Bonded pair suddenly fighting, please help!
Hiya!
I’m sorry for the long post, but I am looking for some advice/ insight into this situation. My partner (They/Them) has two conures, Bird and Rat. They have had Bird for 4 years and he is a Pineapple conure. He is very very cute and cheeky, looooves people and is always down for a good cuddle.
Rat is a Green Cheeked conure and my partner has had him for 2 years. He comes from a bad situation in which he wasn’t interacted with and locked in a cage the whole time.
We are pretty sure they are both male and in love with each other. They cuddle and preen frequently and Bird helps rat be more comfortable.
They are both free flying and have constant access to food and fresh water and enjoy lots of interaction with us and my partner’s flatmate.
Ever since my partner has had Rat, they have been working on building trust with him and have been making really great, steady progress. Recently he has been getting more confident in touching us and has been sitting on my partner’s shoulder with Bird.
A few days ago Bird and Rat suddenly started fighting with each other and their behaviour since then has been completely different than before. They will still cuddle (very intensely as well now) but then they will suddenly start fighting with each other, pulling out feathers, etc.
It is molting season right now so we think it might be a hormonal issue. My partner has separated them into different rooms now and only allows them to see each other once a day. Sadly one will attack the other when they do see each other and when they hear each other in different rooms, they will scream (especially Rat).
We wanted to see if anyone has dealt with a similar situation or if anyone knows any advice on how to deal with this. It is really sad to have to separate them when they were so in love just a week ago.