Strange actions and sounds african grey parrot

[GreenWing]

Yes, GreenWing, you are correct that seeds, grains and quinoa are all very nutritional but they are also quite high in protein (and the seeds are high in fat, too) and that is something this bird does not need at this point in time -not that this means she should not get any! It's more than one needs to be careful with them when they are overly hormonal.

Yes, this is true.

You're right, quinoa is indeed very low fat but high in protein so it should be avoided as well.

I agree, avoid nuts when a bird is hormonal. Reduce proteins during hormonal times. Give lots of vegetables to shred, carrots are excellent, as is kale.

[bradzee]

Thank u guys,

I will try my best to apply ur advices, and see whats gonna happen.

Do u think its better to get her a male parrot?

[Wolf]

While I have always been and am still in favor of parrots having a mate or at least a companion that they can get along with, especially for those times when we can not be there with and for them, I would not recommend trying to get either a mate or a companion bird for any parrot, unless you actually want the second bird for yourself.

I know that this must sound rather strange to you, but I have a couple of very good reasons for this. The first reason is that getting a second bird will do nothing to resolve the issue of your Grey being hormonal during the wrong time of the year. This is simply a matter of learning proper husbandry for your bird, learning about your birds dietary needs and how certain items in their diet affect them and why so that you can adjust the daily diet to meet the birds nutritional requirements while still controlling the levels of fats, carbs and especially proteins so as to help keep the bird from being hormonal all year long, and learning to set the proper schedules for time out of cage and being with you and to keep the bird on the proper light schedule again to prevent the bird from being hormonal or overly hormonal at the wrong time of the year. If you don't learn how to do this while you have only one bird, you will only end up with two birds suffering from this instead of just one.

The second reason for my original statement is due to the Grey's nature as well as its individual personality. Please bear with me while I try to explain. Parrots in general can be difficult to get mates for, but in many cases it is not too difficult to accomplish if we are patient and do the initial introductions properly, but even then we are not always successful in choosing the right mate for them. Still most of these will still bond well enough that they can be out of their cages and interact well with each other, in which case they are companions to each other and flock mates. Grey's are different, as it is just as likely to refuse to bond either as a mate or as flock members with another bird even when it is of the same species and of the opposite sex. They may not ever accept the other bird to the point that they can even be out of the cage together without close supervision. Once a Grey mate bonds with us there is just as much of a chance that it will not accept another bird as there is that it will. Greys rarely accept bird of another species even as flock mates and often reject those of their own species as well. My Grey, Kookooloo does not like any other bird that I have and does not like other people either, she is bonded with me and refuses to accept any one other than myself and although she is a very sweet bird to me and will not bother anyone as long as they keep their distance, she attacks any one human or bird that gets too close to her or to me.

[Pajarita]

You are absolutely right in your comments, Wolf, but I think you have forgotten one important reason why getting a male is NOT a good idea: an overly hormonal female is one thing - it's very uncomfortable for her but she just gets real mushy and affectionate while an overly hormonal male can be SUPER aggressive so, Brad, if you can't get your female to have normal seasons, getting a male is the worst thing you can do!

[Wolf]

No, I did not forget about it. I just did not feel like going into that part if I did not need to.

When the female remains hormonal, even without having everything right for laying eggs, she still may start laying eggs chronically, which in addition to sapping calcium from her bones increases the risk of egg binding, especially if she does not fly enough and that is life threatening, it also increases the risk of cloacal prolapse. Most females are not excessively aggressive when overly hormonal, they tend to become more clingy towards their chosen human, more lovey, so to speak.

The male on the other hand becomes much more aggressive as a general rule. I think that this is initially due to it being his job to defend his mate in the nest, the nesting site and his offspring and the additional hormones intensify this trait. But there is also another reason for not letting the male to become or remain overly hormonal. When the male cycles into breeding condition his gonads grow from about the size of a pea to about 100 times larger and if the male continues to be hormonal these gonads continue to grow causing an increasing amount of pain as the overly enlarged gonads press harder and harder against all of the other internal organs such as the liver, heart, lung, kidneys and so on. It is like what you would experience if someone clamped your gonads in a vise and kept slowly increasing the pressure. The pain level increases to the point that the bird will start plucking the feathers over this area of its body and progress to tearing holes in their body trying to relieve the pain. They also get to the point that they can no longer tolerate any touch no matter how light it is and will react to this with extreme aggression.