Should I give up?

[Mydoona]

my two lovies Keiko and Mardi are frustrating.
Mardi is in nesting mode and is building a nest in the nesting box on the side of the cage.
Keiko on the other hand is humping his happy hut and toys.
When I take them out he gets VERY angry and squarks repeatly and flaps his wings and throws a tantrum and then takes it out on Mardi (trying to bite her).Thankfully I have two cages side by side so if he gets too wild mardi just goes to the other cage.
Should I just give up and not bother to mate them? Keiko doesn't seem interested at all in Mardi.

[Chickobee]

How old are these two birds?
Is the male older than the female?
Are they peachfaced, or another lovebird species?
Are they your only birds?
How long have they been together?

Did they show signs of being a mated pair before you added the nestbox--like preening each other, perching together, allo-feeding?

Sometimes two birds just don't like each other.

I have one pair like that. When I first put them together about six months ago they were inseparable. Now that the hen is old enough to breed they don't like each other and perch separately. I hung a nestbox on their cage over a month ago and there is no evidence that they've been in it.

In their situation I think the male has decided he prefers a hen who is bonded to another male. He tries to go to their cage whenever he is out to play.

If you only have two lovebirds you should have a better chance of this working out if you give it more time because they won't have any other options. I would also remove the happy hut and the humpy toys.

Sometimes lovebird social dynamics can be quite frustrating.

[Mydoona]

Keiko is 4 and Mardi is 3
They cuddle together and hang out togther, preen each other and he 'feeds' her (well they look like they are kissing rather than feeding) but that's about it.Keiko sleeps in his happy hut in one cage and mardi in the other cage on a swing (I have two flight cages joined together).
They are the only birds I have, and they are peachface lovebirds.

[linda040899]

Honestly, if it ain't broke, I wouldn't fix it. They may just be interested in being pals, which is OK, too. I've had pairs like this and they are content to just be friends and not go to the breeding level. :)

[LauraO]

I tend to caution people against mating their birds if at all possible. It can be a stressful and expensive situation with a ton of risks, and frankly it's getting extremely difficult to find good long term homes for any pets especially birds.

I also agree with Linda that if pals is all they want to be then pals they should be allowed to be. Lovies, and all birds, are like humans. They have different personalities, interests, and relationships. I try and honor what relationships my birdies develop themselves. They always seem so much happier that way.

:)

[linda040899]

I've got to agree with Laura regarding breeding. I'm a breeder and 99% of my breeders are on rest because of the current economic situation. A lot of pets are losing their homes because owners' situations are changing and I'm not adding more birds to an already bad problem.

[bookworm0550]

it's ok if they dont want to mate. besides, you never know. they may start to like one another more as time goes on, but i think for now if they are just buddies, that's fine.