I am asking for a very specific behavior - I am NOT talking about casual foot regurgitation where a bird may really like their feet and just regurgitate for fun for their feet (weird, but ok. you do you, bird).
Specifically, I am asking for anyone who has dealt with a similar behavior as what my Patagonian Conure, Maze is and has exhibited since I've obtained her.
As a brief background I do think is relevant to this behavior: She was presented to me as a 1.5 - 2 year old bird at the time. I cannot know for sure, the people seemed very unknowledgeable about parrots as a whole and Patagonians in general THOUGH, I do believe I saw in the photos that were posted of her that her eyes appeared to show signs of being a juvenile as her species has darker eyes when fairly young and their eyes get much brighter as they mature. I cannot know for sure as her posted photos were not very clear and possibly were shot in a darker environment.
The husbandry surrounding her appeared poor. Poor food choice (think Walmart bottle of the barrel brand), cage was poor, and toy selection was a dingy old rope that may have been the first and only toy she had ever been given by her previous owners as her cage was empty aside from this sad toy. Additionally to the poor food choice, her weight tells me and vet that she was malnourished due to inadequate feeding both amount being available and the selection of WHAT they were feeding her, of course.
With all of this in mind, I have come to the conclusion that her regurgitation on her feet may be a coping mechanism - a way to re-eat her food due to starving and a way to cope with stress. She will regurgitate and then starts using her foot to shovel the food onto and re-eat it. It's an odd behavior and is exhibited in various situations:
1: When she is idle and there appears to be no trigger. Sometimes even when food is available.
2: When I am training her and asking for a behavior that requires any brain power to figure out.
3: When she is frustrated with in general i.e training session gone on too long, maybe.
4: When I am taking too long to ask for a new behavior when we are training and she wants to keep going.
5: When she has had a favorite treat - Almonds, Peanuts and wants to taste it again... I guess?
Has anyone dealt with this behavior?
At this time, I really want to eliminate it. The only way I have found to stop her during training mishaps is to leave the room... I almost feel like this might stop working soon? She seems less and less upset by me leaving the room. When she does it when she is idle, I try to engage her in another activity - me talking to her, starting a training session, or moving her to another perch.
Specifically, I am asking for anyone who has dealt with a similar behavior as what my Patagonian Conure, Maze is and has exhibited since I've obtained her.
As a brief background I do think is relevant to this behavior: She was presented to me as a 1.5 - 2 year old bird at the time. I cannot know for sure, the people seemed very unknowledgeable about parrots as a whole and Patagonians in general THOUGH, I do believe I saw in the photos that were posted of her that her eyes appeared to show signs of being a juvenile as her species has darker eyes when fairly young and their eyes get much brighter as they mature. I cannot know for sure as her posted photos were not very clear and possibly were shot in a darker environment.
The husbandry surrounding her appeared poor. Poor food choice (think Walmart bottle of the barrel brand), cage was poor, and toy selection was a dingy old rope that may have been the first and only toy she had ever been given by her previous owners as her cage was empty aside from this sad toy. Additionally to the poor food choice, her weight tells me and vet that she was malnourished due to inadequate feeding both amount being available and the selection of WHAT they were feeding her, of course.
With all of this in mind, I have come to the conclusion that her regurgitation on her feet may be a coping mechanism - a way to re-eat her food due to starving and a way to cope with stress. She will regurgitate and then starts using her foot to shovel the food onto and re-eat it. It's an odd behavior and is exhibited in various situations:
1: When she is idle and there appears to be no trigger. Sometimes even when food is available.
2: When I am training her and asking for a behavior that requires any brain power to figure out.
3: When she is frustrated with in general i.e training session gone on too long, maybe.
4: When I am taking too long to ask for a new behavior when we are training and she wants to keep going.
5: When she has had a favorite treat - Almonds, Peanuts and wants to taste it again... I guess?
Has anyone dealt with this behavior?
At this time, I really want to eliminate it. The only way I have found to stop her during training mishaps is to leave the room... I almost feel like this might stop working soon? She seems less and less upset by me leaving the room. When she does it when she is idle, I try to engage her in another activity - me talking to her, starting a training session, or moving her to another perch.
How are the rest of your little ones doing?
