Agressive Female

[Lro090]

Hi all,

I bought a female irn for my male irn, since it is the breeding season i put them in the same cage together and put a nest box. The male wants to breed but the female attacks him when he gets close. i left them in the same cage for 2 weeks hoping that this will get better but till now nothing has changed. i let them stay in the same cage as she does not chase him, she will show aggression when he tries to get close.

On the 2nd day i got the female irn i fed the male a piece of apple and he took it from my hands, i was surprised when the female came close to me and began to eat from my hands, she also let me touch her. She is now calling me (mating call) when i am close to the cage, and i can see that she wants to breed with me!

I have separated them, leaving the female in the original cage where the nest box is placed, and the male in another cage next to the female.

How can i change the female mentality that only the male irn is available for breeding and not myself?!

I have changed some things which i hope will make it better, such as not touching her, not giving her attention and not feeding her directly from my hands.

Do you have any pointers on what else i can do?

Maybe i can remove the nest box? but then she might go out of the breeding mode and still not be interested in the male irn.

[mikeb]

don't put the female in the breeding cage that will make it her territory & more aggressive when you introduce a male put the male in it instead so it becomes his territory ! remove the nest box give them some time apart when you put them back together don;t put the nest box back up until you see them getting along and sleeping close to one another also spend as little time with the female as possible especially after you put them back together so she will un-bond with you

[Lro090]

well when i bought the female i put it in the cage where the male was in, the only difference is that i had the nest box. will try again without the nest box and see what happens. thanks for the advise