Hormonal behavior again?

[blewin]

So it's been six months, and Buddy seems to be going through another hormonal cycle. He's hiding by the fridge, flock calling and obsessing over Danny, and being generally obnoxious. Is it abnormal for a 'tiel to go through two hormone cycles in 12 months? He went to bed 2 hours early tonight, and I am hoping that if we keep this up, he'll work his way through this more quickly. I'll be buying more chew toys, and rearranging the cage again too.

I just hope he gets out of this one soon...
Wish us luck!

 

[JLcribber]

It's very possible and not uncommon for parrots to have more than one cycle per year in captivity.

 

[Anne & Gang]

absolutely!!!!!

 

[blewin]

Hey all,

This is just a follow-up. Buddy laid an egg tonight, so I guess he is a she. Our vet, who is an avian specialist, said to remove the egg, so we kept it aside to hold onto it. She's tired but doing fine. I guess this will be the rest of our week!

Ben

 

[JLcribber]

I can't believe your "specialist" told you to remove the egg. Taking the egg away gives her high motivation to replace it with another one.

 

[penguin]

If you remove her egg, she will lay AT LEAST one more to replace it, probably on Thursday. Tiels lay anywhere from 1-12 eggs per clutch. Make sure Buddy is eating well, drinking water, and chewing on cuttlebone. If she sits on her eggs, you have to take her out and poop her every few hours. You may want to ask your vet why they recommended taking the egg.

 

[blewin]

Hey all, just wanted to give an update and an explanation. Buddy is eating like a hog, drinking like a fish, and going at her mineral block. In other words, she's doing great. Buddy never sat on the egg, and wasn't interested in it. She didn't lay any more, either. The vet said if that happens, get rid of the egg, and if she lays another and nests, just ride it out until she loses interest. Verified this with the breeder, too. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that she's fine. More than fine, actually, she finally managed to keep a full set of tail feathers for more than a week!

 

[blewin]

Hey all,

I just wanted to post a follow-up. So Buddy laid a second egg, and again ignored it. We picked up a couple of plastic ones, and put the in the bottom of the cage. Apparently, Buddy has no maternal instincts. If she lays another egg, we'll add it to the plastic ones, so she has the "right" number of eggs. Quite frankly, I think she's just doing this to drive us nuts.

That being said, she's eating and drinking healthily still, poops look good, but still a bit watery. She also has absolutely no interest in those eggs. I guess she lives by the philosophy, "if you have a baby, you won't be the baby."
Extra credit if you get the quote!

Ben

 

[Mizzely]

It is normal for them to have zero interest in the eggs until the clutch is complete.

 

[blewin]

Well, we replaced the two eggs that got chucked with plastic ones, and she just laid a third egg. They are on the bottom of her cage, because we do not want her nesting behind the couch. She's started to pay attention to them. She won't sit on them yet, but she started to turn them a little with her beak. HOPEFULLY, she'll be done with egg laying soon.

She's still eating healthily, and is active. Thank god she seems to be a good egg layer.