Hello there!
I'm a newbie here, looking for some help.
I have a pair of ringneck doves that I bought 2 years ago. They are my very first pet birds. I got them together from the pet store and, as far as I know, they've always been together. The female didn't seem very interested in the male at first but eventually she bounded with him and now lay eggs regulary. I always replace them with fake ones as I don't want baby birds. They have a relatively large cage (biggest I could find). The male has always been more shy with humans and a bit agressive but nothing really worrying. Until now.
For the past 2 weeks, they've been fighting almost constantly: pecking and flapping their wings at each other. I'm worried for the female, who is much smaller and fragile-looking. He also show signs of agressivity and jalousy toward me whenever I try to pet the female, move her, etc... And he don't take care of the "eggs" like he used to, leaving all the work to the female. I don't know what's wrong with him. The female has always been a sweetheart but now she's turning into a nervous wreck.
Any idea why he suddenly became so aggressive? Could it be that they never get baby birds out of the fake eggs? Should I separate them? I have another cage, a bit smaller. I tried this once for similar (but much more moderate) reasons and the male stopped eating the first few days. He was calling his mate constantly but the female stayed quiet and enjoyed the peace. It took her almost a week before she even replied to his calls. :-\
She don't like him that much but I'm worried about the male. He's a bully but he's still my bird.
(Sorry for my bad English. I'm a native French-speaker)
EDIT: I forgot to mention that those past 2 weeks Rosalie (the female) has been sitting on her fake eggs. I know this can influence their behavior but it never been this extreme before. With them it's always either complete adoration or full hatred.
