breeding love birds

Question
Hi, i recently bought 2 lovebirds, male and female, only because i was told that lovebirds should be kept in pairs and the last 2 that were available were male and female,  i've only had them for 2 weeks and at first they loved to be handled, now the male has become very aggressive with me, he doesn't want to be handled and won't make the female come close to my hand, he will bite her feet!  my question is, will he be tame again once they breed?  or will he stay this way!  he just changed over night from a loving bird to a nasty bird!  thank you!  Josie

Answer
Hi, Josie.  Thanks for posting your questions!

You shouldn't have believed the person who told you  lovebirds should be kept in pairs!  It's just not true!  The best pet bird is a single bird in the home.  This is because birds prefer other birds to humans.

Do you have a nesting box set up for this pair?  In my experiences with lovebirds, when they get ready to mate/breed/lay eggs, etc., the pair turns very aggressive (especially the female) toward any person or other bird that comes close to their territory.  Once any babies are out of the nest and cage, provided you catch the female before she lays another clutch of eggs and you remove the nesting box, they should go back to their normal selves.  As long as the nesting box is up, they will be little devils!  Mother Nature made them this way in order to protect their nest and potential babies.

I had a female attack me from across the room one time when trying to feed a pair of lovebirds who were sitting on eggs!  I left the cage door open to refill the pellet scoop, she flew across the room, landed on me, and started biting the crap out of me!

Come back with any questions.

Chrys