African Grey Parrots Bonding ?

[Hanya Kassem]

I have 2 African greys , one is male and the other is female. The male is almost 3 years and the female is 1 and half years old. I am worried that they hate each other , at first they touch beaks then it is good but the male is kinda aggressive towards her and they keep fighting , they are not in the same cage.When they first met they were friendly he even tried to feed her and they touched beaks but now all they do is touch beaks and fight.I want them in the future to mate but it is still to early for the female but the male made the mating call , I am afraid that they won't like each other. Can someone help me and tell me what to do ?

[Pajarita]

Not much one can do because it's always up to them (one can't make a bird fall in love with another bird) and hand-fed grays are not easy to get to mate bond... But I can tell you one thing, your male sounds hormonal (they are broody right now because they are short days breeders) so you better keep him away from the too young female or he might end up hurting her bad in his frustration. It would have been better for you (and them) if you had gotten two adults of the same age. It's never a good idea to get one adult and one baby.

As to what to do... well, just keep them separate but in the same room (with the cage side by side but not touching -you don't want the hen to end up with half a beak) for the next two years (waiting for the hen to mature) and, if you are planning on letting them out together, wait until the winter to do it (you do keep them at a strict solar schedule and reduce protein during the resting season, right?) and watch them like a hawk, just in case.

[Hanya Kassem]

I also think my male is being hormonal , the female is young because where I live it is not easy to find a female. They are in separate cages and I also think that Rico (the male) is a little territorial and jealous of her.

I do put them in separate cages but next to each other so they could see each other. I didn't have the chance to put the female in the sun yet because we just got her and honestly I don't understand reducing protein during the resting season thing , I do watch them clearly.

Thank you for replying

[Pajarita]

You don't understand what I mean or you don't understand why reducing protein during the resting season is necessary?

[Hanya Kassem]

I don't understand what you mean

[Wolf]

Let's see if I can help at this point or if I just muck things up.

First of all if you want them to bond then they have to be close to each other so that they can see and speak to each other. That one is pretty simple.

Parrots are photoperiodic, which means that light is one of the primary triggers for starting and stopping the breeding cycle. It does this through the measurement of the light and dark cycles 9 day and night ), primarily. but the internal, biological clock that regulates this is started and stopped by the two twilight periods that occur at the beginning of dawn and dusk. This clock also uses this particular light to set and reset itself to match the correct season of the year. I don't quite understand how it does this part, but it does. This internal clock then signals the birds body to start or stop producing sexual hormones.

Diet, especially the type and amount of protein in it is also a trigger to start and stop the reproduction cycle because these proteins are used by the birds body to manufacture the sexual hormones. This works because the high level and types of protein are only available, in the wild, at certain times of the year. The thing is that the commercial foods that we feed or captive parrots are full of these proteins, so when we feed them too much of this food we are also providing too much protein for the birds body to stop producing these sexual hormones. Therefore we must reduce the proteins in their diet for the part of the year when they should not be breeding.

[Hanya Kassem]

So I should put my african grey parrots in the sunlight more often and I should reduce the food that has protein so they could stop producing hormones ?

[Wolf]

No, your birds don't need much more than 30 minutes od sunshine, what they need is the twilight periods that occur just before dawn and at dusk.
Reduce the high protein foods, by feeding them only for dinner. Feed fresh vegetables and fruits and whole grains for breakfast and all day foraging.
I feed mine a fresh raw vegetable, a fresh raw leafy green and a fresh raw fruit, shortly after they get up. About an hour later I fee them their breakfast of gloop, which is made from cooked whole grains, cooked mixed vegetables and cooked white beans and lentils. Then I feed a good quality seed mix for dinner and remove it when the birds go to sleep for the night.

[Hanya Kassem]

I'll put them in the sunlight today and I actually give them fresh vegetables everyday in the morning but I don't give them cooked white beans and lentils , never tried it before but I will try to do it soon.

Thank you so much for your help

[Wolf]

Not just white beans and lentils, they are there to provide a certain amount of protein and work together with the cooked whole grains and vegetables to provide a balanced diet. The amount of protein is important but so is the type of protein, but they need to be in balance with all of the other nutrients. Feeding straight white beans and lentils would be too much at any given meal.