Male Budgie Stalking

[suz1]

Hi, We have three budgies, all males. Have had two of them for 5 years (Kiwi and Oreo), and one of them for 2 years (Berry). All are in the same cage. One of our budgies (Oreo) had testicular cancer, diagnosed one year ago, and to prolong his life, our vet implanted Deslorolin. It's been nearly a year since his implant. No idea whether that is impacting this behaviour but thought I'd mention it. Our issue is that this particular budgie (the one with the implant) has been trying to mate incessantly with our younger male budgie - Berry. It is to the point of exhaustion for the smaller budgie. He is struggling to get away from him, unable to eat or have any peace. Oreo gets Berry to the bottom of the cage and pins him by climbing on him, then Berry escapes and Oreo continues to chase him. This never happened before the past few days and they've all gotten along fine. We have separated Berry into a smaller cage nearby to give him a rest but I am sad to think we need to do this permanently. Could this just be a temporary behaviour or due to the implant (now a year ago)? Thanks.

 

[Shezbug]

@Ripshod

 

[Ripshod]

It sounds to me like the testicular cancer is driving this - the implant would have expired ages ago.
How is Kiwi with Berry? I'd be inclined to seperate Oreo from the flock rather than Berry as it's Oreo's problem. It may sound crude but I'd give Oreo plenty of soft toys, to work out his urges on.
What's the chances of getting another implant for Oreo? The vet likely never expected him to live this long.

 

[suz1]

Our Avian vet told us the implant was useful for a one year period (the dose was for one year) and he will have a new insert this August. She definitely was hopeful his life would be extended with the implants.

 

[Ripshod]

I've never had experience of such a lasting implant so I've only seen them last a breeding season, a few months. It could actually be the implant driving this.
I'd still seperate Oreo, but it would be beneficial to force 13-14 hours of quiet darkness on him to reduce his natural urge to breed (tricks their body clocks into winter mode) - the other two would be fine with this too. You may even be able to get the three back together after a while.

 

[suz1]

Thanks. Calling our vet to have the implant reinserted early now & will try the darkness trick also.

 

[suz1]

Just wanted to post an update that we had the new implant inserted on Friday. It's now now 4 days later and Oreo has calmed a lot, no more stalking, and is back in with his friends!