should I be concerned?

[zandische]

Hey guys! I'm having a bit of bird trouble! In November I brought home 2 four month old CAGS who were from the same clutch. They are sweet and gentle and very inquisitive.

 

Now, almost 8 months later, they are becoming a handful. The girl, Seraph, seemed to really like my husband at the breeder, but since she's been home she's been trying to bond to me. I say "bond", but she really only seems interested in getting scratches from me, and I guess I give better scratches than he does I've been trying to limit my interaction with her so he has more of a chance to bond, but she is persistent!

 

The boy, Gryphon, is a very shy and sensitive bird, and he is pretty much attached to me at the wing. He won't let me go anywhere without him. But he is classically reserved and disinterested in snuggling. He just wants to sit on me and watch what everyone is doing. Which is just fine by me!

 

Both birds are interactive with us and like us both, although they both generally seem to prefer me over my husband. Their cages are placed next to each other and their playstand and they spend the majority of their day out of their cages roaming from stand to cage and back again. We always include them in whatever activity we're doing, so they are generally the center of our attention.

 

Both birds like each other and will preen each other often. They fight like brother and sister - he'll take her toy, she'll take his - and sometimes they get annoyed with each other if they're sharing the same space, but they get along pretty well. But yesterday I caught Gryphon being WAY too sweet to his sister. He had the droopy wings, the begging sounds and was trying to regurgitate for her. When she realized what he was doing, she started trying to regurgitate for him.

 

I immediately separated them, but now I'm worried! These guys are only a year old, and I didn't think that sexual behaviors started until at least 2, and usually not until 3 or 4. Is this just a normal baby-sibling behavior, or are these guys potentially developing a mate bond? He has made droopy wings to me before, but never like that. How can I get their bonds back on track with us humans? Should they spend more time apart during the day?

 

One thing I'll note: we recently brought our outdoor cat back inside (been about two weeks now.) She is an old cat who has never been interested in anything that is not a lap, but obviously the birds are wary of her. Gryphon in particular has been a bit peeved with me when I let her on my lap and he's not on me as well. I know this because when he's on me and the cats on me he is relaxed and sweet, but when he sees the cat get on me and he's across the room, he stops whatever he's playing with and watches me like a hawk until I push the cat off my lap. Could his sexual behavior toward his sister be an "acting out" of jealousy issues because of the cat?

[Dave007]

The only thing that's going on is what they were doing when they lived with the breeder. Many birds constantly fight with each other and aren't affectionate. Others will be just the opposite. That kind of behavior will ease up with time when one bites the other because of that action.

"""""sexual behaviors started until at least 2, and usually not until 3 or 4."""""

These aren't sexual behaviors. They're going through the motions of feeding each other just like they did before you purchased them. If they were sexual in nature, nothing can possibly happen. They're still extremely young and there's other surprises in store as they get older.

""""""Could his sexual behavior toward his sister be an "acting out" of jealousy issues because of the cat? """""

Again, this isn't sexual activity and the cat has nothing to do with anything that's going on. If jealousy is in play right now, a bird won't take it's jealousy issues out on another bird. Maybe he'll take it out on you, but not another bird.

[jessdecutie18]

I think Dave summed it up! Sounds like they are being friendly and trying to feed each other, not being sexual.

[zandische]

Thanks for the great feedback, Dave! I guess I'm just over-analyzing things! They do get a long really well, until the little one (who thinks she's the boss) decides to impose her will on her much larger (by 100grams) brother. It's quite comical at times.

 

Thanks for setting my fears aright.

 

 

The only thing that's going on is what they were doing when they lived with the breeder. Many birds constantly fight with each other and aren't affectionate. Others will be just the opposite. That kind of behavior will ease up with time when one bites the other because of that action.

"""""sexual behaviors started until at least 2, and usually not until 3 or 4."""""

These aren't sexual behaviors. They're going through the motions of feeding each other just like they did before you purchased them. If they were sexual in nature, nothing can possibly happen. They're still extremely young and there's other surprises in store as they get older.

""""""Could his sexual behavior toward his sister be an "acting out" of jealousy issues because of the cat? """""

Again, this isn't sexual activity and the cat has nothing to do with anything that's going on. If jealousy is in play right now, a bird won't take it's jealousy issues out on another bird. Maybe he'll take it out on you, but not another bird.