Paulie & Obi

[cyn]

Paulie (female) and Obi (male) are in separate cages, next to each other. Whenever I put them together, Paulie will go after Obi and try to bite him, pull his tail, pecks him on his head. Poor Obi just yells and tries to get away from her.

Sometimes, when Obi is with her, but on the other side of the cage, he'll lean forward and flutter his wings a few times. Is this some male lovie mating thing? http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2724478850057479613Oeakiz?vhost=pets
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2694844860057479613tgzFfg?vhost=pets


Tonight, when I was cleaning Paulie's cage, I noticed that she had a thin piece of wood tucked in her rump. She does not have any paper stuff in her cage. What's with this crazy little girl - she hormonal, but will attack Obi.

[Elle]

Paulie (female) and Obi (male) are in separate cages, next to each other. Whenever I put them together, Paulie will go after Obi and try to bite him, pull his tail, pecks him on his head. Poor Obi just yells and tries to get away from her.

Sometimes, when Obi is with her, but on the other side of the cage, he'll lean forward and flutter his wings a few times. Is this some male lovie mating thing? http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2724478850057479613Oeakiz?vhost=pets
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2694844860057479613tgzFfg?vhost=pets


Tonight, when I was cleaning Paulie's cage, I noticed that she had a thin piece of wood tucked in her rump. She does not have any paper stuff in her cage. What's with this crazy little girl - she hormonal, but will attack Obi.


If there is no paper around, Paulie will try to find other material she can use to built a nest. The little piece of wook you found tuckedin her rump is what she thinks is suitable to build a nest.

If Paulie is agressive towards Obie, i would refrain from placing them inside the same cage all together. You have to give Obie a chance to escape if he needs to. You can try to socialise them and introduce them to each other outside the cage in neutral territory. Putting them in the same cage is asking for an injury.

The behavior displayed int he picture is not a mating behavior.

[mjm8321]

Hens are hens and hormones and a domineering personality are the norm. If you are not wanting her to lay eggs, keep her away from anything shreddable. If she was soliciting Obi, you'd know it ;) ; her tailfeathers would be up in the air, wings raised and head down.

[cyn]

This evening, I was checking the pelvis area of Paulie and Obi. They both have the same size gap (the width of the side of my pinky) in the pelvis area. Maybe Obi is a hen. Obi is smaller than Paulie. Paulie will shred paper (or wood) if it's available. Obi has paper in his (or her) cage, but does not shred it. Actually, Obi just started to play with toys this week. I've had Obi since April 21st. Obi was sold as a 3 year old male proven breeder.
:confused:

[Elle]

Pelvic palpation is not a great way to sex a lovebird. The best way is DNA sexing. With a non contaminated sample it is garanteed 99.99% acccurate.
I had males in the past shredding paper. Behavior is not a way to determine the gender of a lovebird either. They can imitate behavior of the opposite sex. For example, I have a hen who will rub herself against everything just the way a male would. She laid eggs so I know she's a female.

[jankins13]

how about the "airplane dance"? I have heard only females do it.

[Elle]

how about the "airplane dance"? I have heard only females do it.

Only garanteed way is DNA or the appearance of an egg. Again, lovebirds will imitate the behaviors of the other gender in some cases.

[cyn]

Yesterday, I ordered up a DNA collection kit for Obi. It'll be here early next week. In about two weeks, we'll know if Obi is a he or a she. I'm still hoping Obi will be a male. Or else I'm stuck with two female lovies - one with raging hormones and the other untamed and timid. Either scenario, I hope Paulie will warm and be friends with Obi.

Tonight, I talked to the lady who sold me Obi. She said he is a male and fathered a couple clutches. He was the only lovebird she had that was a visual normal green. She had purchased him from another breeder who she has used before. She sold him because she wanted some opaline lovies and he was not producing any. She's into the colored lovies not the normal green ones. He's split to lutino and possible opaline. I like that he was a visual green looks like Paulie. Paulie's parents look like her - normal green.

She said that it might take Paulie awhile to warm to him, since she has been a pet for over 2 years. She had a male pet that took 3 years before she got any babies from him. He didn't realize that he was to hump the female not the perch. LOL


Meanwhile, Paulie is shredding wood and trying to build a nest in her cage. I put her in Obi's cage while I was cleaning hers. As always, she was going after Obi and he was running from her.

[Janie]

Cyndi, just my 2 cents but I would not cage them together, even for a few minutes, at this point. I feel sorry for Obi and don't think he should be locked up with another bird who is going to go after him and possibly harm or kill him.