Ohhhh my goodness

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Melody is a raging b**** today. Earlier she was charging Milo. I put her cozy for bedtime; she kicked Milo right out. Now she's on top of the cozy, hunched over like a vulture, with shoulder and neck feathers raised up. Obviously I'm not about to mess with her. I took poor Milo out of there but they're both making pitiful contact calls nonstop. I can't keep them separated but she's just nasty right now.

Any suggestions?

[butterfly1061]

:eek: Oh, my! Miss Melly!! What's gotten into you? :eek:

[bellarains]

Jennifer,

Do you have another cozy for Milo? If so, give him one and place them side by side. This is what works for Bela and Lacey when she gets in a ummmmmmm, Mood?????

Sometimes we all just need our own space :lol

If that doesn't work, try a little millet spray. Nuttin says luvin like sharing a millet spray :D

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Believe it or not, I give them 2 cozies every night. :) Tonight, though, Miss Melly decided that Milo couldn't have EITHER one of them. I separated them for about 10 minutes and then tried to put him back in there. First thing he did was start gacking for her and she let him in the cozy again.

Freaky little birds.

[Paulette]

Sounds like love to me. :wink:

[bellarains]

Yep,

Sucking up works good :rofl:

[Z28Taxman]

Sounds like lovebird PMS! :eek:

[jknezek]

sounds like typical male -- female interaction. sometimes my girlfriend wants the bed, sometimes she wants the couch, sometimes she wants them both and the television as well. sometimes i just go play golf... tell milo he needs an out-of-cage hobby for these moments....

[mjm8321]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh hormones....gotta love 'em! :rofl:

[LauraO]

This whole Melly thing reminds me of Birdyboots and Cuddlybunny, but I'm sure Cuddles is much meaner than Melly :evil: . She is always beating up on Birdyboots and her treatment of him seems to border on birdy abuse :evil: . If I try to move Birdyboots or put Cuddlebunny in her cage, he freaks out and just wants back with her. So it's a no win situation.

[BarbieH]

I'd take out both cozies for now. Melly will nest eventually, but it's that time of year, when a lovebird hen's thoughts turn gently to thoughts of eggs ....

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Take the cozies away even at night? Poor birdies ...

[BarbieH]

Yup, even at night -- not because of Milo, but because of Melly's behavior. Even with the cozies in, even just at night, she has been nasty toward Milo. Weighing all the options, I think it would be less stressful for him to sleep without a cozy than to put up with her henny behavior the rest of the time. After all, when the hormones pass you can start putting the cozies back in again.

[shylevon]

I do know the feeling, with the aviary full of hens that I have.

I will suggest that when she is becoming nasty, that it is she you remove from the cage, not Milo. If you take him out, it reinforces her territoriality, and Milo will need to return to that. If you remove her, she will clue in that she is coming back to 'his' home, and that she had better be on good behavior or she will have to leave again. The aggressor is always the one who should be removed and kept in a bad-birdie cage till the tantrum lapses.

[shylevon]

when a lovebird hen's thoughts turn gently to thoughts of eggs ....

Baaahhhaaaahhhaaaaaaa. GENTLY.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

"I will suggest that when she is becoming nasty, that it is she you remove from the cage, not Milo."

Agreed. But I must admit, the thought of handling Melly when she's in Raging Psycho Hen mode isn't too appealing.

As for keeping the cozies out for a while, well, that's not too appealing either, but if I must, I must. Poor babies. I feel so bad for Milo. I got Melly to keep him company and she's treating him like dirt. :(

[bellarains]

Jennifer,

I know what you mean about taking the cozies away. I have not brought myself to do that. Bela would be fine, but Lacey would be lost without her night-night cozy. Eight O'clock rolls around and she starts calling for it.

I hope Ms. Henny Penny Mellie gets those nasty hormones in check soon :(

[Buy A Paper Doll]

This no-cozy thing is not going so well. I gave them kissies and put them in their cage, covered them up and said night-night. Then the screaming began. Melly started chasing Milo around the cage. I pulled Melly out and put her in the travel cage with a swing, a toy, a snack and a drink. They started up with the pitiful contact calls again. Ugh. So I went to put Melly back in the big cage with Milo and now both birds are out. They keep running out of the cage and back up my arm when I try to put them to bed.

They're presently feeding each other on my shoulder, an hour past bedtime.

ACK!!!!!

[Z28Taxman]

It's all a birdy plot to drive mommy crazy! :rofl:

[Buy A Paper Doll]

"It's all a birdy plot to drive mommy crazy!" Yeah, that's not possible. I'm already there.

After listening to two birds chasing each other around the cage screaming for an hour, I gave up and put the cozies in the cage and covered them up. Within a couple of minutes, you could hear a pin drop in the house.

Bad mommy. Bad, bad, bad mommy.

[butterfly1061]

Do I see a "sucker" sign on your forehead? (Shhh, I got one too.) The day I bought Molly :whistle:

[BarbieH]

I guess without the cozy, it couldn't possibly be bedtime yet. :roll: Well, it was worth a try! More experiments in loviedom.

[mjm8321]

I got Melly to keep him company and she's treating him like dirt.

I've found that males tend to like being "hen pecked". Male lovebirds that is. ;)

[BarbieH]

I've found that males tend to like being "hen pecked". Male lovebirds that is.

That just reminded me of what I used to do for George and Gracie. I put one of them in a separate cage for the morning, or sometimes the afternoon, and put them together later on. I found that Gracie just wanted a little peace (and probably George wanted a little piece ;) ). She also would pester him something fierce, but when she got a little "me time," she appreciated him more later.

:2cents: more for you. You are getting rich off this thread. :lol