Territory Issue - Can Anything Be Done?

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jenica1026
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:06 am

Territory Issue - Can Anything Be Done?

Post by jenica1026 »

Hi all,

I tried doing a search on "territory" and didn't see this issue but that does not mean it has not been talked about before so please someone point me to previous messages (if there are any).

Okay with that said, I have just learned something new about our boys today. I thought we had an alpha bird and now I realize we have an imaginary line running diagonally in our livingroom. Shine has one wall with it's adjacent wall and Rise has the other connecting corner wall plus it's adjacent wall.

I found this out today as I decided that I would like one area to clean up instead of three. We have playstands on their cage, playstands on a bookcase and playstands on top of an empty cage with is on top of the parrotlets cage. I hope that makes sense and if not here's a video where I am showing you all the homemade toys I make for them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXZiBo_ ... litPN3juJA that shows their setup previously. Every night I took down 6 playstands, cleaned off their plexiglasses and covered their cage up (after feeding and watering them). So I got the idea why not have one area for playstands and just have plexiglass on each cage top making it easier on me each night.

So today I put the parrotlets' cage where the IRN's cage use to be and the empty cage on the bottom where the parrotlets' cage used to be and the IRN cage on the top where the empty cage used to be. I did this so that Shine is the weaker of the two IRNs in fly abilities could just get out of his cage and climb to cage top and then hop over the playstands.

Well, of course, the birds were uneasy at first with all the changes. But then once out of their cages, Shine flew over and sat on the plexiglass on top of the now parrotlets' cage (where his cage was). Rise started to play on the playstands. Each time Shine would fly over to the playstands or their cage, Rise would run at him and force him to fly off. Shine even tried multiple times to fly over and sit on the floor stand lamp (we have a towel on the top to keep them from the light bulb which could not let the birds get hurt by it) and Rise flew him off of that and they even have had some mid-flight fights.

I really don't want our boys upset with each other - the funny part is that they can sit 6 inches away from each other when sitting on the parrotlets' cage top and have been doing that for about 30 minutes but let Shine flight over to Rise's territory and it's game on for Rise.

I have Rise closed in his cage for the last 30 minutes or so just so Shine could get to the other cage for food and water and he has been playing on the playstands. I could see Rise is very unhappy with Shine playing on his playstands and playing with his toys.

Has anyone see this and is there a possibility that territories can be changed? Thanks for your help, Jan
ringneck
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Re: Territory Issue - Can Anything Be Done?

Post by ringneck »

First of all, let me tell you I love your bird room and all the toys you made for them. I love that you're very creative.

Anyway, let's get to the problem you're facing. Territorial behavior is quite common in all birds. In fact, it's natural for all parrots to showcase this behavior. How I effectively dealt with it was through positive reinforcement. When I would train my birds to do tricks, I would always keep the birds together. It has worked wonders and really helps to get the birds used to each others personalities.

Anikin and Archimedes are quite content together. They both can spend hours together without fighting. They have even been housed together during my traveling endeavors and there is no fighting. Devri and Archimedes on the other hand need constant supervision. My female Ringneck (Devri) is quite dominant and loves to push Archimedes around. So I have to always monitor all interaction between the two and I NEVER leave the two alone. :mrgreen:

That being said, I suggest you start a positive reinforcement program right away to help ease the tension between the birds. Over time, the birds will cohabitate together. Luckily for you, while watching your videos I saw that you had two males. This is even better as when Ringnecks are not breeding the males usually hang out together while the females are more solitude.

I know every birds personality is different; however, I think this is a fairly easy situation that you can work through. Currently, I'm trying to get two female Indian Ringnecks to live side-by-side--or at least tolerate each other. I am gradually introducing the two females together so i'm working on this too.

Anyway, I hope this help! :wink:

Best Wishes,

IMRAN-C
jenica1026
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:06 am

Re: Territory Issue - Can Anything Be Done?

Post by jenica1026 »

Hi IMRAN-C,

Thank you for your reply. I know I have caused this (or it is very coincidently). You can see from the video that they did play most of the time just fine - usually one on one cage top and the other on the other cage top.

Rise is now not letting Shine sit on the parrotlets' cage top (by the way, they don't seem to mind him on their cage) so now it's as though the whole livingroom is Rise's. I am hoping things settle back down in a day or two but just in case what type of positive reinforcement are you using. I have seen several out there.

The boys are siblings and been housed together all their life. That is one reason the previous owner was willing to let us have them as he knew we wanted two so they would be company for each other (just my opinion, I think one bird is lonely - but I may be changing my mind seeing them act towards each other now - lol!). They are over 2 years old (last June) so many there are hormonal things that happening as well.

Last night I put Rise in one cage and Shine in the other and they seemed to like it so here I was trying to make things easier cleaning wise on myself and now I have one more cage to clean plus the cage top of the parrotlets which was an area I was trying to keep clean by doing this - oh, well.

I can always go back to the way it was - or can I - will they be better if I do? Well, I think I will give a day or two like it is and try what you suggest as it would be fun to have them learn some tricks - they do like to play with me - what positive reinforcement training do you suggest - thanks, Jan

PS Your birds are beautiful - I wanted ask how you take Devri outside and not have her fly away? I would be an emotional wreck if I took Rise and/or Shine as I know they would fly away.
jenica1026
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:06 am

Re: Territory Issue - Can Anything Be Done?

Post by jenica1026 »

Hi all,

Today has been a pretty good day with Rise and Shine. We had someone come visit and maybe they were just on their good behavior. There was some of Rise bluffing Shine off of playstands and thankful Shine flying to other playstands and not just cowering down and sitting over on the parrotlets' cage. In fact, Shine was able to play some today and I hope they are past this junk and will be brothers again. Well, it is time to feed them and put them to bed so ... Jan
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