i always called him a he) actually died of complications from her egg laying! that makes me kinda sad now. But back to Kero, it is not the constant attention that bothers me, but rather the fact that he has turned on his brother. I don't know if introducing a hump buddy would help

[bookworm0550]

yeah, joey's the one who is super bonded to me and always wants to mate and whatnot. i gave him several humping toys which he uses after he does his matin dances on me. after he's done w/ his toys, he just goes back to his normal self. worth a try

[hellsbutterfly]

Ok, so since I last posted, I have managed to get Tiki and Kero back in the same cage. I started out by putting them together at bed time when they cuddle up in their cozy hut and praising them whenever they groomed each other. Now they're not fighting (as much) and they've been together in their cage for a few days. But every time I let them out Kero instantly goes after me and Tiki goes after the half moon conure I'm taking care of. I hope things keep getting better, thanks to everybody for the advice.

[pent565]

I think its good that you show approval when they are nice to each other, this should send the message that the way to please you and make you love him is through his buddy. If he feels he gets positive attention from his love when he snuggles with the other bird, he should be more likely to do it. That the big issue you were concerned about, correct? Wow, now I'm really glad mine is female.

[Chickobee]

You said you "think they are both males". Are you sure? Are they sex linked color mutations, or did you have them DNA tested?

I had two young lovies who acted as you described and eventually I caged them separately and had them DNA'd. It turned out that they were both hens.

Two same sex lovies can mimic the behavior of a male/female pair, so you can't really tell what you have by behavior alone.