Beware hormone season

[idlepirate]

thanks kaylay
loro likes cups so and is always after whatever im drinking (just because he isnt allowed 99% of what i drink) so will start him on some tea tomorrow see what happens. they cant overdose on it can they?

for the cover i also use a sheet and it does seem to be very thin, maybe why hes waking on the first sign of light. im worried anything thicker cuts the air circulation for him which is why i always used the sheet. is this ever a problem covering cages with thicker blankets etc? for air circulation or heat (since summer will eventually kick in and the room might be a bit stuffy).

about 3 nights a week i have to go to work at 7pm till around 10 and it was always too early to put him to bed but then 10 was too late and my boyfriends tries to cover him but it fails half the time and then i come home and lorenzo is like that stubourn child that wont go to bed and i chase him around the room 50x to catch him to get him inside. where he'll then scream and shout for another 30 minutes.
would 6-7pm 3x a week be too early?

good tips though:) i remember my old gcc, when he went through this faze we had to call a bird pychologist who directed us to a bigger cage, pellets (from seeds) and proper early bedtimes. that did really help alot. now i have the bigger cage, pellets (which he still refuses to touch) and still working on a summer bedtime.

[kaylayuh]

I put the budgies to bed at about 7:30. This is mostly because they've gone to their sleep perch and have gone to sleep anyway, so I might as well cover them. If I could get Cheney Bird to bed around 7:30 - 8, he would be going to bed that early, too. But he breaks out of his cage if he's put to bed any time before 9:30.

I don't think a heavy blanket would cut off air circulation. My cages have their backs to the wall, so I only cover the back of the cage partially. They seem fine with it. If anything, you could always tuck up one side of the blanket to let air flow a little bit better.

And as for the tea, I'm not sure about overdosing. I've never tried giving tea to my birds, but if it works to calm them down, I might. I'd probably only give them a couple of sips. Make sure your bird doesn't dive into the cup, though. Cheney Bird likes to dunk his head in the juice and he gets his face all sticky.

[Ilovebirds]

Today my Parrotlet bit me so hard and I freaked out so much. She never bites me so hard and she is only 5 months old.

D:

[Vikki]

Like I mentioned, hormones will turn even the most trustworthy and loving birds into demons, at least for a little while. This bite was from Sebastian, my macaw, who normally preens me and kisses me to death. You just have to be careful, especially around the larger birds that can do more damage. Even if you normally put your bird on your shoulder, I would advise against it during this period. Your face and eyes are an open target.

As for the tea, give it to them in moderation, especially the little guys, but it won't kill them or overdose them. I use organic just to be safe, but they like the store brands too. Make it like you would nortmal tea, no sugar or anything else though and then let it cool and put it in place of their water. There are some holistic references for birds that offer different recipes for calming teas. Poke around online and you'll find them.

[greymatter]

We've been lucky *knock on wood* that neither Merlin nor Stryder seem to get moody during the normal (or any) hormonal season.

Rosco, our caique, however, has a Caique Jekyll & Hyde personality, so I'm always VERY aware of his vocalizations, body language and posture in order to avoid his aggressive mood swings.

He's actually been more snuggly this spring so far than he has been in the past hormonal seasons.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I doubt chamomile tea has been studied in birds... so personally I'd be somewhat cautious. When it comes to herbs, my personal approach is to think of them as if they were drugs that were still being tested. If they are effective, they ARE defacto drugs. Even with first-hand anecdotal evidence that no bad reactions had occurred in other birds, I'd go easy and watch very carefully for adverse effects.

Scooter actually seems to be settling down again. I'm thinking this is the first spring he's been mature (He's 2). He hasn't really been all that bad, although he was biting my husband for a while. He went through a sort of phobic phase. Sometimes he doesn't want to come out of his cage. If he's playing house under his playstand paper, you have to take away the top layers he's under and wait a minute or two before he's safe to handle. But it basically hasn't been all that bad. He's now moulting like gangbusters, though.

[Vikki]

Actually it has and is used at length at zoos and other places where there are a lot of birds to deal with during this time. Our vet actually suggested it to us years ago (we were skeptical too) and it has worked wonders. As mentioned, herbs in and of themselves can be used as drugs so you should be careful, but camomille is a mild relaxant and unless your bird drinks a bucket, he will be fine (most birds won't drink a lot of it anyway). If you're concerned about the caffeine, know that tea is naturally less caffinated than sodas and coffee and once boiled, loses all but about 10% of its caffination. If you are really concerned about it, you can buy decaf.


I poked around online and found this link regarding small birds and teas, which may be helpful but I know there are holistic books regarding the treatment of birds that mention it as well.

http://www.birds-online.de/nahrung/kran ... ees_en.htm

[idlepirate]

ok so officially noted: Hormone season is not a good time to do harness training!
and if this lasts a month or 2, its terrible as i wanted him to be wearing his harness by June....

how about wearing gloves?

[Vikki]

Bad idea, many birds tend to equate gloves with restraint and are frightened by them. I did actually find a solution though. Buy a fingerless welding sleeve. You can get pretty heavy duty ones with leather or poly on the forearm and the rest is made of a knit kevlar of sorts. It doesn't stop all damage from bites but definitely makes it 100 times better to deal with and if you use a long sleeve tshirt, adds that much more protection and hides the arm guard so it doesn't scare the bird. I actually have one that I sometimes wear at the rescue for the large birds whose nails need to be cut. LOL

armguard.jpg (4.59 KiB) Viewed 3691 times

[idlepirate]

Lorenzo and the Camomile idea...
so far hes more interested in the label then the tea. although he did have a few sips and quite liked it but wondering if i should keep warming it up to not waste it since he liturally only takes a few drops and loses interest later.

Vikki thanks for the advce on a glove, wondering where to find something like that, would be useful when his claws are so sharp as well. Hed probably be scared still:( I know he gets funny even when my boyfriend came home in winter with his gloves still on. must be an inbuilt instinct.
Hes having his really sweet days in between this hormone season is so random hahaha. one minute you want to just lock them up and scream at them and the next they're all cuddly and loveable and would never hurt a thing.