Hormonal behavior in 4 year old female CAG?

[k9shrink]

Hi guys,

I have a question about hormonal behavior in female Greys. Our DNA-sexed female Congo African Grey, Clover, (our only bird) will turn 4 years old around April. She is clicker trained and generally quite tolerant considering that she was not hand raised. She steps up and lets me move her around the house with me, usually 10-20 moves a day. She loves her daily shower with me—the highlight of her day. I work from home and am around most of the time. Most days she’s out all day, occasionally, she’s mostly in the cage, but I’m usually just a few feet away in either case.

About 2 weeks ago, she suddenly began ripping up the sheets of newspaper I put in the bottom of her cage after the daily cleaning. She spends hours shredding it, hides under it, peeking out, and especially scratching the smooth cage floor with her feet as if digging… the way chickens scratch for food. She is doing this very robustly. Also, she had an unusual aggressive incident with me. She has bitten before, but only one bite at a time, and usually only a pinch. A few days ago, I asked her to step up to go to her favorite shower and she gave me a minor bite. I left, came back in again a few minutes later, she “happily” stepped up, then instantly launched an attack causing 6 deep (for a Grey) bites, some of which later became infected. There are 6 v-shaped flaps of skin missing from my thumb region. I had to shake her off my hand to get her to stop. Since then, I’ve only had her step up on a gloved hand, and she seems completely normal—not hostile at all. But she’s still obsessed with the scratching and ripping apart newspapers in her cage. Usually, she asks non-stop to “come out” “put on your harness,” “go outside,” “go to the kitchen,” “go on your perch” (meaning her playstand). But she is now very happy to stay in her cage and shred paper.

Other than the attack, she hasn’t shown any personality change such as wanting more scritches, “flirting,” or anything like that. (She’s not that interested in contact normally, either). It’s all about her and the newspaper and scratching at the floor. Is this hormonal behavior? What should I do? Should I find something she can’t rip apart to put on the floor of her cage? Is she likely to stay aggressive for a while? When will this phase end for now? Will it happen every spring, or a few times a year, or what?

Thanks, Sharon in Istanbul

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Sure sounds like what I'd expect for nesting behavior, but I will defer to those with real experience. She hasn't produced an egg in there, has she? I guess I might make sure she's getting plenty of calcium just in case. Hopefully one of the more experienced folks will come along with a more useful reply.

I have read that too much light or too great an abundance of food can trigger breeding behaviors as well as presence of a suitable nest. Can you put a grate in the cage so she can't make a newspaper hideaway? If you have full spectrum lights, maybe shorten the duration they are on, and don't feed a really ample portion, just what she normally eats?

[captwest]

Hey K9, Don't know much about old world birds (CAG), but it sounds like nesting behavior to me also.I really don't know if there's much you can do to stop it,Birds usually nest if andf when they're comfortable,so try changing things around. Maybe move her cage,change the toys,change her routine, maybe more out of the cage time, move another bird closer. You should research what triggers her nesting behavior in the wild,diet, diurnal factors(amount of daylight),Humidity,etc, if you can manipulate any of these factors it might help shorten the period she's in this state.I have mature hen pets , some almost never exhibit nesting behaviors and others almost never stop.This time of year, at least where i live , is breeding season for most of my birds.(new world parrots,Amazons) Hopefully this will pass quickly and things will return to normal. PS if she's a one person bird maybe the favorite person could let someone else interact with her more. I'll think on it some more and let you know if i think of anything, but usually i'm breeding birds and trying for opposite results.

[k9shrink]

Thanks to both of you for your insight. As a matter of fact, I installed and started using a full-spectrum light about 2 months ago. She's getting way more light than she was getting before, as I have it on 12 hours a day. In combination with reaching an age of sexual maturity, that may have triggered the nesting behavior. She hasn't laid an egg yet, and hope she doesn't, but she's on a very good diet that includes Harrison's, sprouts, very limited seeds/nuts, and a bit of yogurt almost daily.

I'm going to try keeping her light on for just half the day from now on. Her cage is near a picture window, so she does get daylight, but the full-spectrum light was on for hours past the normal January sunset here (5:30). I'm also going to force her to come out and spend more time on the play gyms instead of letting her scratch the floor and rip up newspapers all day.

Thanks again!

Sharon in Istanbul