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2K views 23 replies 4 participants last post by  ginziputzi 
Hi there. I wish I was welcoming you to the forum in a happier circumstance for you. I am sorry to hear of your struggles with Maya and Blue. Are they caged together? My sense is that Maya is plucking/attacking him at times when you’re not seeing it. It cannot be him (some birds pluck their own feathers) because it is happening to his head and he could not reach it. If I was you, I would separate them immediately and see if the situation resolves. They can be out together but only when supervised. Parrotlets don’t always live well together and there have been stories from forum members on injury and even death inflicted by one Parrotlet on another.

Blue definitely doesn’t look normal from that photo and you should take him to see an avian vet to see if there is something going on. Birds are very good at hiding illness and they are usually very sick by the time they are showing it. Just because he’s eating does not mean he is not sick.

Please keep us posted. You are right to be concerned about this and I am glad you reached out to us.
 
What is Blue’s diet right now? Does he eat a variety of foods including veggies and fruit? Another question - have you ever seen Maya attack him? If they usually sleep together, you can keep their cages close together at night. You just don’t want her accessing him until you are sure she’s not hurting him.
 
Hiii!

Blue is a very picky eater and very skinny only 28 grams. He doesn't like fruits or veggies. I am giving him mix seeds (hemp,sunflower,millets). Sometimes he eats beets and carrot. He is a huge fan of lemon and pomegranate seeds. He eats hard boiled eggs every day. That's all unfortunately. He hates berries and sometimes he just chew and throw apple and quince.

Thankfully, Maya is the right opposite she is 42 grams and doesn't pick any food.

I am 100% sure that Maya attacks him. They had a big fight today. Her feet got bit by Blue. Blue lost some feathers. Also, I saw Maya plugging his feather when she was scratching him in peace. I don't know how to stop her to scratch Blue but I separated their cages. By the way I saw Maya lost some of her head feathers also.

I am just trying to do my best for both.
Hi again. I am very glad to hear you have separated them - it is clearly a dangerous situation. For now, keep them separated unless you are there to make sure you can separate them if ANY aggression starts. I would watch them both to see who usually starts the aggression and what signs you can learn so you can anticipate when they are about to be aggressive with each other. There will likely be some little signs so you know things are about to get aggressive and you can put them back in their own cages before it starts. This may help to break the cycle. Also, remove them both from their cages if you are allowing them to be together. Parrotlets can be very territorial and if Maya has eggs, that could be even worse.

As for Maya’s weight, that is indeed very heavy for a Parrotlet. Very heavy. It may be contributing to her violent behaviour. I assume she is a good eater if she’s that big so you should slowly cut down on high fat foods like seeds and nuts. We didn’t really focus on her diet - can you tell me what she eats? Then we can help you adjust her diet to allow her to lose weight but keep her healthy.

Blue is at the lower end of the weight spectrum but he’s fine for weight. His diet sounds fine - they can be very picky eaters. If you want to try to get him to try different foods, try different ways of offering it - raw or cooked, whole or mashed or chopped into small pieces, in his cage or when he is out with you. Sometimes it is just finding the way he likes to eat it that will encourage him to try. Kiwi, for example, will only eat lettuce if she is sitting on my hand. She will ignore it in her dish and if I give it to her through the bars of her cage, she just throws it to the ground. When she is sitting on my hand, she will eat the whole piece. I honestly have never heard of a bird eating lemon or pomegranate seeds. I did a quick search and it seems they are not toxic, so it was something new for me to learn.

If you are able to find a vet, that would be great for both of them. I can see how hard you are trying to give them a happy, healthy life and they are very lucky to have you. Keep an eye on blue to see if his feathers return to normal over the next little while and make sure you are preventing this aggression between them. It may be that they will always have to live apart and only be allowed supervised visits. It is just the nature of these little guys.

Keep us posted!
 
Hi, again!

Thank you so much for your attention. Maya has exactly the same diet as Blue. They usually get mad at each other for no reason. We always treat them equally. Blue's feather are coming back!!! 💃

By the way there is a big plot twist. Maya laid another egg. It is a very tiny egg so I don't think that it will survive. I don't know how to stop her. Should I remove the nest? She is very young to be a mom, take care of the little one . So any, suggestions?
My best advice to you is to remember they are wild birds and not human. They are not “mad” at each other, they’re probably protecting their territory. Parrotlets are very territorial. They are acting on instinct and not reason, so they will not understand if you are treating them the same way. They are not comparing each other the way humans do. Maya may also be protecting her eggs. They are also probably hormonal if Maya is laying eggs so that can make them more aggressive.

Unless you are planning to breed, which is not a decision to take lightly, you will want to discourage egg laying. She already has eggs so you will need to let her sit on them for a bit to avoid stressing her. Others here will have better advice for you on dealing with unfertilized eggs - it isn’t something I have had to deal with. However, her nest should be removed once you have managed to remove her eggs and she should not have any shredding materials which may encourage her to lay. Females can have serious problems with eggs getting stuck (called egg binding) and you want to avoid this at all costs.

Getting Maya’s weight in check may also help with the hormonal/aggressive behaviour. Other members have suggested that high fat foods (seeds and nuts) can increase hormonal activity so it may be that reducing those foods will calm her. Reduce them gradually, though. She still needs her calories and fat, just less than what she currently has. My bird Kiwi eats a lot of things I eat (that are healthy and safe for birds) including small pieces of baked chicken, baked salmon, pasta, oatmeal and plain popcorn, in addition to fruits and veggies. Try some of these things as you wean her off the fatter seeds.

I am glad to see Blue is looking a little better. Give it some time still, and watch for that aggressive behaviour. You may be able to start understanding the circumstances that cause the aggression in some cases and be able to avoid it starting in the first place.
 
I am so glad to hear Blue is recovering his feathers and colour. We always think of birds (and most animals) as being happier together, but it isn’t always the case. I am glad you have at least figured out the problem and are able to get them into separate living quarters.

Maya is definitely the more troublesome right now. From other posts, I understand that you should get some fake eggs and exchange them when she is not on her nest. Apparently she will get tired of sitting on them and that is the time to remove the nest. Make sure to have a read of the post Ozzie linked above on how to minimize egg laying in the future. Eggs can get stuck sometimes (called egg binding) and you have had enough difficulty with them - you don’t want this too!!

I agree entirely that you can address Maya’s weight after you have gotten them settled into different cages and once you have resolved Maya laying. One thing at a time.

Keep us posted
 
Whaaaaaatt??? One of her eggs actually hatched?? Wow. Congratulations…and yikes! I have never had a newborn so I would have no clue what to do. Do you have anyone you can consult with? Wow! That’s a shocking/exciting/scary development! Did you see it hatch? If one hatched, there may be more.
 
Ooh yes sorry - I did mean we are here to help as well, I just meant did you have anyone with experience near you who could help for things that it is sometimes difficult to do online. I certainly hope you know we are here as well! (I don’t know if it shows but I accidentally deleted this when I meant to edit it…).

While you wait for advice firm form members experienced with newborn babies, have a look through the forum to see if you can find some stuff already posted about it. I will look too to see if I can find anything for you. Is Maya feeding Luca? Gosh, I really know nothing about this.
 
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