Meet My First Parrot!

[Wolf]

I hear you, sometimes I think that I would really like it if Kookooloo my Grey would be a bit of a cuddler, but she is not and is still very loving in her own fashion and is an amazing friend just the way she is.

[FirstParrot1]

*2 weeks and 1 day update!*

it has been a really fun time! he makes a doggy panting sound whenever he's with me which i read somewhere meant a really happy birdy!

he steps up on too MY hand ONLY! and lets me give him nose rubs and neck and face and neck rubs! he also lets me open his wings!! and makes a squeaking noice whenever im near which I've also read is how grey's calls too their flock members!


she's calling me now.SQUEAK!..gotta go!

[Pajarita]

Great news! Happy he is coming around and that things are going well!

Out of curiosity... a doggy panting sound? I've never heard my grays do that - have you, Wolf?

[FirstParrot1]

Great news! Happy he is coming around and that things are going well!

Out of curiosity... a doggy panting sound? I've never heard my grays do that - have you, Wolf?

Like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_5ohox9Y1A

[Wolf]

Those are not doggy panting sound, that is what I refer to as African grey pillow talk, she is doing the head bobbing that will lead to the occasional regurgitation the posture is a prelude to their mating dance. In short she is hormonal and wants to have sex. The other Grey is saying no and does not appear to be hormonal.

I tried once to describe those sound on the forum and really could not and that is when I referred to them as pillow talk. A Grey's flock call, like other parrots is harsh and loud. It is not as loud as many other parrots flock calls but it is still loud.

[Pajarita]

Oh, Lordy, yes, that is not only hormonal, that is overly hormonal -not what one would call good or even comfortable for the poor bird! Mine are broody this time of the year but they never sound like that.

[tpeca2000]

Great advice to the rest of you!! Also, if time goes by and you learn that she is a rather bitey bird by nature, there are a few different techniques you can use. One of these (and personally my favorite because I have NOOO patience) is the Distraction Method.

This method is where you show the bird his/her favorite treat, and focus their attention on that treat. At the same time, attempt to reach your hand or arm out while they reach for the treat. They most likely will automatically step onto your arm to reach the treat.

I learned this method from the Parrot Wizard on YouTube. I suggest watching all the Michael Sahzin videos you can, because they work like a charm!!!! Good luck with the Grey!!

[Wolf]

FirstParrot1, I was hoping that I would be hearing from you about now with another update on your bird as well as perhaps a question or so about how the remedy the hormonal state of your Grey. I figured and hoped that you would have done some research and would now know enough about the causes and the effects of this state on your parrot that you might want some input into what to do about it.

I may be jumping the gun so to speak and not giving you enough time for the research, but I am willing to risk that. Here is a simplified version of what occurs with your bird and then the solution for the problem.

Birds, including parrots, are photoperiodic, which simply means that some aspects of their lives and bodily functions are affected by light and their reproductive cycle is one of these. Although light is the first and main factor involved in starting and stopping this cycle, their diet is also involved, mainly because of the amount of protein in it. So your parrot has receptors in their brain that allow it to measure the length of the light and darkness in a day as well as an internal biological clock that science tell us is accurate to within about 15 minutes. As the length of the daylight changes through the seasons it reaches a point where these receptors and their internal clock signal their endocrine system to begin production of sexual hormones and begin the breeding cycle, This also coincides with the increase of available protein in their diet. This is important as the proteins are what the hormones are made from. Then with the flood of sex hormones the birds gonads begin to grow and swell up with blood. In a bird about the size of your Grey they begin about the size of a pea and the can grow to about 100 times this size. Then as the breeding season winds to an end, the protein available in their diet also decreases and the production of these sex hormones decreases and the gonads begin to shrink back down to their normal dormant size. And all is well and right in the parrots world.

In captivity this what is supposed to happen, just as it does with the wild free birds in their natural habitat, but we, humans, interfere with this process first because we expect this to all work with the bird living a human lifestyle under artificial lighting, which it does not, because of the artificial lights which interfere with the normal patterns of light, which in turn throw the internal clock off and the bird can no longer measure the proper length of the day/ night in a given day. We also mess it up because we can't feed the bird properly and have a tendency to include too much protein in their diet and in the captive bird we make it even worse because the bird is no longer flying long distances to forage for food and water resulting in the fact that the hormones do not dissipate from the bloodstream as rapidly as they should.

The bird goes into the breeding cycle and the gonads grow as they should but when the breeding season is over the interference of the artificial lights stop the bird from getting the signal to stop making sex hormones and with the now abundant levels of protein in their diet all year long the bird continues to make these hormones and with no flying to speak of the level of hormones keeps increasing because they no longer dissipate as they should and this leads to an overly hormonal and a more aggressive bird. Their is one last problem caused by this and that is that even after reaching their normally maximum size, their gonads keep growing and growing, putting more and more pressure on the gonads and all of the surrounding tissues and organs, such as air sacs, liver, lung, heart, kidneys and so on. Their is only so much space inside of the birds body and soon the pain caused from the internal pressures of the gonads themselves is joined by the additional pressures of pressing against the other organs resulting in even more pain from both internal and external pressures. and this pain keeps increasing as long as the gonads keep growing. Eventually the bird will not allow itself to be touched due to the pain and then they begin plucking their feathers out and chewing holes in their body in an attempt to reduce the level of pain.

This is what happens and why it happens and the cure for it is shown to us by why it happens so we need to change how we are feeding the bird so as to lower the protein levels in their diet, in a Grey, this is 19 to 14% protein. We need to provide for and encourage our bird to fly more as it is the only form of exercise that a bird can do that is effective at reducing the level of hormones in the blood. And then the most difficult part of all is to reestablish a normal lighting schedule for the bird, This normal light schedule requires that they be uncovered, if they are covered at night, while it is still dark outside so that they can be exposed to the twilight period of dawn as it changes from dark to the actual sunrise, without the interference of any artificial lighting and then they need to have all artificial lights shut of in the late afternoon so that they can again be exposed without interference the twilight period we call dusk as the sunlight fades into full dark with the setting of the sun at which time they will naturally go to sleep. These two twilight periods working together are like the start/ stop switch on a stopwatch and enable the birds body to measure the length of the day/ night cycle of the day and also serve to reset the internal clock to keep it in sync with the proper season of the year.