Cj

[CJomarron]

I have a peach-faced female lovebird (she lays 1-2 eggs per month) who I adopted about 4 years ago. I believe she is between 5-6 years old. I do not know her history before she came to live with me. Originally, she was very loving and never used to bite me, but she never allowed anyone else to touch her. I would place her under my clothing while doing house chores and she would hang in there for hours. When I got married my husband continually tried to hold her, but she refused. He is very gentle and talks to her softly and lovingly every day when he gets home. Still, she bites him very hard and draws blood every time he handles her. She now acts aggressively towards me and I am now scared of getting bitten, so I stopped handling her. She loves when my husband comes home and immediately leaves her cage to spend time with us in the bedroom. She especially loves to be close to him, perched on his leg or chest without any fear, but once she sees the "hand" she becomes aggressive, her feathers furl, and she sqeaks and tries to bite us both if we attempt to touch her. I no longer pick her up and my husband, who does, gets bitten often. She basically hangs-out with us and loves to tear the newspaper we give her, plugs the strips in her feathers and flies back and forth to her cage. We build tunnels for her and she gets in and out for hours, but still does not allow us to touch her. She loves to bathe and will always perch on my shoulder or head when I'm working around the house. My husband has extreme patience and is willing to spend as much time as needed. He would love to caress her or at least pet her gently. We do not clip her wings and she is allowed to fly free, but chooses to fly between her cage and wherever we are sitting only. She is excited to see us both each night and looks forward to spending time with us. How can we change her biting habit at this point without using gloves?

[Squawksx3]

Hi CJomarron and welcome :)

I dont have a lovebird or an egg-laying female... yet.... but we've been told when birds come to age to lay eggs they will get aggressive. Im sure every bird is different. Im sorry I cant help you out on this but we do have members with lovebirds that may be able to help on how to help with the biting. I may be on here soon asking the same questions LOL. We have two females.... a B&G macaw and Moluccan Cockatoo.... neither have layed eggs yet. Best of luck to you :) .

[Kaye]

That many eggs per MONTH? Wow. That's crazy. Have you ever thought of getting her checked out, make sure she's getting enough vitamins and what not to be layin that many eggs?

Back on the biting topic. I think what you need to do is start getting her out like usual, but take her into a room that she's not used to, a bathroom or something, where her cage is not in sight. Do not let her nest in your shirt or anything when you do this, she might be making YOU into her new nesting space, and that's why she gets freaked out when your hands come after her when she's on you. It makes sense if you think about it. I can't let my female in my shirt or anything anymore either because she would bite me too. When you get her in the bathroom.. see if her behavior changes. I used to do this thing where I'd take Dominick (my hand-fearing male) into the bathroom and cup him in my hands and hold him to my chest for awhile, but he didn't bite, so I'm not sure if this would work for you. You could try it.. Let me know if she changes at all when she's in the bathroom (it's critical that you don't let her in your shirt when you're in there) and I'll see if I can think of anything that might help.

[krazy4birds]

Makes sense to me Kaye...Hi CJomarron and welcome to Petlovers. Hope Kayes post helps you out there. Nice to have!

[CJomarron]

Thank you for the advice, but my main problem is that my peach-faced female lovebird seems extremely jealous of my boyfriend and has become aggressive towards both of us. If I'm alone with her, she will allow me to caress her, but once he is in sight she becomes very aggresive. He is very upset and would like to be able to play with her without blood and pain involved on is part. Any suggestions?