One Lovebird overfeeding another!

Question
QUESTION: One yellow 2 year old I assumed is a male. One green that I got @ 9 weeks old. Splayed legs, can't fly. Bless her heart, but gets all around just fine. Lots of exerise.The yellow guy is feeding her to death!! She's looking like a little quail!!!What can I do besides separate them! They live in separate cages bit spend most of each day out, since the birds have their own Sunroom. They CANNOT wait to get together each morning, and the assumed female is in attack mode (previously very loving) Help?! Thank you so much!
ANSWER: Hello, Thank you for your questions but you've got me a little confused....is she now mean to you or the male lovebird?...lots of details are important when emailing...I do not mind reading a long email lol. At nine weeks she is probaly begging for food from the male and he is acctaully feeding her which I see as odd because I started with a peachfaced normal wild colored handfed lovebird weho turned out to be a male he is now just over a year old...I have just reciently bought 5 other handfed baby lovebirds some still requiring daily feedings of formula(I am an experiacened handfeeder so the breeder's felt safe selling me unweaned babies) My male would go over and see them they would beg and he would beak wreasle them for a second and get mad nip them and walk away...maybe you have a hen?!? or a very good potencal father bird. Are you sure the new baby is a she? to me the pelvic bone space of males and females feels the same the only reason I know my oldest bird is a male is because he mates with his toys and my hair...he Has been banned from my head lol. I too have Two splayed legged babies the first others I got...I was looking for a lutino after falling in love with one in a petstore that was very freidnly but sold when I went back to buy so this lady had two lutinos for free they were 9 weeks old splayed legged ones worse then the other I went to see them and said right there I'll take the two lutinos...even thou she had some very beauitful "perfect" babies at the time as well that I could have bought...they get around very well as well....they could fly I assume but there wings are clipped. Letting them interact will likely make themlike each other more then you.....once they bond you will be a nice perch but not a cuddle buddy like before....but this is great if you need birds that arew loving but not very very attached to you. It seems the little girl is getting mean....with you(?)because she is wanting to spend her time only with the male, its very important to handle all yuor birds daily I say all because you may have more later on.... if you leave them and let them out but dont handle them at all they will turn wild and bitey. I'd love to help with any more 'lovie' questions you might have as this is now my speacialty and I'll be editing my profile to state this soon...thou I have had hands on experaicne with budgies/cockatiels/quail/doves/finches  


best of luck with your new babies

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for responding...but, yes, I was not very claer! The Lovebird I got at 9 weeks old is now 9 months old! The other is 1 1/2 years old.The "female", Peaches, ( and i am not sure) was my baby love....but for the last month or so will not let me touch her. She is VERY bonded with Little Bird, and he has been feeding her SOOO much. I am concerned that she is so fat. I mean really.She does not fly, but gets all over the room all day so she is active. Little bird still wants to be with me some. They have separate cages at night but spend all day together. My dilema is" Do I let them live together now?" I do not have them to breed. But would they be happier? I also have a 12 year old Cockatiel, and a 1 1/2 year old Cockatiel who practially live on my shoulders! And a 6 year old Nanday Conure who resides in another room. All are spoiled and spent time with daily. The lovebirds are baffeling me. I want them to be happy. Should i be concerned about him overfeeding her? Should I let them live together? and should i provide a nest so Peaches will be happy? Thank you very much!   Heidy

Answer
Hello, thanks for the infomration. Sounds like you do ahve a male and a female and she is able to breed now which is why shes turned nasty she has beocme sexualy mature and wants to nest and Now! lol but I wouldnt let them mate/nest until she is 11/12 months old for her sake. Now your faced with a delemia house them together they Will breed and she will lay eggs in her food cups/sleeping hut/cage floor and cahnces are very great the eggs will indeed hatch I have heard many stories now about how they woke up to eggs in the bird food dish and sure enough 20 odd days later the chicks started hatching! Provide her with a nest and she will lay infertile eggs wasting her bosy's energy and withering away to nothing for no good reason. Lovebirds are just that lovebirds I have heard so many stories about how the owners never got a nest box how they thought they had two males and found that the lovebirds laid eggs in there sleeping hut or the cage floor and hatched them they seem to be able to find ways to breed no matter what something like rabbits or mice lol. Honestly housing them together will lead to lots of chicks, leaving them seperate will make them frusterated and they may pluck tehre own feathers or inthe cage of the female become very nasty unhandable and lag exess amounts of infertile eggs. My advice is to either A- house them together breed them handfeed the chicks and sell them..allowing them only two lucthes per year then seperating them again, or B- Find the female a new home where she will either be a single pet lovebird or a breeder lovebird. I understand what you mean for instance i lived with my sister a while back I had a parent raised pied female cockatiel i tamed her down nicely and she was friendly with me...my sister has a normal male cockatiel handfed but turned evil because lack of handling....they would call to each other but introduce them to each other out of there cages and her cockaitel would chase and bite mine....so they never cared for each other and only gave contact calls every now and then lovebirds seem to be much much different I now have 6 of them one 1 year and a bit and the others 2-4 months old and how bonded they are to one another is amazing. Best of luckw with whichever route you choose to go on. And also if you do rehome the female I reccomend getting a handfed just weaned DNA sexed male to live with your male so he isnt lonely and two males will stay very tame as long as they are handled alot.