Matured lovebird with different behaviors

[HermanNg]

Hi, my lovebird is currently about 1 year old and is pretty much maturing. She is acting differently than before, she used to fly to my shoulder and anywhere in the house when the cage door opensbut now she seems to guard and area on the cage floor and rather stay there than come out to play. She also has a crazy appetite for water and as a result, makes a lot of watery poop. Just yesterday, I might have outraged her and she bit me the hardest I have ever felt. Her tummy area and well, (anus? Please tell me how to name that part ) have enlarged and stays up late even when I leave her in pitch black darkness as usual, since the day I got her. I am getting increasing worried and hope this isn't serious and she wouldn't need to visit the doctor. Thanks

 

[HermanNg]

She has a swollen lower body part and really looks like she has eggs. What do I do when she's gonna lay the eggs?

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

bump

 

[JLcribber]

Egg laying is a perfectly natural biological function. If the bird is on a good diet and fit she should not have any problems laying them.

If/when she has an egg just let her have it to sit on and let her complete the cycle. You should invest in a few fake eggs to replace the real ones in case she breaks it.

 

[Ankou]

It sounds like she's hormonal and getting ready to lay eggs. One year is around when Lovebird reach sexual maturity.

The staying around her cage area is likely her guarding her nest and she will probably be pretty territorial over her space right now (and perhaps the rest of her life) now that she's feeling her instincts to protect.
If it's eggs, she will likely lay one egg every other day until she has 4-6. Did she build a nest in her cage out of anything? Unless she breaks an egg, just leave them all in there until she's clearly abandoned the clutch. She may ignore the first couple before incubating anything.
I really like fake eggs because they can't be broken; when she would lay Peanut was the worlds worst mother and always broke all of her eggs trying to play with them like she does a ball.

Once hormones have passed she should be more like normal and hopefully more willing to explore and spend time with you again.

I have no idea about the water thing though, I hope it's nothing but normal hormones (everything else sounds right to me for it just being hormones except for that. I don't reme,ber Peanut ever drinking more.)

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Lovebird hens often have a big personality change when they become sexually mature. They start guarding their cage or the spot they pick as a nest (is there are dark area near where she is guarding?). She may try and crawl into a dark area to lay her egg. She will also start getting short tempered and bite more readily and harder. I teach all my lovebirds to step up on a hand held perch so I can transfer them into their cage without getting bit when they are being tempermental. A really angry lovie hen will not hesitate to bloody a finger or hand if she is pushed past her temper. Once she is done with her eggs and breeding, she will come back and spend time with you. Right now, she is just involved in being a hen.

 

[JLcribber]

I have no idea about the water thing though, I hope it's nothing but normal hormones (everything else sounds right to me for it just being hormones except for that. I don't reme,ber Peanut ever drinking more.)

It takes a lot of water to build an egg. More water intake is actually a healthy sign for most hens.

 

[HermanNg]

So far, she has only laid one egg and cracked it immediately the next day .
She seems to be back to normal now. I'm just not sure what to do if she lays more eggs. I only keep one bird so I don't have a nesting box for her, only a box for sleeping in. She laid her egg in a corner of the cage floor, just under her feeder.

 

[Monica]

A nesting box and a box to sleep in can be the same thing.... a nice, cozy dark place that could make an ideal place to nest. Anything a lovebird can hide in (including coconut toys and happy huts) can be taken as a nest! If the spot under her food dish is kind of dark and cozy, that could be close enough to a nest for her as she needs!

 

[Ankou]

Yep, you may have to remove the box. It's still a nest, unfortunately, and may be encouraging her.
Peanut didn't get anything like a hut in her cage from ages 1-10 because she would get nesty.

Even without a nest box in her cage she would lay belly flat on the grate of her cage, stick her feet through to grab the paper, pull it all up, and build a nest in the corner whenever she was feeling the urge. This only stopped when I moved her into the A&E flight cage and she couldn't reach the paper any more.
Every night I would take her where she couldn't watch and remove it or eggs would be coming shortly.

If she's back to normal again you could try leaving it but it's generally recommended not to give lovebird hens a nest space. I'm sure there are individual birds that do fine but you get to be the judge of that. They are extremely nesty birds who can be determined to breed.


(And I never thought about that with the water! Makes sense, and Peanut may have done it too but I never noticed. She's a lifelong 'soup' maker who was worse when young, so her dish was often an unmitigated disaster once I got home. If she had drank out of there before ruining it and using her bottle instead it would have been hard to tell.)

 

[HermanNg]

But she hasn't chose the sleeping box as a nest yet as she laid her first egg in a corner of the ground. Shes also trained to use the hamster water bottle so her water stays clean . recently she has also been drinking A LOT of water. I think she may be laying another egg so I shall keep the nesting box for a while until I'm sure there's no more eggs.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I have a little different outlook about allowing my birds to "do what comes naturally". I encourage them to court, mate, lay eggs and brood them so they live as close to their wild instincts as I can allow them. Many owners discourage egg laying because hens can get eggbound and die. In my opinion, this is useless; a hen exists to lay eggs: that is her reason for living. Yes, I did have a hen die of egg binding, and it hurt a lot when she died. However, if a hen is healthy and has no congenital defects in her reproductive organs, she should have no problems laying her eggs. Greatest risk of egg binding is a virgin hen; you can't know if they have a blockage or a mistake in their reproductive organs until they lay that first egg...

I give my birds breeding boxes, I encourage them to pair off, to mate and to lay and brood their eggs. I have happy birds, in my opinion. I would leave let he sleep hut and continue to let her lay her eggs on the bottom of the cage.

 

[HermanNg]

I only own 1 lovebird as I wouldn't have enough time to invest in more lovebirds as I am still a student . My lovebird laid her egg with no problem at all. I went to check on her at night just after dinner and immediately saw the tiny egg in the corner. I was surprised as she was not any different, still that active bird as before. She looks like she has another egg coming through though.

 

[JLcribber]

I have a little different outlook about allowing my birds to "do what comes naturally". I encourage them to court, mate, lay eggs and brood them so they live as close to their wild instincts as I can allow them. Many owners discourage egg laying because hens can get eggbound and die. In my opinion, this is useless; a hen exists to lay eggs: that is her reason for living. Yes, I did have a hen die of egg binding, and it hurt a lot when she died. However, if a hen is healthy and has no congenital defects in her reproductive organs, she should have no problems laying her eggs. Greatest risk of egg binding is a virgin hen; you can't know if they have a blockage or a mistake in their reproductive organs until they lay that first egg...

I give my birds breeding boxes, I encourage them to pair off, to mate and to lay and brood their eggs. I have happy birds, in my opinion. I would leave let he sleep hut and continue to let her lay her eggs on the bottom of the cage.

I do the same thing. Keep them healthy and fit.

 

[Lady Jane]

I totally agree with you Lois. Let the birds go through the nesting and lay eggs. Why fight nature? Please get yourself the dummy eggs even if you have one bird. That way your bird can sit on it without any complications. http://theeggshop.com/