# Overprotective Behavior



## PumpkinBird2008 (Sep 29, 2019)

For the past week I've had to keep my male budgie, Cloud, covered in his cage for most of the day until I take him out to have some private time with him. Every time I try to let him out with the rest of the flock (everyone else is a male aside from Pumpkin, but she's a female green cheek conure and he isn't interested in her) he gets extremely protective over Gerhana, my young male budgie who is about 4-5 months old.

The only thing I can think of is that Cloud is going through some serious hormonal stage right now but it cannot be tolerated because he goes after my other two budgies in an aggressive manner, so I've been taking steps to get him out of this cycle. Thing is, Cloud has always been the type who is constantly wanting to breed, but I don't know why he would express this overprotective behavior towards Gerhana.

Are there any steps I can take to help this issue? Separating him from the rest of the flock makes him stressed out and it stresses me out because I have no idea how to approach this issue.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Elora,

It sounds as though it would be best for you to move Cloud into a separate room away from the other budgies. Keeping his cage covered during the day isn't fair to him and it would be best if he was in a different room with the cage uncovered.
Play music in both rooms to help minimize any flock calling.

Limit Cloud's daylight hours to no more than 8 hours per day. Give him lots of swings to play on and try to ensure he gets out-of-cage time to burn off his energy.

You may also want to schedule a vet appointment for him to address his continual need to want to mate.*


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## PumpkinBird2008 (Sep 29, 2019)

Thanks a lot for the advice! Unsure if a vet trip can be set up now but I will definitely discuss moving him and his cage to another room with my parents, it would be much more fair to him. For the past couple of nights I let him and Gerhana out together once the rest are inside and they get along then, so maybe I can let Gerhana visit him every now and then since they get along really well, does that sound alright?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Give Cloud a bit of time to adjust to being by himself before you decide if it's a good idea to let Gerhana visit with him occasionally.

The most important thing is for Cloud to be happy and if he adjusts well to being on his own and spending more time with you, then it may be best not to involve Gerhana with him.*


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