What is this I'm hearing about personality changes? Should I find out the sex?

[DixieKitten]

I wonder if I should find out for any other reason besides curiosity. From what I have been reading it sounds like hens can change personality and get territorial/aggressive. And that made me sad...

The thing is, I have always wanted a bird. I have helped handfeed older babies (conures/caiques), and helped train them when I worked at a pet store. But for some reason I never interacted with lovies, and never realized how much parrot you can get in such a little package.

So I met this one, and s/he is SO sweet and adorable. My friend had it at an exotic animal open house the other day and he would just sit and get petted and step up over and over for the people & kids. And while the conures I was looking at would fly away as soon as my DD (she is 1) would crawl up and point, he just sits there and stares at her. I never let them interact since of course he deserves not to be assaulted...but he is really calm and gentle when she makes funny noises and flails around... she gets soooo excited to see him. her. it...

All right, I know I digressed somewhere. Anyway the real question was, should I find out now if I am going to have potential problems in the future?
Is it just the girl lovies that do the jekyll/hyde thing? Is it just random or pretty likely it will happen? Is there anything I can do proactively to reduce or train against it (i already spend a lot of little 10 minute intervals playing with the birdie)? :confused: I just want my bird to stay cute and sweet and adorable. :(

[linda040899]

Hi Katherine,
Each lovebird is an individual so there is no way to predict personality changes. With hens, hormones kick in and you find yourself with an aggressive, territorial featherbutt that will defend her cage and anything else she considers to be "hers!" You can also have a hen that will not fit into this pattern, although it's the exception rather than the rule. I've had both in my breeding career. You will find that you will get your adorable lovie back once hormones subside. To the best of my knowledge, there's nothing you can do derail this kind of behavior. It's instinct. Remember, birds are simply wild creatures that we have tamed. They are not domesticated like cats or dogs. The best you can do is learn how to deal with the behavior while it's in force. Fingers and other body parts are very prone to attack if allowed to come in contact with a hormonal hen.

Fischer's are eye-ring species and they can sometimes be sexed without DNA sexing, even though I would never guarantee gender based on this method. Take a look at your new lovie's eyes (focus on the eye, not the surrounding eye-ring). Females tend to have almond shaped eyes, while males have round eyes. This is how I differentiate gender in eye-ring species when I'm looking to increase my own breeder stock.

[DixieKitten]

Well, here is a pic of the eye! :D What do you think? And thanks for the information, too!

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/DixieKitten/lbeye.jpg

[linda040899]

The eye looks pretty round to me! My best guess would be male. Good close up photo! :)

~This only works with eye-ring species.~

[DixieKitten]

Thank you! I won't get mad if he does turn out to be a she eventually :wink: But I appreciate the guesstimate. It's better than my previous method of "chirp once if you are a boy, twice if you are a girl". Results were inconclusive.

Now to go think of boy-type names. Hmmmm...

[Janie]

Katherine, your "chirping" method....cracked me up! :lol

Wow, that really is a great "eye" close up and it looks as round as can be, to me! :D

[butterfly1061]

Kathrine,

WOW, he's a gorgeous lovie! I have 2 males and 2 females. My females are going through this homonal period right now and it does test my patience, but I love them just the same. They are sweet babies when I get them out one-on-one, but I try to keep things away, like anything shredable. When you have a female, you just try and keep their mind off being nesty. I know mine will be back to their old selves in a while so in the meantime, I have to adjust and know my babies will be sweet once again. :D

[Angelwing]

Linda is right. Every individual bird is different. You'll just have to wait and see whether your baby is female or not. You can DNA sex if you wish, but if you really think it doesn't matter to you, then wait it out.

I didn't know about sexing the eye-ring species that way. Nice heads up (even if it's not for certain).

And nice eyeshot! He is very beautiful.

[Mummieeva]

Yes, hens can be like little mood swinging demons.lol. I have one proven hen,one I think is a hen,and one I think is male. As soon as I can I am getting my guesses DNA sexed though. For me I want to know so I can try and watch them if they are hens. Then I cna know how many nestboxes I need.


Steph- who is off to look at Bandits eyes..lol.

[n8wb]

Here's a question for everyone. Echo is rather easy going with me, but anyone else that tries to handle her from time to time gets a little ball of attitude. She will try to bite and bite HARD. She (could be a he, has round eyes) is also protective over just one of her toys. If anyone goes near it she comes running with beak open ready to strike. Could this also be hormonal behavior? The reason that I question is that I am the only one she hasn't tried to rip off one of my digits. I was thinking if it were hormones she would be just as nasty with me as anyone else.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

The topic of personality changes reminded me of a sign they have hanging up behind the counter at my local bird store: "THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES ON TEMPERMENT"

It's true! My Milo (DNA'd male) went through a phase, around the time he had his first molt (4 months) where he was just incorrigible. He'd bite me just for the sake of biting. He still has his moments where he'll charge me and bite my face, but for the most part he is sweet as can be. My darling little hen is still a bit on the bitey side but I wouldn't trade her for anything.

[Mummieeva]

Jeff I have a hen who bites everyone. But she bites me and my daughter less then she does others. She chases after everyone else. Your bird probably see you as his/her mate.



Steph

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto only bites people who touch me. If you don't touch me, he'll snuggle you too. :lol