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Depo Provera

Leih

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My lovebird hen Aoife is about 3 and a half and a single lovebird. At first she'd lay two clutches a year. In the past six months she's layed three, all of three eggs. I just kicked her off her nest last week and she's already doing wings and in nest mode. So I called my vet to ask about Lupron. She called back and suggested that I bring Aoife in for a Depo Provera shot. I've never heard of this being used in birds, I do see it in the literature. I took it back when I was 18 :roflmao: I'd like to hear what you people with experience with this or in medicine think about it and your experiences. (Please, no pseudoscience or anecdotal non evidence.) Also, I'd like to hear if you have used it in male birds who have feather chewing issues.
 
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Hankmacaw

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My female Greenwinged macaw had a Depo Provera implant to stop her from developing eggs. It worked well.
 

Leih

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My female Greenwinged macaw had a Depo Provera implant to stop her from developing eggs. It worked well.
Did she stop the nesty behaviors, too? My lovebird becomes incredibly focused on making a nest. I would like to see her just have fun again. She does play, but all time outside her cage she is hunting for nest materials. I would assume depo stops this too, but just curious your experience.
 

Hankmacaw

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My GW never got nesty in the 21 years I had her. She had serious chronic illnesses and having an egg would have killed her.
 

Macawnutz

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My late vet prescribed the Depo Provera shot to Cha my female hy a few years back. She was in an ugly egg laying circle and was on the floor of the cage for over a month. Enough was enough and I was worried about her health as she was barely eating sitting on the eggs. One shot and she has been done since. :)

I recall him telling me it is not to be used often. If you get one and it doesn't work you don't get another. Like in humans it also depletes calcium so you may want to ask about a supplement after the shot for a while. The only other side effect I recall was weight gain. Which for Cha .... she could use. :laugh:
 

Leih

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My late vet prescribed the Depo Provera shot to Cha my female hy a few years back. She was in an ugly egg laying circle and was on the floor of the cage for over a month. Enough was enough and I was worried about her health as she was barely eating sitting on the eggs. One shot and she has been done since. :)

I recall him telling me it is not to be used often. If you get one and it doesn't work you don't get another. Like in humans it also depletes calcium so you may want to ask about a supplement after the shot for a while. The only other side effect I recall was weight gain. Which for Cha .... she could use. :laugh:
Good to know! I have a calcium supplement that I give her while she's laying because I just can't get her to eat veggies. Aoife isn't as bad as your bird was, but being a lovebird, they have a propensity to chronic lay to begin with.
 

Macawnutz

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Good to know! I have a calcium supplement that I give her while she's laying because I just can't get her to eat veggies. Aoife isn't as bad as your bird was, but being a lovebird, they have a propensity to chronic lay to begin with.
He recommended it much more than lupron. He said the lupron can take several doses to get right. I do recall speaking to him about using it on feather chewers and he circled back to using the lupron for that sort of thing but I don't have that experience. I only know the depo in his opinion was not the best treatment for FDB. Cha chews her feather down and that did not change after the depo.
 

Leih

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He recommended it much more than lupron. He said the lupron can take several doses to get right. I do recall speaking to him about using it on feather chewers and he circled back to using the lupron for that sort of thing but I don't have that experience. I only know the depo in his opinion was not the best treatment for FDB. Cha chews her feather down and that did not change after the depo.
I will likely book an appointment for both my lovebird and my FDB conure at the same time (it's kind of a drive to get there) so I'll definitely ask about the Lupron for FDB and report back what he says. He is always willing to chat :D
 

Coop

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My lovebird hen Aoife is about 3 and a half and a single lovebird. At first she'd lay two clutches a year. In the past six months she's layed three, all of three eggs. I just kicked her off her nest last week and she's already doing wings and in nest mode. So I called my vet to ask about Lupron. She called back and suggested that I bring Aoife in for a Depo Provera shot. I've never heard of this being used in birds, I do see it in the literature. I took it back when I was 18 :roflmao: I'd like to hear what you people with experience with this or in medicine think about it and your experiences. (Please, no pseudoscience or anecdotal non evidence.) Also, I'd like to hear if you have used it in male birds who have feather chewing issues.
I've had many kinds of birds over many decades, including cockatiels, which are close in size to a lovebird. At one point I had a female cockatoo that nearly died from calcium depletion due to continual egglaying in spite of all I could do like changing the light cycle etc. I did finally find an exotic animal vet who gave her a depo provera injection that did work to stop the laying behavior (the word depo means it's in an oil type solution and is long acting so the injection does not have to be given repeatedly). He said he mainly used it in dogs. The side effect was that it did cause substantial weight gain in my cockatiel.
 

Leih

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I've had many kinds of birds over many decades, including cockatiels, which are close in size to a lovebird. At one point I had a female cockatoo that nearly died from calcium depletion due to continual egglaying in spite of all I could do like changing the light cycle etc. I did finally find an exotic animal vet who gave her a depo provera injection that did work to stop the laying behavior (the word depo means it's in an oil type solution and is long acting so the injection does not have to be given repeatedly). He said he mainly used it in dogs. The side effect was that it did cause substantial weight gain in my cockatiel.
Thanks for your insight. I'm hoping to take her this month. I'll definitely ask about weight gain as a side effect.
 
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