Hormonal Biting In Hand-Raised Female

[Albiniragu 0]

All four of my budgies live in the same, large cage (they have plenty of space to get away from each other; it's about a metre tall by approximately I'd say 70cmx70cm), and I recently introduced my youngest two to the cage. Of course, it's spring here and little miss Mini is going through her first hormonal stage and she's driving me mad. She was a real sweetheart until she hit teenager-hood, now she bites at everything. I have to wear a glove to handle her at the moment, when usually she is cuddly and adores me. But the problem is not what she is doing to me - it is what she is doing to the other budgies. My older male, Albey, is not copping it so much; he receives the occassional snap but she's usually quite good together with him as she thinks they're partners, despite the massive age difference. However, the two new babies are being treated horribly by her. My albino, Pingu, ended up bleeding tonight due to a lunge she made at his neck. This was outside of the cage, on mutual ground, so the behaviour is entirely hormonal, not territorial. She throws the other female (Ptera, 10 weeks old) off her perches if she comes anywhere near Mini, and does the same to Pingu. They were introduced to the cage approximately four days ago (after living beside them in the travel cage for around a week), and the aggression she is showing is over the top. I've tried flicking drops of water at her when she gets too serious (this is to save my hand whilst seperating them if they fight; I know it's not the best idea hand-taming wise as it can cause fear, but it's the best option for the heat of the moment situations). I have also tried seperating her into the other cage, but I dislike doing this for long periods of time as this is their travel cage and it's quite cramped, and when she is returned the behaviour begins again. Also, Albey becomes quite distressed being seperated from her, as he is still somewhat uncomfortable with the babies (not anything that results in biting, he just kind of avoids them and mutters at them if they get too close). It's driving me up the wall and I am concerned she might do some real damage soon. Is there anything I can really do to reduce this hormonal attitude? I heard that making their cage-covered time longer works; I cover their cage every night but haven't gotten around to testing the idea of forcing them to sleep for 12-14 hours a night. Have you any more tips or tricks as to how I can save my fingers and my baby budgies' necks, or will I just have to keep seperating them? I recently purchased a new, large cage which is on the way. It is for the conure I will be getting in around two months, but I could use it as a temporary housing facility for her and perhaps Albey if need be).

 

Thanks!

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi Your cage is the wrong shape It should be wider than it is high. Remove the trouble maker before you have a death

on your hands. It wont hurt her if she is close by. Unless it's absolutely black, covering won't make them sleep. You

should start a Taming program asap...B.J.

[Albiniragu 0]

I know that about the cage, now. My father bought it for me about three years back, and I can't afford a third at the moment. Alright, I will remove her tonight. Covering does make them sleep for mine - the only one who doesn't respond to it is Albey. He stays awake when I cover them, but the others fall asleep almost immediately. The cover is a navy blue sheet so it makes it nearly pitch black in the cage. They'll sleep at any time of day with that over them. Also, all four of the birds are tame. Albey and Mini are completely, whilst Ptera and Pingu are in the process (being so young - they weren't hand-raised when I bought them two weeks ago). Mini's just having some issues at the moment, aha.

Thanks!

[robyn 0]

Hi, If you only bought the babies 2 weeks ago they really should still be in quarantine away from your older 2.

Maybe because Mini has another hen in the cage she's afaid of competition for Albey? If she's in breeding condition, whether there is a nest box or not. It could be a type of territorial behaviour. Until the behaviour stops, could you have the babies out on their own and then the older 2 for taming etc, instead of all 4 at once? Covering them during the day would, I think throw out their body clock, so to speak. I'd only cover a sick bird in the daytime.

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi It is always a bad idea to add extra birds into a cage holding a residential female. Hens are very territorial when

it comes to cage space The do not like strangers...You don't say why you need to handle her????.....B.J.

[Albiniragu 0]

Robyn: You're probably right about the quarantine; they were quaranteened for the one week but I probably should have kept them out longer. I considered the thing about her being concerned about the other hen being around the male, I just didn't really think this would kick in with the other hen being so young. You could be right though, but she bites at the male as well which was why it confused me. I like the idea of rotational handling; I currently give them about 20 minutes of individual attention a day and then bringt them all out together, sort of encouraging them to keep the peace because I'm there to break up any arguing that occurs in the hope it will help them settle with each other, but I might have to begin the pair rotations as well.

I haven't been covering during the day; I cover Mini over at about 8pm to ensure that she gets at least a full 12 hour sleep, whilst the others tend to like staying up a little longer. Mini is, I'm guessing, around 12-14 months old (judging by her appearance and behaviour), so she's going through the horrible 'teenage' stage in life, now.

 

Bird Junky; I've added young ones with other females before and never had a problem, so I assumed Mini would be the same. She was actually added to a cage with a relatively aggressive female, but the female never touched her. She just didn't really like people; she was in breeding conditions but never attacked the other birds. I guess it's each to their own, but it was a terrible assumption of mine that it'd be okay to add the others in. I'm assuming you're questioning why I want to handle her? These four are pet birds; I don't own them for showing or breeding. They are all companion parrots and live up to their reputation well. Hence, I wish to keep handling her to ensure that she doesn't go wild whilst she travels through this hormonal stage, because when she settles down I'd have to re-tame her. She was the tamest of my original four (not including the current young ones) and I don't particularly want to lose that. Hence I wish to keep handling her, and I can handle her perfectly fine, she nips a little but nothing painful and I'm just ignoring it so that she sees she will not get a response from biting, as I've seen is recommended on most bird-raising websites. She loves being around people usually and becomes quite jealous if I get the other three out yet don't bring her with them.

 

Just an update; I kept her in the travel cage overnight and until this evening when I returned from my exams. I then put them back together as she was getting severely frustrated about being in the small cage. I kept a close eye on them for around five hours and she didn't bite at either of the little ones; she even sat on the perch with Ptera (the other hen) for around half an hour, only being approximately 10cm apart, without striking out or squawking at all. I handled her and she nipped a little but soon settled and let me pet and hold her. I have seperated them all again for the night, but I think I'll just continue this routine of putting them together whilst I am around to supervise and perhaps Mini will realise that Ptera isn't a threat to Albey over time. Eventually I might be able to trust them together, but I will ensure that this is an absolutely safe decision first.

[robyn 0]

Sounds like a good plan, maybe by putting her in cage on her own she's realised it's better to be with the others. Even if she just tolerates the newbies at this stage. Like little kids aren't they, l.o.l.

[Albiniragu 0]

Sorry I disappeared for a bit, our internet was down for a few weeks and I've been busy with exams, but I'm back now, though it's still pretty full on!

 

Anyway, the birds are back together full time now. After about a week of seperation, Mini quit what she was doing. Every time she snapped I'd lock her in the other cage for a few hours, which was pretty funny, because it made her do all sorts of acrobatics in an attempt to get out, including turning herself entirely inside out. xD The babies have become quite dominating now, and the adults move out of the way for them, which I guess is a good thing. They still have their little squawbles sometimes but it's not really a big deal - it's usually deserving, like if Ptera pushers Albey off a swing or Mini off a food bowl, then she finds herself being chased around the cage. But there's been no more blood drawn or injuries received, so they're going well! Also, I'm back to being able to handle Mini properly - she bites a little but since I've started ignoring it, it's settled down a lot. She just kind of gives up. X)