Suddenly aggressive African grey

[Cog117]

She used to make those sounds when I first got her. Since she’s been eating healthier (slowly but surely.) that has ceased entirely. I read up that was hormonal behavior and knew that it was caused by hypogonadism at times.

Also the grey highlights and just small silver colored tips on the edge of the feathers. No black color as far as I can see.

She’s been herself these last 2 days since I’ve been putting her to bed earlier (8pm instead of 9pm.) here’s to an earlier bd time and a changed diet and let’s see where it goes.

[Pajarita]

Simply reducing the number of light hours doesn't quite do the trick, my dear. Birds need to be exposed to twilight [both dawn and dusk] to set their 'internal clock' because it's this different light that happens at these two daily events that turn on or off their 'internal clock' which, in turn, determine if the body will produce or not sexual hormones. But, in any case, the endocrine system does not adjust in a matter of 2 days or even 2 weeks, it needs months of being exposed to the solar schedule for this to happen and African grays are short day breeders so reducing the number of hours by one is not going to do it.

Also, for an overly hormonal bird, the term would be hyper and not hypogonadism because hyper is too much and hypo is too little. But neither term is used with overly hormonal birds because although hypergonadism does mean that the gonads become enlarged [as it's also the case with overly hormonal birds], it also means that they produce more hormones [which is not the case with overly hormonal birds because, with them, the problem is not that they produce too much, it's that they don't stop producing them] and last but not least, hypergonadism implies precocial sexual development [as in a child too young to be sexually developed but already showing sings of it].

[Cog117]

Simply reducing the number of light hours doesn't quite do the trick, my dear. Birds need to be exposed to twilight [both dawn and dusk] to set their 'internal clock' because it's this different light that happens at these two daily events that turn on or off their 'internal clock' which, in turn, determine if the body will produce or not sexual hormones. But, in any case, the endocrine system does not adjust in a matter of 2 days or even 2 weeks, it needs months of being exposed to the solar schedule for this to happen and African grays are short day breeders so reducing the number of hours by one is not going to do it.

Also, for an overly hormonal bird, the term would be hyper and not hypogonadism because hyper is too much and hypo is too little. But neither term is used with overly hormonal birds because although hypergonadism does mean that the gonads become enlarged [as it's also the case with overly hormonal birds], it also means that they produce more hormones [which is not the case with overly hormonal birds because, with them, the problem is not that they produce too much, it's that they don't stop producing them] and last but not least, hypergonadism implies precocial sexual development [as in a child too young to be sexually developed but already showing sings of it].

Well it seems she’s back to her old self on some days. Some days she wants my affection, other days she wants company, but doesn’t want to be held. She’s had natural light exposure, but during the day she wants to be mainly by herself, but still wants my company. In the evening she’s a love sponge.
Also on the bright side I have got her to eat more fruits and veggies by making a blend using strawberries as the main ingredient. Strawberries were the only fruit she’d eat, and this mix has kale, mango, celery and banana in it. She gets that every morning and has some seed and nut mix for dinner. Hopefully I can ween her off them even more to the point where they will be a treat only food.

[Cog117]

Also, I know I initially said she was a boy, but due to her coloration being a lighter grey and her mating dance, I speculate my bird is female.

[Pajarita]

Well, as far as my experience goes, gray females don't have a 'mating dance' unless you are using a euphemism for masturbation'... Check the rectrices [grey edge means girl, all red means boy], look at the length of the wings [if they reach the end of the tail, it's a girl, if they don't, it's a boy] and look at the underwings [if there are three shades of grey, you have a girl, if there are only two, it's a boy]. Coloration has nothing to do with gender, there are dark females and light males... As a matter of fact, years ago breeders would sell what they called 'Cameroon' African Greys that were all a light silver color.