Amos and hormones

[Tman007]

I have been watching my Amos now and I have realized that he is masturbating on his toys. He is in molt and the breeder said he is almost a year old. So there is another reason why he is acting the way he is. I am trying to work out the lighting and see if I can't make it longer nights for him. I have read a few post on here about masturbation. And they say you may have to just ride it out. But I have a few questions. (1) When he is done with this faze of hormones will I need to replace the toys that he has mated with? (2) Darkness will 13hrs of darkness work. I know it will take time but I am just wondering. Also if I manipulate the light will it effect Amos in a negative way. By not letting him get hormonal. Now for protein what is to much protein, do we know how much protein is to much. Say for example a macaw may need x amount, and greys may need xx amount. Is there some were I can look up and see the brake down of what a parrot needs and how much. some need veggies some need fruit. I feed them a cooked mixed bean mix. in the morning with their pellets. Wait a minute, hers How I feed . Mornings(7:30am) they get pellets and the bean mix. pellets in one bowl and bean in another. Afternoon ( 1pm) I give them some fruit, Maybe some apple or peach or banana or a mixture of all. then in the evening about (5pm) they get some veggies. They almost have their flight wing all the way in. I know I know the woman at the store gave them a clip before I bought them. But the clip is just a light clip They can fly straight just not up, no lift. So that's another reason why Amos has been acting up. Something else do they get hormonal at the same time every year. and do they molt same time. I mean can I mark it on the calendar and say he will be molting at this time and getting hormonal at this time? Thanks for any input.

[Wolf]

If you wish to use light to the benefit of your bird then put him on a natural light schedule up with the dawn and to bed with the dark. .their whole body is attuned to the rising and setting of the sun as well as the changes in the seasons.
I don't feed pellets at all and one of the reasons is that you have no idea as to how much fat or protein you are feeding them and the next reason that I don't use them is that I can't find a single pellet that doesn't have a list of additives as long as my arm that are unpronounceable to the average person and even if you manage to say them you don't know what they are. I give mine a cooked bean, whole grain, vegetable and fruit mix for breakfast and some fresh fruit and vegetable to nibble on during the day and a seed mix for dinner.
Yes their breeding seasons are at the same time each year and they molt shortly after that. Can you write it on the calendar? You can but I would only go so far as to write breeding season begins this month, but would not bother trying to pin it down any closer than that.
I really don't see a reason to ditch the toys.

[Tman007]

Thanks Wolf for the infromation

[Pajarita]

You are feeding too much protein. The morning meal is always the biggest one so it needs to be the healthiest one and that means cooked whole grains, veggies, fruits and leafy greens - you are feeding just protein (pellets and beans). GCCs don't need all that protein, they need more produce than protein because they are mainly fruit eaters in the wild. I don't know (nobody does) the exact amount of protein each species requires (that's why the label of 'nutritionally complete' on pellets is a joke). As far as I know, there is only one study done about this -it was done on wild amazons but it was also short term and, as birds are seasonal eaters, the results are not valid for long term maintenance in captivity (but, if you are interested, it was determined that, during breeding season, they eat an average of 17% protein). There are the cockatiel dietary studies done by Roudybush et al at UCDavis but, again, they were short-termed (the study itself continued for years but they would periodically kill the birds to study their internal organs and replace them with others) so, again, not really very useful.

It's normal for him to be hormonal and to masturbate so don't worry about it and, no, you don't need to replace the toys, you can wash them and put them back once they are dry. What's not normal is for birds to be hormonal during the winter and that's where you have a big problem on your hands because it means that their endocrine system is out of whack. Breeding season is already finished but he is hitting puberty so his hormonal surges are, again, normal. And, as he started to molt, the behavior will decrease until it disappears - but you need to keep him to a solar schedule for this to happen.

You don't need to