[GhostUser]

I felt so bad tonight and was crying over my birds fighting at night. They are out of the cage all day until they go to sleep. I have to put them in there at night because they will not go to sleep and will also fly around the room aimless half asleep and into walls, etc. They are fine flying during the day when awake.

Anyways, they have been fighting over a swing at night. I bought another swing but could not get to the store where I got the first. Neither perches on it much at night. At first they perched on the desired swing together at night but then started pecking at the other when the other would attempt to get on the swing. Tonight they really got into it viciously so I sadly seperated them and put the younger one in the cage I brought him home in.

They seem to adore eachother when out of the cage with just a little harmless pecking. They scared me tonight and I was crying to them about it.

I just wanted to "talk" about this because I am upset over it. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[SilverC]

Well, I've never experienced fighting birds, but I just had a similar situation with my guinea pigs. My piggies get along great when they are outside of the cage, but put them in the same cage and the fur flies.

I think it's a dominance thing. My pigs would fight over their pigloos. We had one for each, but it seemed like they only wanted the one that the other was in. Finally, blood was drawn, so I had to seperate them. They are now living in seperate cages, but still have floor time together.

If the fighting is not too bad, then I would let them fight it out; decide who's dominant and all that. If it's really bad, maybe you should consider putting them in seperate cages. They can still play together during the day.

(((((((HUGS))))))))) to you, Birdlady! Seeing your babies fight is awful, I know! I hope things work out!

 

[luckiecharms]

Well the only thing i can think of is to get two seperate cages each with a swing in it. i hope your birds start getting along with each other better though

 

[LadyFaile]

just take the swing out at bedtime and put it back in the morning. you could also try covering the cage with a towel or blanket to make it darker inside the cage. usually birds will just go to sleep if the cage is covered.

good luck

 

[GhostUser]

Thanks for the replies. Since I posted they have slept together 2 nights without fighting but the other nights were at it. It looks really vicious how they are fighting now. I am afraid of them hurting eachother and drawing blood. Birds don't have a lot of blood and that can be fatal. All other times inside the cage they are fine until it's sleep time.

After I put them in for the night I always cover the cage with a dark cloth and a heavy beach towel. The temperatures vary in here at night so I need to keep the towel on and that makes it dark. They even fight in the dark, yeesh.

A few nights I left the cage open yet covered and Lenny popped out because he did not want to stay in there and fight. He slept on the playpen all night and I was able to cover it warmly because it's on a shelf. 2 nights I put Joey in his little cage. It's the one I brought him home in.

I have thought of taking out the swing and think I will do it tonight. I think I did it once already and it worked. They slept on the perches instead. I had forgot about doing that again. It's a good idea to put it back in during the day. They both love that swing. It's made of a branch and beads that glow in the dark. I've thought of getting an exact on like that, too, to put right next to the other. I don't know it that will work.

I'm considering other things that have been mentioned like getting another larger cage for Joey but not sure I will do it yet. It's quite an expense and I'd like to save that as the last resort. Joey has a little cage and never goes in it himself unless I put him in there.

Last night was bad. After they started fighting Lenny jumped out as I had it open. I told Lenny he could sleep on the playpen or in his cage or in Joey's cage. He was all over but could not make up his mind. He was all wound up and would not go to sleep until the crack of dawn and then finally decided to get in his cage. They were lovey dovey after he went back in. Maybe they were as worn out as I was! lol. They went right to sleep. Yet I stayed up many hours waiting for him to go to sleep but I watched xmas music specials on tv. So, it wasn't that bad.

Tonight I'm going to take out the swing. We'll see what happens next.

 

[LadyFaile]

so how did it go with the swing out?

 

[GhostUser]

I took it out Thursday night and they were crawling around the cage for quite awhile and pecking a bit (not like before though) at eachother. Last night I got another idea. I took the little swing the younger one likes off of the playpen and put it in the big cage and also hand fed the little one some millet (don't know if that helped at all). The younger one got in the cage and crawled into the little higher up swing and went right to sleep. Lenny got onto the swing he loves (I had put it back in) and it took him awhile to get to sleep but he was quiet and did not move. I'll see if it works again tonight. Or I'll have to remove the swing again. Lenny does not like the little swing much...thank God...

 

[Skylark]

Could you put them in different rooms for the night? Completely seperate them?

 

[LadyFaile]

i dunno i don't see it being necessary to seperate them. sounds like having 2 swings will work well

when i had 2 birds in one cage it wasn't an issue cause if i put the swing in they'd panic and fall to the bottom of the cage and just sit there til i took it back out. they hated anything in their cage other than their dishes and treats. go figure.

 

[GhostUser]

It's the 4th night in a row with the 2 swings and now they are not fighting at night and going right to sleep. I'm so proud of them. I appreciate everyone's help and concern. I was a wreck over this for quite awhile. Now they are fine and they are more relaxed, too. In fact they go right up to their swings when they want to go to sleep. Such sweet birds.

 

[LadyFaile]

that's good. i miss having birds, they're sweet

 

[Skylark]

Birdlady,

Now it's a good feeling again to have the SN "Birdlady", right? Sounded like being a bird lady wasn't too much fun for awhile.

 

[GhostUser]

LadyFaile, yes birds are sooooo sweet--fantastic creatures--I think they are angels.

Skylark, I was so frustrated over the situation that I was crying to the birds and trying to figure something out to do. I know they love each other because they are the best of friends during the day. They both seem happier now. The fighting was making all of us nervous.

 

[SilverC]

I'm so glad to hear your birds are not fighting anymore! ((((HUGS)))) to you and them

 

[Skylark]

I'm in a deeply philosphical mood right now, so do any of you see parallels between the birrds fighting and humans in conflict?

 

[GhostUser]

SilverC, thanks! They are so much happier at night now. Sometimes I have to show the little guy his swing and then he heads over to it. They are getting along better now. A bit jealous of my affections towards them but not too jealous about it.

Yes, Skylark,birds have conflicts like humans. They reprimand eachother by squawking at times. Then they clean eachother's crowns and make up for it looking so lovey dovey! Sweet. We all cheer eachother up here, too. Me and the birdies.