Aggression

[acornah]

I have a peach-faced lovebird who's about 7 years old now. He was a hand-fed baby, so he was pretty tame to begin with. We know he's male due to some -behavior- he exhibited towards a soft toy which we removed.

In my family, I've had the most interest in this bird, so I handled him the most. Problem, for years now, I'm the only one who can handle him. He bites anyone else who comes near him. Hard. He adores me, I can do anything with him and he even goes as far as to regurgitate for me, but if someone else puts their hand hear him, he'll bite them. And if he can't reach them, he'll bite me.

I don't know what to do to correct this behavior. Everyone but me is afraid to handle him. What can I do?


He's a gorgeous bird, his name's Schatsie but in practice I call him Skweek'in because of the sound of his chirp. Here's my gallery of him in flight: http://acornahstock.deviantart.com/gallery/

[Oscar]

Wow was lovely pictures! I have always tried to get a picture of my Ozzy in Flight but I never can!
I've never really dealt with an aggressive bird, as mine is a sweety!! I'm sure someone else on the board can give you some great information

Suz & Oscar

[Janie]

Maybe your lovie is a little bit too old to change that behavior. My birds are also very partial to me but at least do like my husband. I told my sons that if they did not interact with them daily, the birds would not accept them and that is exactly what has happened. My oldest, Oliver, is around 10 and we adopted him over three years ago. He is still family friendly but the other two, hand fed babies and very tame when we got them, love me and don't much like anyone else. I can't imagine what you could do with a bird who is already seven to change that behavior. If other family members really want to interact, maybe that would help if they do it gradually and with lots of patience.

He is beautiful and looks like my Oliver, a normal peachie. BTW, I would not have taken his soft toy away. That is perfectly normal behavior and something I'd not want to deprive my birds from. My younger two both have their "hump" buddies and that makes them very happy....which makes me happy. :)

[michael]

Wow! really stunning photo's of a beautiful bird. Skweek'in Schatsie is your true mate. Obviously bonded to you because of time well spent. Hope you check back for Idea's that may come posted later on. Some poeple don't get to reply for days sometimes and there's a lot of info to look at in the meantime. My lovie did that at first but I can't really say what led him to like everybody or most poeple now. Did notice that when he was exposed to one person he was very aggressive and when two or more poeple were introduced he "seemed" more accepting. He didn't remain aggressive for very long so I honestly don't know but I'm sure this is a common attribute among lovies....and their owners.........Michael and Goofy love bird


Thanks for showing pics too!
Oh, and you may have taken away his "security blanket"

[Lindades264]

Hi, Welcome. I do not have an answer for you. Your bird may just be for you to enjoy and no one else. I really do not see anything wrong with your birds behavior. The photos are great, your bird is beautiful and healthy looking. My Johnny is a normal peach face also. I have had him for 3 years and he is 4 years old now. He was not hand tame, and I have been working with him for quite some time now. He only trusts me. We recently introduced him to a flock of 3 babies. He enjoys them, but he has bonded to me. Good luck.

[butterfly1061]

Sounds like your lovebird sees YOU as "his" mate - you are his flock. Since this is probably the case, it will take sometime and lots of patience for him to accept the members of your family as his flock. It can work, but you will have to work at it. Try working with each family member & Skweek'in and YOU be the one to hand him to them. They shouldn't reach for him until he's comfortable. If he sees you trust them, it may help for him to accept them. Let each member sit by you or offer him some millet in the palm of their hand. :2cents:

BTW, awesome flight pictures! He is one beautiful lovie :clap:

[Kirby]

Wow... I'd have to say!! AMAZING photos

I was about to question if it is normal to have a Peach faced bird with that dark of a coloring on their face... Then I saw Linda's photo in her avatar and Kirby is the same colour as hers on the left....

[Emery]

Your bird sees you as his mate. And because he has now deemed you his mate, anyone that comes near you is an intruder. It is now his job to defend you and himself and your territory. Even if you are insight, but away from him, he'll see you and drive other family members away - showing YOU that he can "take care" of you and your territory together.

Do not let him reguritate to you. Ignore him when he does this. Any signs of mating or showing off to you needs to be ignored. In other words, you're not interested. :)

[mjm8321]

His behavior is perfectly normal as you are his chosen one. The easiest way to avoid this behavior is to let him interact with the other people in your life, while your not near. After he begins to bond more with them, you can try being in the same space together. They will have to understand that it will take time, patience and yes, a few good bites from your beautiful green lovie, but if they'd like to be able to have a relationship with him, they have to earn his trust and he has to learn that they are not out to steal his "mate". ;)
His flight photos are absolutely stunning. With that said, you might consider clipping a few flights to limit his range so someone else can work with him on gaining trust with them. If he's been flighted for a long time, he might pout a bit, but it honestly can work wonders and the flights will grow back.

[sdgilley]

Hi,
What you describe is how my hen is with me and family, exactly. She won't go to anyone but me, and they'd better not touch her.

Are you the one that cleans your bird's cage and feeds it? If so, maybe someone else in the family can slowly and carefully take over doing some birdie chores. It's just a thought. I've told my kids, if you want Peepo (my hen) to like you then you have to be around doing something more than sticking your finger at her.

My son thinks she's really cute, so I can go and sit near him with Peepo on my shoulder. I'm careful to watch her body language. I don't want her to hop on him and bite. Almost always I can read her body language to prevent her biting someone else. And it gives me a chance to teach my son about her. I will say "see her head & neck?" or something that is tell-tale on her intentions.

Bird, like many animals, usually bond to their caregivers. I know Barbie (a Leader on the board) spent much time with her wild hen - only cleaning the cage and feeding her. It took a good deal of time before Gracie decided to accept Barb. Barb was patient and made the effort in spite of how long it took. Lovebirds are individuals. They do things on their terms more than on ours.

Good luck!

[acornah]

Wow, thanks for all the responses!

Yup, I'm the one who looks after him, so maybe if I have the rest of the family feed him he'll be a little better. I'd be hard pressed to get them to clean his cage for me though, hehe.

Though from the sound of it, my other family members aren't willing to put forth the time and a few bites into earning his trust, so I guess he'll be a one-woman-bird for a while, anyway.

About his soft toy, before I took it out he was doing his thing with it constantly all day long. He was quiet, which was nice, but he rarely left the toy, so I thought it was best to remove it. On top of that he got aggressive and even I couldn't take him out of his cage without getting bitten. He returned to his friendly self when the toy was removed though. I read through a link on this forum that he thought his cage was his nesting site, and woe to any human hand that ventured in there! But he's all better now.

It's actually quite easy to photograph them in flight like that. I had him sitting on my hand, with the window in plain sight. He loves to go on the windowsill, so I know which direction he's going to fly. So I prefocus and shoot when he takes wing.

[sdgilley]

:lol
Though from the sound of it, my other family members aren't willing to put forth the time and a few bites into earning his trust, so I guess he'll be a one-woman-bird for a while, anyway.:)
Same here! Everyone wants to touch the cute birdie, but no one wants to feed & clean! Luckily for me, I didn't expect help.

[michael]

Sounds like a toss up with his toy. Goofy was very protective of his bird buddy and at first wouldn't let anybody near it. Of course it had to come out to be cleaned because it turned into a barf buddy. Eventually he quit feeding it and now sleeps with it instead. He's only 2yrs old in case your wondering. I had to spend time with his bird bud to assure him it wasn't going away. He still chirps up a storm when I clean it but no longer attacks me. Its very cute to see him do this. He's a very caring individual. It is nice when Goofy visits other poeple, its just one more positive way to help keep him occupied. But, its always been on his terms. It worked best when he went to them instead of them to him. Hopefully you can get him to accept one other person without to much fuss so's you can take a break if necessary.....Take care....Goofy and Michael