Post by blumuffin on Mar 12, 2020 11:08:46 GMT
So as some people know, my two males Muffin & Mango, (both likely aorund the same age,) squabble a lot.
Sometimes people suggest it's just the young budgies using their beak to check each other out. But it's not that.
They both turn 1 year old in (presumably, i din't get the exact month from the breeder) May.
But Mango seems a lot more dominant over Muffin.
Muffin seems very scared of Mango. They hardly ever preen each other - and it always ends with Mango giving out and pecking sharply at Muffin.
But it seems to be getting worse.
They used to share the swing when they go to sleep. But Mango has now taken it over and Muffin sleeps on the long dowel perch
(PS: please don't tell me how crap the cage is in regards to perch setup. I'm trying as much as i can to fix it but it will become clearer as why they only have 1 long dowel perch and 1 ergonomic perch.)
Muffin & Mango sharing the swing (The last time I saw them sharing it was like Nov 2019.)
(Nov 2 2019)
(Sorry for bad quality i had a better photo somewhere but i can't find it.)
They do go up close to each other and beep. Mango seems to regurgitate and feed Muffin, and the other way round, but when Muffin feeds Mango, usually Mango tells him off.
Sometimes they do this:
(today) (they were about 1cm apart and not touching eachother)
Today I saw Mango climbing up the toy on the side of the swing while Muffin was on it - he does this frequently to push Muffin off.
But instead, Muffin seemed to have a surge of bravery to face the scary Mango - and they did something like this. They looked like they actually fought not squabbled. No blood, thank god.
It was like this, except the 'bites' were faster and harsher, with no breaks in between. It lasted for about 5-7 seconds
And Mango makes Muffin jump around a lot, especially to the top-front of the cage.
I'm also a bit concered because when I put fresh broccoli (they don't like the stems so just the "leaves" on top) into their food bowl, Mango is always first to jump on it. I don't know whether Muffin is getting any of the broccoli "leaves."
But I suppose i can fix that by putting more veg in. It's just the action that counts.
Also. They won't come out of the cage because of the door. It slides upwards and won't stay up there unless I tape it, then they get scared of the tape and the chances of them coming out are even slimmer. So the only way I could get them out of the cage is by getting one to step up and then letting it ride my finger out of the door. and I can barely get Muffin to step up anyways! It's going to be at least another two months before he'll let me go near the door with him on my finger.
So they have been in eachtoher's faces for 6 months. I keep telling my parents the cage is too small for two budgies who won't come out no matter how hard I try. But it's the only one that will fit in the only space we have. We're going to move around the whole room and get new furniture so a much bigger, better cage can fit in. But that won't be for a few months yet.
So i'm wondering how to stop them fighting.
Also a little question: Mango needs to be eating millet while Muffin is. If I try to bring him out of the cage door, Mango might jump around and spook Muffin off. How can I train Mango to wait for millet, or is there any way around this?
Thanks
Sometimes people suggest it's just the young budgies using their beak to check each other out. But it's not that.
They both turn 1 year old in (presumably, i din't get the exact month from the breeder) May.
But Mango seems a lot more dominant over Muffin.
Muffin seems very scared of Mango. They hardly ever preen each other - and it always ends with Mango giving out and pecking sharply at Muffin.
But it seems to be getting worse.
They used to share the swing when they go to sleep. But Mango has now taken it over and Muffin sleeps on the long dowel perch
(PS: please don't tell me how crap the cage is in regards to perch setup. I'm trying as much as i can to fix it but it will become clearer as why they only have 1 long dowel perch and 1 ergonomic perch.)
Muffin & Mango sharing the swing (The last time I saw them sharing it was like Nov 2019.)
(Nov 2 2019)
(Sorry for bad quality i had a better photo somewhere but i can't find it.)
They do go up close to each other and beep. Mango seems to regurgitate and feed Muffin, and the other way round, but when Muffin feeds Mango, usually Mango tells him off.
Sometimes they do this:
(today) (they were about 1cm apart and not touching eachother)Today I saw Mango climbing up the toy on the side of the swing while Muffin was on it - he does this frequently to push Muffin off.
But instead, Muffin seemed to have a surge of bravery to face the scary Mango - and they did something like this. They looked like they actually fought not squabbled. No blood, thank god.
It was like this, except the 'bites' were faster and harsher, with no breaks in between. It lasted for about 5-7 seconds
And Mango makes Muffin jump around a lot, especially to the top-front of the cage.
I'm also a bit concered because when I put fresh broccoli (they don't like the stems so just the "leaves" on top) into their food bowl, Mango is always first to jump on it. I don't know whether Muffin is getting any of the broccoli "leaves."
But I suppose i can fix that by putting more veg in. It's just the action that counts.
Also. They won't come out of the cage because of the door. It slides upwards and won't stay up there unless I tape it, then they get scared of the tape and the chances of them coming out are even slimmer. So the only way I could get them out of the cage is by getting one to step up and then letting it ride my finger out of the door. and I can barely get Muffin to step up anyways! It's going to be at least another two months before he'll let me go near the door with him on my finger.
So they have been in eachtoher's faces for 6 months. I keep telling my parents the cage is too small for two budgies who won't come out no matter how hard I try. But it's the only one that will fit in the only space we have. We're going to move around the whole room and get new furniture so a much bigger, better cage can fit in. But that won't be for a few months yet.
So i'm wondering how to stop them fighting.
Also a little question: Mango needs to be eating millet while Muffin is. If I try to bring him out of the cage door, Mango might jump around and spook Muffin off. How can I train Mango to wait for millet, or is there any way around this?
Thanks
