Psychological regurgitation

[MrsBirdies]

My 4 year old Green Cheek Conure Kiwi (unknown sex) had her first real season of, I'm going to mate with and feed my toys, a couple of months ago. Well that finally stopped but now she regurgitates on 2 of her perches every day, multiple times a day, same spots. I tried changing her perches and she just uses them instead. She regurgitates and then eats the food again. She does seem to eat a lot.

I took her to our avian vet two weeks ago and she did a swab in her sinuses and down her throat and couldn't find any sign of infection. She said since it was always in the same places and not randomly, that it's a physiological thing. So there's not really anything we can do...

Has anyone else had this happen? I mean she seems fine and healthy and the vet said she was a good weight and her feathers are in good condition. She does it so much that I can't run over there to stop her every time, and I can't just take all her perches out... Any advice or people that have had this happen? I'm hoping this passes soon

[Wolf]

This is a biological thing and is part of the mating process. I would think that your bird is kept on a human light schedule instead of an avian one which is also called a solar light schedule and because of this her biological cycles are skewed. I would also wager that you pet you bird on its back as well. Diet is also a factor that comes into play here so I would think that you are feeding either a seed based or pellet based diet.
I am guessing on these things based entirely on my experiences as well as what you have said. You tell me how accurate I am, because these are the areas most likely needing to be addressed to correct this issue.

[MrsBirdies]

We and the birds go to bed between 8 and 830 everyday and the birds get up around 6 every morning. They're given seeds for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning and then have Zupreem natural pellets the rest of the day. They do get some fruit during the week. I've tried veggies but haven't found ones they'll actually eat.

[Wolf]

At this time of the year this is not too bad as it is really close to a solar schedule, if the birds are not covered at this time in the mornings. but the diet is really bad and needs a lot of improvement.
We know now that an all seed diet will kill our beloved feathered friends due to liver, kidney and heart disease and it is not because seeds are bad for them, because seeds are a part of their natural diet. And that is the key to it, seeds are a part of their diet but not all of it. now then , one step further and we have pellets, which does offer some improvement as the bird can't pick out its favorite seeds and not eat the rest of them. But except for the binders, preservatives and other additives pellets are still just seeds, ground up seeds but still just seeds.
The issue that you are having with getting your friend to eat his fruits and vegetables actually has very little to do with him liking them or not. It has a lot more to do with him not knowing that they are food and good to eat. This is due to the fact that parrots are hatched without knowing how to eat or drink and must be taught by their parents how to do these things and then the breeder pulls the babies from the parents and feed them a formula and then wean them usually onto an all seed diet and some of them are now weaning onto a pelleted diet even though the pellets are far too hard for the baby birds this early. At this point the young bird is usually sold and the new owners are not taught that the bird need to be taught to eat its fruits and vegetables, because these young birds don't even know that these things are food. This is why it is so hard to get them to eat the diet that they should have. These are all things that the parent birds teach their young birds to do in their first year of life. The parent birds teach the baby birds these things by eating them in front of the baby bird and then regurgitating this food into the baby's mouth. We can't do this safely for the young bird but we can eat the foods in front of the bird and keep offering some to it to eat. It is a long process and requires patience as well as persistence. They earlier we begin this process the easier it is, but unfortunately we are not informed of any of this as a new bird caregiver and so we end up trying to teach a much older bird to eat properly and it is much more difficult to do.

[Pajarita]

Regurgitation is never a 'psychological' problem (it always amazes me how little avian vets know about bird behaviors!), it's always due to sexual hormones and not the normal amount, either. A bird has to be overly hormonal to do this on their own so, yes, light schedule and diet is what is causing it. And, although regurgitation is normal for a bird, it's only normal for a short period of time (the male feeding the hen and the hen -and the male- feeding the babies). It's not good when they do it all the time because it causes a strain on their throats (imagine throwing up all the time) and muscles.

Now, 8:00 pm is not too, too bad although all my birds are already fast asleep by then even this time of the year (I cover them at 7:30 pm right now) - and 6 am is not too bad although I uncover mine at 6:30 and don't turn on the overhead lights until 7:30 am, but if this is the schedule you've been keeping her at throughout her four years, the poor bird is, most definitely, overly hormonal! Think about it, that means a solid 14 hours of light, something only achieved in nature at the height of the breeding season!

Her diet has also been way too high in protein. GCC are mainly fruit eaters in the wild and actually require not that much protein so all those seeds and pellets are not doing her any good. Mine eats gloop with raw produce for breakfast and all day picking and a small amount of seeds for dinner. Now, you can do chop, mash or gloop (my birds prefer gloop so that's what they get) so you can take your pick for her breakfast.

Now, the thing is that we are in breeding season so you won't really notice any difference in her behavior right now even if you do switch her to a solar schedule and a healthier diet but, come late June or July (if you are lucky, sometimes it takes longer for the endocrine system to get back on track with the seasons because the longer it has been screwed up, the longer it takes to get fixed), she will get better.

[MrsBirdies]

Thank you for your replies. I just went out and bought some quinoa, sweet peppers, broccoli, kale and some other items to try to make chop. Any advice on what else to add?

We are gone during the day m-f from 730 to 3 and it's fairly dark inside our house.

[Wolf]

Corn, peas, carrots, cauliflower, squash, apples, pears berries, whole grains Cooked white beans and lentils.
Try placing the cage near a window so that they can get the light from it throughout the day, I wouldn't put it directly in front of the window for several reasons but since I live in a rural area my main reason is so that they don't get too hot during the day. If you live in the city then you also have security issues to contend with.

[MrsBirdies]

I will try these things, thanks again. We live on a busy street in a large city and the only windows in the front room face the street which would scare me. Maybe we'll need to move them to the bedroom on the side of the house, it's much brighter in there and I wouldn't be as weary about opening the blinds a little. That would just mean 3 more cages to buy, but they're definitely worth it.

[Pajarita]

Good idea! Please, also consider installing good full spectrum lights in this bedroom where they will be during the day (CRI 94+ and Ktemp 5000), they will be much happier with them!

[MrsBirdies]

Where do you buy the full spectrum lights you mentioned?