Hormonal female B&G

[SherLar]

So Koko 29 yo, that was supposed to be a male, shocked us by laying an egg a couple of weeks ago.

So as a refresher, our main floor is dark and quiet by 730 pm, no meat proteins, no petting except a few scratches on top the head, no nesting materials etc.

She is still masturbating a couple of times a day, and I have heard that many of you have experienced this with your own birds.

So knowing that these sex hormones are hard on the bird, and there can be a positive feedback loop, causing the gonads to be larger and inflamed, should I try to interrupt her when she attempts to masturbate? She does not fly, never learned how. My hose is not conducive to her learning and I am not a teacher. I have tried getting her away from her cage and playground and onto doing new things as a distraction. What else can I do for her? Or should I be looking to have the vet intervene with hormone inj?

Sherri

 

[melissasparrots]

I usually just let the bird be a bird. I don't encourage sexual behavior in pets, but I don't try to stop it either. I'd make sure she has plenty of toys, teach her some new tricks. If she's harness trained, taking her out for a walk might be a good change of pace depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the midwest and currently surrounded by snow, that would obviously be a no go. Or if you have a backyard aviary and nice weather, putting her outside for a few hours and bring her in at night will give her more to think about. I would try to avoid letting her get too nesty about finding dark places to play in and defend.
My hyacinth puts her tail up and gives me a come hither look at least daily. Many times her response to me trying to put her down is to tighten her grip on my shirt and raise her tail. If i take her out for snuggles, she sometimes climbs to my shoulder and tries to mate with my ear. I put a gentle stop to that behavior due to the yuck factor. But, I don't consider it a problem. I usually only consider it a problem if they stay stuck in extreme hormonal behavior year round. For females, that would include compulsive egg laying. Thankfully, none of my current females due that.

 

[JLcribber]

So knowing that these sex hormones are hard on the bird, and there can be a positive feedback loop, causing the gonads to be larger and inflamed, should I try to interrupt her when she attempts to masturbate?

Hormones are a biological function that run on a cycle. Once started they can't be just turned off. They must be able to run their course and dissipate naturally.

The cycle can last anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks. It can be artificially prolonged with improper handling but you're not doing that.

Masturbation is a release. The alternative is stress and frustration.

 

[SherLar]

Thank you both so much for your supportive input.

So after her laying that first egg, she flat our refused any food or water and stopped defecating. we took the egg away. She quickly started snapping out of it and was returning to her wonderful self. However, last week she laid a second egg (2 weeks after the first.) The good thing is that she will still take a break twice a day to eat, drink, and defecate. As long as she is doing that, she gets to set on her egg until she figures out it will not hatch and hopefully, like you say, it will run it's course.

There are so many different articles out there that provide conflicting information, especially with regard to hormones. To let her masturbate vs to try and stop all hormonal behaviors. I do agree that nature is nature and to let it be most of the time. So thank you both. I am new at this, I read and ask so many questions. I second guess what I read and myself.

Her previous owner is so shocked that Koko is a female and has become so interactive here, with people and independently coming off her cage to roam the house and invite herself to do try new things. She now will bathe and enjoys it. So I am proud of her for doing all of that. So I will wait, patiently, for my girl to finish her cycle and return to the wonderful creature she is.

I wonder, her being 29 yrs old, if this is the first time she has been healthy enough, both physically and emotionally, to have the freedom and ability to go through a hormonal phase. Like so many birds out there, she had what appears, to have had some good, bad, and questionable things in her past.

You both have taken the weight of the world off my shoulders. Thank you so much.

sherri

 

[JLcribber]

I wonder, her being 29 yrs old, if this is the first time she has been healthy enough, both physically and emotionally, to have the freedom and ability to go through a hormonal phase. Like so many birds out there, she had what appears, to have had some good, bad, and questionable things in her past.

That is exactly the kind of thing that happens. New life. New environment. Great food. New blood (you guys). Brings many things to life. You're feeding her spirit and doing great.

Here is some good insightful reading.

Hormonal Behavior in Pet Birds - Introduction — For The Birds DVM — Avian Vet

 

[SherLar]

John,

Thank you for the wonderful article! These are the articles I prefer to read and search out over the new age "bird whisperers". I used to be able to locate and whip through science and research articles, but in the last two yrs, my very full and diverse live and mind, abruptly ended, and a slow and simple life occurred, with a brain that slowed as well. And sometimes that is just how life goes. Now it takes me longer to read and to communicate. So reaching out to people and asking for help, is new for me. And I am grateful that others are willing to help teach me and provide me with tools to help me learn.

The good news, my slower brain and body has probably helped the birds that we have adopted, that came out of unfortunate settings. My inability to react fast to a biting bird, has taught the goffin that biting gets no immediate rise out of me, or even threatening to bite. Over the months that we have had him, he has become much better behaved (less flying at me and others to attack, less screaming.) The B&G you have already read about. It is not that my husband and I are so brilliant in bird care, but I think our being a bit naive, don't work outside the home, constantly reading and reaching out, and not overreacting to the birds or disciplining them, has allowed them to come into their own happier beings on their own terms.

Being at our age, 50 yrs old, we will most likely have to rehome these wonderful birds at some time in their lives, and it is our duty to help them become the most well rounded and socialized creatures we can, for their future. They are not just ours.

sherri

 

[JLcribber]

Being at our age, 50 yrs old, we will most likely have to rehome these wonderful birds at some time in their lives, and it is our duty to help them become the most well rounded and socialized creatures we can, for their future. They are not just ours.

There's a lot of us in the same boat.

This isn't facebook. This is a community of bird people. We like that.

 

[melissasparrots]

There are so many different articles out there that provide conflicting information, especially with regard to hormones. To let her masturbate vs to try and stop all hormonal behaviors. I do agree that nature is nature and to let it be most of the time. So thank you both. I am new at this, I read and ask so many questions. I second guess what I read and myself.
sherri

Many times birds that were kept on substandard diets will go to a new home and suddenly become very hormonal when given a decent diet. I've had it happen to birds I've adopted a couple of times. Regarding the masturbating bird. Its less a matter of letting her or not letting her and more a matter of providing an enriched life so she has more to think about than sex. Some people that have very hormonal females find it best to just embrace it for a few months, give the bird a nest box, let her lay and incubate the eggs and let her get it out of her system during the normal breeding season. Then remove the box and eggs and hopefully she will return to a normal life. For my birds, I ignore it when they masturbate, but if I start seeing a lot of it, I might mix up their life more so they have things to think about. Rearrange the cage furnishings. Continuous stream of new toys. Spending significant time on a gym that is in a different room than the cage. Walks in a harness, time outside, short car rides through the drive through etc. So they don't get stuck in a sex rut basically.

 

[SherLar]

So after koko sat on her egg for 2 1/2 weeks, she left it and I was so excited, for a day. She then went back to looking for a nest and destroying all beautiful things. So off for a car ride, which I don't think she appreciated so much. I have been taking her to different rooms in the house and then yesterday I took her to sit on the stoop with me, and I don't think her being outside was ever encouraged, so she is running back and forth across my shoulders, bouncing up and down, working so hard to let me know we really need to go back indoors, and I am working so hard trying to distract her. Well, she figured out if she planted a giant poop on my lap, I will indeed go back inside!

She does not want these new things, she wants to nest. So we are attempting to clicker train her. So we got the 1st step done. Then having her step-up and off with the clicker and treat. And as usual, she learns much faster than I do. So she overrode me and threw her treat on the ground and went after the clicker in my hand. I am not sure whether she was wanting to click it herself or destroy it!

Clicker training, or actually any training, is hard right now because she no longer really likes food during this hormone phase and trying to find a reward is hard. But as all of you that are helping us, remind us that this shall pass too. We just need to keep breathing and do as little damage as possible (training of the wrong things).

I had a child once. My memory must be blurred because that seemed easier!

I apologize for any redundancy, as Larry with his goffin's, and I with my B&G, we are both writing in different spot for different problems, or maybe it is all the same problem, our learning curve, or more of a cliff in this situation! I believe ignorance was bliss when we adopted these parrots. We had read. We didn't read enough. Had we, we would probably would not have adopted. We thought we were doing something good. And actually, we are. I need to remind myself that each morning when I realize I have to get out from under the bed and face our birds.

Breathing. Still breathing..
Sherri

PS. We actually enjoy having them and spend a lot of time laughing, but there are moments of course, when we ask, chicken or turkey gravy with your parrot?

 

[JLcribber]

From the good, bad and ugly about large cockatoos.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly about Large Cockatoos | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Something that a new parrot owner (or even owners of smaller birds) has no idea about is the "depth" of the commitment and dedication it takes to look after a cockatoo (or Macaw or Amazon). This can't be explained or learned from a book. Those that have been there know what I'm talking about. It "is" truly a life altering decision no different than getting married or having a child except "You" are the one that is going to be doing all the learning and more importantly "adapting" yourself and your home to accommodate them. In a nutshell you basically have to revolve your life around their needs......... for the rest of your life. Not a decision to take lightly "especially" if you are a young person. This is an unbreakable lifetime contract with no outs.

 

[SherLar]

Yes, we have been through many pages. Thank you. And some rescues have pointed out that some of their worst biters are 2s. Just shows the complexity of it all. And maybe they are the worst biters for different reasons, could be that they were some of the easiest to breed and easiest to misunderstand. We are actually very lucky. We have not seen the severity of bites that we have seen on here, nor the level of hormone or abuse. Though our furniture may argue that point!

sherri