I have a pair of lovebirds, male and female. They are not breeding but the male is feeding the female. The problem is…the male would feed the female( which apparently is some mating thing). But instead of them mating, the male will go to rub his butt(mating) on a toy in the cage. I am really concerned. Is this normal behavior?
Hi Tenny,
Yes, this either means the birds are not old enough to be breeding yet, or they are not bonded as a pair. If you want them to breed, and they are at least 2 years old, then remove the toy so he can focus on the female. If he continues to mate with objects instead of her, then the pair has not formed a mate bond. She may not be receptive or they just aren’t compatible as a breeding pair. If you don’t care about breeding them, just leave things as they are. If they are less than 2, you might want to separate them until they are older. You don’t want her trying to lay eggs if she is too young, and he could get aggressive with her if he decides he wants to mate and she doesn’t.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
