How/why is mating ritual/dance physically unhealthy?

[DanaandPod]

I can understand why its bad to encourage it or triggor it for the psychology reasoning. But, why is it bad or unhealthy physically? BTW, I don't know what is up with Pod. He is at it like crazy out of nowhere. Almost like at springtime. This evening he regurgitated on my cheek a few times...its so hard not to think that is so sweet. Though when he gulped up a big gooey bird vomit, I said "Oh buddy, no... you keep that one for yourself. that one is yours." BTW, I haven't been handling him differently i.e.: petting him any different.

[Wolf]

In and of itself, it is neither bad nor unhealthy. The difficulty lies in the fact that is signifies that the bird is in breeding condition and this is only a bad thing when it occurs out of season. Why? A birds sexual organs are on the inside of their body and when not in breeding condition are small, but during breeding cycle they fill with blood and grow to about100 times larger and keep growing larger if the bird remains in breeding condition past its season. The larger they grow the more pressure they produce inside the bird and push other organs out of place and still keep growing larger until they stop the birds heart or something inside the bird ruptures from the pressure. This process becomes extremely painful and bird have been known to rip open their own bodies in an attempt to stop the pain. It is a very slow and agonizing death.

[Pajarita]

Wolf is correct but it's also not healthy for them to regurgitate all year round. It's similar to people throwing up and, if done often, it irritates their throat and causes the muscles to be constantly sore.

Your bird is hormonal not only because of improper caresses but also because of the light schedule and diet.

[DanaandPod]

This is terrible and frightening! What about his diet do u think is apart of this? I actually logged on because he went crazy tonight....I have never seen him act up this bad. He goes to bed everynight i am home between six thirty and seven. Well, tonight he was flying back and forth like he was ready for bed but started attacking me instead. Flew to my back and grabbed onto the back of my neck... then I tried to lure him into his cage with a nut or seed and he would just attack me. then I let him go crazy with his ball on the floor and then he went in the cage himself. But when I finally had him covered up... he was still making noises...allmost sounded like hiccups the way he was churping... He just settled down finally. I have no idea what was going on with him...except that of lately like this week he has been what seems like hormonal. I will try my best for now on...but so often i do nothing at all to bring it on... like for instance,,,all i do is come home at night and walk in the door and he starts acting up. (would it be mean to spray him lightly with a misting bottle?) I have got to get the lighting in. But, then I thought everyone was saying...the more ideal the conditions are the more prone to mating hormones? Lastly, when is exactly mating season and how long does it last? thanks

[Wolf]

I live enough farther south of you that I can't say when the breeding season begins where you are, but it should be about the same time as most of the wild birds in your area begin their breeding cycle. The same factors are involved in starting and stopping it in them as in your bird.

[DanaandPod]

Hi Wolf. He has calmed down. And, I will never ever again touch or pet him other than his head and neck area. this morning, he started acting up with his little mating dance all because he didn't want to do a trick. For some reason he doesnt want to do the flight from perch to perch for exercise lately and either flies away or starts a different trick or even starts a mating dance which i don't understand at all! But, I gave him a few squirts of spray water at this point...and he calmed down from the cold shower. He also will do this mating dance when getting a shower too...I don't know if its because the water is stimulating him....? I mean, I can't control it all the time but will do my best not to cause harm to this little guy. I am not sure what you mean by stopping the mating of wild birds?

[Wolf]

There are certain things which all come together to initiate the breeding cycle in birds.
1) a mate - in captivity we are the mate
2) a nesting site - this is provided by their cage
3) Climate - We provide a comfortable environment that is conducive to reproduction
4) Food - again we provide an abundance of food
5)Light - This is also provided by us.

Of all of these items the one that is most important is lighting and the second is food. By keeping our birds on a human light schedule and not exposing them to the proper wavelengths of light we allow the breeding cycle to begin but not to shut down. This is why exposure to the twilight periods of dawn and dusk are so important as the wave lengths of light that start and stop this breeding cycle are contained only in the light produced at these times. Food is also important especially in the amount of protein contained in it which is why we don't want to feed a high protein diet to our birds.
Does this help?

[DanaandPod]

Hi. I shared your response on another parrot forum. Because it is very serious and I wanted to help make people aware of what could happen. But, one persons response was:

Ummmm no

It's not because the parrot's heart will burst. That doesn't make sense. It's because if you pet them in ways that encourage breeding behavior it can cause difficulties like egg laying, breeding aggression, etc.

I said I'd be happy to post their response to see what you might have to say. Thanks.

[DanaandPod]

There are certain things which all come together to initiate the breeding cycle in birds.
1) a mate - in captivity we are the mate
2) a nesting site - this is provided by their cage
3) Climate - We provide a comfortable environment that is conducive to reproduction
4) Food - again we provide an abundance of food
5)Light - This is also provided by us.

Of all of these items the one that is most important is lighting and the second is food. By keeping our birds on a human light schedule and not exposing them to the proper wavelengths of light we allow the breeding cycle to begin but not to shut down. This is why exposure to the twilight periods of dawn and dusk are so important as the wave lengths of light that start and stop this breeding cycle are contained only in the light produced at these times. Food is also important especially in the amount of protein contained in it which is why we don't want to feed a high protein diet to our birds.
Does this help?

Somewhat helpful. But still a little sketchy on my end. So you are saying that the solar light schedule is also helpful in starting and stopping the breeding cycle?

[Wolf]

I am saying that to date it is the only way to cue the birds endocrine system to shut down the breeding cycle once it has begun. It is also one of the major factors involved in the starting of the breeding cycle.