First hormonal season...heaven help me

[jzarc17]

I have questioned before if my Lovebird, Bug, was hormonal or not. Currently there is no doubt in my mind she is hormonal, it's textbook. Wow! I new this day would come and I was not sure what is was going to be like with her or if it would be obvious lol. It's obvious.

I have a question though, Bug and my GCC, Nico hang out outside of their separate cages and I am not sure if I should not allow them to play together because Nico (7 months old) will feed her and he does this thing where it looks like he's stepping on her back almost like he's trying to climb on her back. I'm taking a guess that this is mating behavior? Also, I am not sure if Nico is doing this because instincts tell him too?? I am thinking he's too young for hormones yet, right? Anyway, I certainly don't think this is helping Bug right now so that's why I am wondering if they should have separate play times. Also, BTW I don't know if Bug is for certain a female but I am going to have her DNA tested soon.

Some of Bug's behaviors lately include:
She made a nest out of a toy and when I tried to touch it she flew at my hand and bit me twice fairly hard. She has becoming VERY aggressive very quickly, normally if you keep your hands away from her she is fine so sometimes the family and I will put our noses up to the cage bars because she has always liked to preen the top of our nose but she started to bite and now she lunges at us. If I go to touch anything near her cage she rushes to the area of the cage nearest my hand and opens her beak up and lunges. When she's out of the cage she's better but she does like to find little dark spots to hang out. She will still fly and land on my shoulder but a couple times I thought she was going to preen me but instead she bit my lip hard enough to make me bleed. She has bit other family members enough to draw blood as well. At the moment I am the only one that is not timid to be around her, other members of the family keep their distance and just try to talk nicely to her, she a ferocious little ball of fluff that has zero fear of anyone...I love her!

I feel bad for her, she must be frustrated. I have removed the toy she made a nest out of and replaced it with a toy with a bell on it and she is enjoying beating the crap out it I am putting her to bed earlier and I will re-arrange her cage. I also have new foraging toys that I will give her too. One day at a time. Oh and its funny because lately she has made SO much progress with her hatred of hands, right before she turned into birdzilla she would sometimes perch on my hand or I would feed her from my open hands, basically as long as it was on her terms she would perch on my hand at times.

 

[.........]

I'm not really a bird expert, and don't know crap about GCCs but it sounds like maybe he's just starting to get the hormonal bird 'instincts' and climbs on her back, but then doesn't know what to do. I would say separate them if Bug wasn't getting better but she is so do whatever you feel like.
I think you've done the right thing rearranging the cage and shortening light hours, that's what I've heard to do although I don't have real life experience.

 

[Zara]

I am wondering if they should have separate play times

I would. Trying to step on another birds back is signs of wanting to mate.

I don't know if Bug is for certain a female but I am going to have her DNA tested soon.

I put my money on hen. None of my boys have ever made a nest. They will shred, some are experts at tucking paper into the rump, but the actual nest making is only done by my girls. My boys will cavity seek, and can get ¨agressive¨ charge at you, bite you etc but the actual nest sets them aside. I don´t know if anyone elses boys have made nests, I owuld be very curious to hear!

lately she has made SO much progress with her hatred of hands, right before she turned into birdzilla she would sometimes perch on my hand or I would feed her from my open hands, basically as long as it was on her terms she would perch on my hand at times.

If you want to carry on working with her, do it well away from that cage. She might be ok with you out in the room.

 

[alshgs]

Everyone in my house is hormonal except for the baby green cheek. It's pure chaos right now

 

[jzarc17]

I'm not really a bird expert, and don't know crap about GCCs but it sounds like maybe he's just starting to get the hormonal bird 'instincts' and climbs on her back, but then doesn't know what to do. I would say separate them if Bug wasn't getting better but she is so do whatever you feel like.
I think you've done the right thing rearranging the cage and shortening light hours, that's what I've heard to do although I don't have real life experience.

Everything you said makes sense to me!

 

[jzarc17]

Everyone in my house is hormonal except for the baby green cheek. It's pure chaos right now

Yeah, I bet that's a little crazy! You must feel like your preparing for battle when you interact with the birds! My little love bird, bug, chased my hand with a wide open beak and hackles fully raised when I changed her food and water.

How are your Macaws with regards to hormones?

 

[alshgs]

Yeah, I bet that's a little crazy! You must feel like your preparing for battle when you interact with the birds! My little love bird, bug, chased my hand with a wide open beak and hackles fully raised when I changed her food and water.

How are your Macaws with regards to hormones?

My male isn't showing any hormonal issues
My female regurgitates at everything. I can barely handle her right now because even one finger gets her going

 

[jzarc17]

I would. Trying to step on another birds back is signs of wanting to mate.
Thats really good to know, I've been suspecting that.

I put my money on hen. None of my boys have ever made a nest. They will shred, some are experts at tucking paper into the rump, but the actual nest making is only done by my girls. My boys will cavity seek, and can get ¨agressive¨ charge at you, bite you etc but the actual nest sets them aside. I don´t know if anyone elses boys have made nests, I would be very curious to hear!
I really do think bug is a girl but I would like to know for sure. I have a grooming appointment for her in July and I'm going to have the test then. Hopefully the results come back quickly. This is a picture of the nest she made. It was a toy I made with a sea grass mat that I folded in half and stuffed with crinkle paper then sort of sewed all the edges shut then attached toys to the outside of it. She opened it up and made this. I must say she was adorable sitting in her little nest.

If you want to carry on working with her, do it well away from that cage. She might be ok with you out in the room.

I will certainly carry on and I agree, away from the cage is for the best she is very territorial of it, she was even more territorial today than yesterday.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I agree that Bug seems like a girl! Minimizing anything that triggers further hormonal madness is good. The girls have a ferocity that I have never experienced with male lovebirds. You have to wonder if the Jurassic Park velociraptors were based on them!

 

[jzarc17]

My male isn't showing any hormonal issues
My female regurgitates at everything. I can barely handle her right now because even one finger gets her going

Yep, my GCC will regurgitate. He did it once then shook his head and there was vomit on me and all over the place

 

[jzarc17]

I agree that Bug seems like a girl! Minimizing anything that triggers further hormonal madness is good. The girls have a ferocity that I have never experienced with male lovebirds. You have to wonder if the Jurassic Park velociraptors were based on them!

You are not kidding! This little bird will tell anyone off and she does NOT back down. She is tiny, cute as can be and mighty! I just love her spirit Just a ferocious ball of fluff, I wish so bad I could cuddle her..it kills me! I know if I tried she would make me pay in blood

I will absolute minimize the triggers, I'm sure I will miss some, I have a lot of learning yet top do!

 

[jzarc17]

I wrote a reply to this already but for some reason it's not showing up!! Ughh.

I would. Trying to step on another birds back is signs of wanting to mate.
This is good to know, I had been suspecting he was doing something like that. He's been doing this for quite some time and he's 7 months old now...instincts I guess. Since this post I am doing separate play times.

I put my money on hen. None of my boys have ever made a nest. They will shred, some are experts at tucking paper into the rump, but the actual nest making is only done by my girls. My boys will cavity seek, and can get ¨agressive¨ charge at you, bite you etc but the actual nest sets them aside. I don´t know if anyone elses boys have made nests, I owuld be very curious to hear!
I really do think Bug is a girl as well. I will try to attach a picture of the nest. She made it out of a toy I made for her that was a sea grass mat folded and sewn in half, stuffed with crinkle paper and then more toys attached to the front of it and it also had millet hidden in it as well. She tor it open and made the nest. She was so cute when she would sit in it! It was hard for me to take it ways


If you want to carry on working with her, do it well away from that cage. She might be ok with you out in the room.

I am going to keep trying this with her and I agree, away from the cage is MUCH better! Thank you, Zara!

 

[TheBirds]

This is my first hormonal season too (two boys, though). One rubs himself all over this fluffy pillow we have on the couch and makes a funny clicking noise, the other mates and regurgitates for a toy a good 50% of the day. If the boys are this intense, hormonal females must be absolutely terrifying

 

[jzarc17]

This is my first hormonal season too (two boys, though). One rubs himself all over this fluffy pillow we have on the couch and makes a funny clicking noise, the other mates and regurgitates for a toy a good 50% of the day. If the boys are this intense, hormonal females must be absolutely terrifying

Oh my lord, I would not say you have it easy by any stretch! I wonder it birds are like humans where as teenagers, humans hormones are raging but in general when we get older we mellow out a bit LOL

 

[jzarc17]

Update, my little girl's hormones are raging. When she has out of cage time all she cages about is finding dark places to make a nest, its hard to distract her...really hard. She has also become very territorial about certain places outside of the cage. I have been attacked a few time while she was out of the cage as well. I have also been attacked a hand full of times when I tried to tried to change the water and food while she was in the cage. I quickly learned to do the house keeping while she is out of the cage. In general when she attacks she fly's at me, bites down and holds on. Today I had to pry her beak open to get my finger out and she definitely drew blood. My biggest concern right now is how to get her mind off of nest making while she is out of the cage. If I see her trying to hang out in a dark spot it so hard to remove her without being attacked.

I feel like since her hormones have got bad she does not like me very much at all. I'm not upset with her at all, I feel bad for her and I just want to make sure she is still enjoying her life. I have more toys for her and my other bird than I would like to admit, I try hard to keep her mentally stimulated and change the toys often. I'm just so sad to not see her flying all around the room like she was, she seemed so happy. I can not even get close enough to give her a treat. It's hard because I don't know what motivates her outside of mating and nest making right now.

Sorry, I know everyone has heard this story a million times.

 

[Kassiani]

I'm sorry about your girl! Puberty hits hard sometimes.

I don't own a lovebird, and...I have only males. For my Opie, I had to increase his dark time at night to 14 hours for several weeks. He still gets frisky sometimes, but it has settled down quite a bit. I also started weighing out his food to make sure I was giving him just enough but no 'abundance' that could trigger hormones. He rarely gets sunflower seeds any more due to the high fat content.

From what I've read here, some members go to extraordinary lengths to block any and all possible nesting sites and dark corners. Putting cardboard over the front of bookcases, making sure to close kitchen cabinets, stuffing blankets and pillows underneath sofas and chairs. Hopefully, @Zara will chime in again at some point. I think she has had to turn furniture around so that no openings were available? I may be remembering incorrectly.

I'm sorry she's so distressed and hope that it passes soon!

 

[jzarc17]

Yes, puberty hit very hard LOL I had a feeling she might be a handful.

I am going to also start to increase the dark hours, and its really funny you mentioned how you are watching Opie's food. I am watching a Barbara Heidenreich webinar about hormones and she did mention that which I don't recall reading about before. It makes sense though, all the fats and abundance are ideal for getting ready to breed. It's so hard though because Bug is just barely starting to show interest in eating pellets, she still eats a LOT of seed and I am not sure how to measure out just 1 days worth of food. I'm always so scared that I'm going to cause her to go hungry so I end up putting a lot of seed in her bowl.

How where you able to measure how much Opieis eating, by weight maybe?

Yes, since having my feathery companions I have become very creative in altering the environment around the birds and I'm sure I will need to do that I lot more! Bug is currently obsessed with a book shelf, if I touch the book shelf while she is in it, I had better run because she is going to come flying out of it, right at me.

 

[Kassiani]

How where you able to measure how much Opieis eating, by weight maybe?

Exactly. By weight. I read here (@Mizzely and/or @Ripshod) that birds eat about 10% to 20% of their body weight each day. So, I'm feeding Opie closer to 10% of his weight right now.

 

[jzarc17]

Exactly. By weight. I read here (@Mizzely and/or @Ripshod) that birds eat about 10% to 20% of their body weight each day. So, I'm feeding Opie closer to 10% of his weight right now.

I might be over analyzing this but, hypothetical speaking, if I where to measure out 10% of her body weight in seed, what I'm stuck on is that she does not eat all the seeds in the mix so I'm not sure that the entire 10% that I select would be what she is willing to eat if that makes sense. Again, I'm famous for over thinking...

 

[Kassiani]

I might be over analyzing this but, hypothetical speaking, if I where to measure out 10% of her body weight in seed, what I'm stuck on is that she does not eat all the seeds in the mix so I'm not sure that the entire 10% that I select would be what she is willing to eat if that makes sense. Again, I'm famous for over thinking...

I don't believe you need to get that far into the weeds thinking about it, lol! Yes, birds have high metabolism, but they don't spend all of their days eating in the wild. If your sweet girl runs out of her favorites before her next meal, I imagine she's not going to starve to death. But do keep an eye on her weight if you reduce her food. And if you can keep trying with the veggies and pellets, that will help. I've read some threads here on AA where members feed almost exclusively veggies during high hormone season. I'm also reducing Opie's seed because of the fat content overall--not just because reducing the fat helps reduce the hormone triggers. Opie will eventually eat the pellets once he has eaten all the seed mixed in with the pellets.