Sweet Paris turned ugly

[Kirsty]

Hi there, my peach-faced lovebird; Paris, used to be such a sweet little bird. She loved being cuddled and held but ever since I introduced two Fischers into the cage shes starting biting me every time I try to stroke her or pick her up and when I am holding her she runs away from me or flies back to her cage. The Fishers are such sweet little things and after reading a lot of these letters the peach - faced birds seem to give the most trouble. Is it a common trait? or is Paris just jealous of the others? How do I get the old Paris back? :(

[butterfly1061]

Kirsty,

Do you have all three in the same cage? If so, you need to remove Paris and place her into her own cage. It sounds like the Fischers are paired and Paris is the odd bird out. Sometimes three will work in a cage and sometimes not. In my case, it did NOT. If the pair ever decide to breed (assuming they are m/f) they could very well turn on Paris and it could result in death. Also, you do not want to take a chance on one of the Fischers pairing up with the Peachface. Inter-breeding is not an accetable practice. Throwing 2 new birds into a cage with your first bird may be why you are having behavior problems with Paris.

[Janie]

Like Jackie, it sounded to me like you have three caged together. Nope, won't work and especially after they're more than a couple of months old.

[Venoma]

Also, I would like to know more about Paris, and her age and gender - has she been DNA tested? Part of the change in behaviour you are seeing may be related to her becoming sexually mature (puberty makes parrots act weird too!) though I will third the recommendation of removing her to another cage - when keeping lovebirds, as a rule, there should be either one pair in a cage or 3 or more pairs (need a big cage for this!), to prevent aggression.

[BarbieH]

I agree with the others. I think Paris is trying to let you know that she doesn't feel safe in her cage anymore. Birds have limited ways of driving their point home; biting is a sure sign that something is wrong.

Best wishes,