Courtship displays

[Elaihr]

Hi,

My blue headed Pionus is acting in a way that makes me think she's hormonal. It's spring in Sweden, so I guess it's only normal, but I still want to limit this as much as possible as I know it's not healthy for her. Also my boyfriend is not a big fan of it, as it makes her frustrated and nippy.

The things she does are mainly these:

1. Some sort of dance, she's doing exactly what the parrot in this video does - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDa6mAuWbTU

2. She has regurgitated twice, once last week and once this week.

3. She's looking for good nesting places.

I'm quite positive these displays are all due to spring hormones kicking in. I also suspect she's going through adolescence, she's turning 2 in June, do you reckon there's a possibility she is, considering her age?

She does get a very varied diet, and I'm trying to keep it mainly composed of fresh vegetables (I don't only give her veggies, she gets pellets, veggies, some fruits and a low amount of seeds and nuts), as I have heard too fatty foods aren't very good for their liver, and protein rich foods can promote hormonal behavior. What do you guys think about this?

As for the amount of sleepytime she gets, she usually sleeps for 12 hours a night, she "goes to bed" around 6 in the afternoon and wakes up between 6-7 in the morning. Do I need to increase her sleeping hours to make her less hormonal?

I never touch her anywhere besides her head. I got her only a month ago, so I haven't started training to get her used to being touched all over. I also kinda think it might be better to wait with this training until spring is over, so that perhaps it won't be as sexually stimulating to her as it might be if I do it now. Do I have a point here, or might I just as well begin the touch-all-over-training immediately, regardless of her hormonal state? Anyway, considering the fact that I never touch her on her back, bum or wings, and only her neck, I don't think this is what's causing her behavior. Right me if I'm wrong, maybe I shouldn't be touching her at all during spring ´8U8I0

I can't think of much else to do apart from what I'm already doing to keep the spring hormones low, but if you guys have any advice, I'd be very happy to know! I am personally not bothered by the whole thing, apart from knowing Penny gets frustrated. Also my boyfriend really dislikes the nipping part, she only does it when we have to take her away from certain things/places (when she's displaying nesting behavior, chews on the TV or similar things), but still :/ I can't just let her eat our TV, and I also assume I can't just let her start building a nest as it's probably going to make her even more frustrated

Oh and by the way, when she starts doing the courtship-dance-thingy, should I interrupt her or just ignore her? Can it be harmful if I let her be? I'm thinking that if I run over to her to interrupt it, I might just enforce the behavior, which I don't want to do... Any advice is welcome!

PS. She's not in any way terrible, she's behaving properly most of the time. It's just, I'm not sure how to handle her hormone spikes. I just wanna know what's best for her! .DS.

[Wolf]

For the most part I would just ignore the dancing, the displays and so on. I would redirect her attention when she is being destructive, no sense in having things destroyed for no reason she has toys for that. I don't know what anyone else thinks about her nest building but I would let her build on her nest and remove it every so often, when she is not looking, maybe when she is eating. I would dismantle it and let her have the materials back. It is just exercise for her and keeps her from more destructive behaviors. If she can fly I would proceed with flight training to help reduce the hormones in her blood, lots of exercise seems to help.

I would not stop handling her, thing like a woman, when you are most hormonal you crave more closeness or at least all of the females that I know do. Well your bird has the same desires / needs as anyone else at this time. You haven't had her very long and this may help you with bonding.

[Pajarita]

Yes, Wolf is correct, ignore her dancing. Don't scold her or turn away from her, just try to redirect her attention to something else but, if she doesn't want to, don't insist. She is not doing anything wrong and should not be made to feel that she is. And, yes, you are correct, she is at the age when they become sexually mature and spring is breeding season so everything is perfectly normal.

You are keeping her nights long and that's fine but if she was been kept at a human schedule (lights after dark) until a month ago, it will take a while for her endocrine system to become attuned to the seasons (hormones are still in her bloodstream).

As to her nest, I doubt she is actually building anything you can dismantle. They nest in cavities and, usually, all they do is try to make a hole (or find one somewhere) and chew around the 'opening' and scratch the floor. Personally, I let them and even give them stiff cardboard boxes (I put a smaller one inside a bigger one) I place in a corner and let them do whatever they want with it -and, when it's too dirty or too chewed up, I just give them another one -better a box than the walls -LOL

[Wolf]

Same point as Pajarita about the nesting , I don't see any harm with it.

[Elaihr]

Thank you so much for your replies! It all sounds reasonable, my main aim is of course to keep Penny as healthy and happy as possible, which I hope I can do with your advice taken into consideration Thank you once again!

[Wolf]

Thank you for the opportunity to share.