Why can't I have peace and harmony?

[Jally]

A slight spin off to my "Overwhelmed" thread, and yes, more whining. Please feel free to skip because I am more or less talking or typing outloud.

I have 2 known girls in my flock of 6 lovebirds (9 counting babies). Oreo has 3 babies in her nest that she is protecting. And I understand that. I also understand that I am Peanut's chosen mate so any offenders will be chased off.

What I don't get is why everyone else has to be so stinkin' nosy to land on Oreo's cage and risk getting bit? I can see why Kiwi does it. He's still very much a juvenile and gets into trouble quite frequently. But why does Peaches constantly go to Oreo's cage? So far she has been bit on each foot and twice on the beak. :very_sad: Some days it is like a race to see who can harm whom first.

Why can't I have all my lovies sitting peacefully on a curtain rod? :confused: Or just being in the same room as each other? :confused:

[linda040899]

I would put a stop to the visiting of Oreo's cage very quickly!! Choices include changing location, putting a barrier around it or just putting something on top of the cage so feet are protected. Actually, bitten toes are the result of whoever being where they don't belong and enough bites might let a lesson sink in. I have 5 larger parrots out of their cages all at the same time and each one has learned where they are welcome, as well as where they are not welcome!

[Jally]

I have moved Oreo and Peaches so many times, they are getting dizzy! But, maybe I should move Oreo to the office. I just have to make sure that all important papers are put away. It would be an incentive to clean the office :whistle: :happy:

But, yes, it really does need to stop because I fear someone getting seriously hurt or worse.

[love4birds]

What about a sheet of plexi or acrylic on top of Oreo's cage? That's what I have on Leyla and Nin's cage to prevent toe biting:) Rigby often tries to bother them when they're napping on their platform perch, I hate to think of the bites that would happen without a barrier!

[personatus]

It does need to stop, I learnt that the hard way many years ago.

The birds, mainly females, kept visiting my one breeding pairs cage, who were raising young at the time. I had a fews bleeding toes, nails and holes in the beak then finally 2 toes bitten off completely. I put a stop to it then.

The other downside is, the pair with the young got stressed - the female was not happy at all and began plucking the young. She had never done it before, and very luckily she has not done it since.

[bird-brain]

The only thing that I have found that really stops a lovebird from getting where he isn't supposed to is a closed door. Cabo considers my Blue Crown Skye as his "true mate". They were besties until we adopted Skye's siblings then Skye wanted to be a conure NOT a lovebird. It was a dangerous situation for Cabo. For a long time they could not be out together and rarely are now and I finally had to move the conure cage to my bedroom (Talk about an alarm clock! :omg: ) because Cabo was obsessed with flying to and landing on the cage. All a wing clip did was make it a little harder for him to get there. The play top on the cage prevented injury from the top but Cabo would climb down and hang on the sides.

You would think the first time he was grabbed and held by his leg would have ended it but he was stupidly persistant. No female lovie that came into the house EVER interested him enough to stop the obsession. I finally just moved the cage and closed the door between them! Finally, when my daughter got her gcc he got over it and became infatuated with THAT conure who thankfully loves him as well.

[Jally]

Thank you for putting some sense into my head. You all are so right, it does need to stop now. I'm considering all your suggestions and let you all know what works. I fear that I will have to separate Oreo and her babies from everyone else and put them into a different room. But, if it is what I have to do, then it is what I have to do. None of us (the bird-injury, the human-vet costs) can afford to keep going the way it is.