Disturbing behaviour

[Marlene]

It dawned on me this morning that Gus is displaying mating behavior. He has always dropped his wings and tried to feed me. When he was a baby I expected it, when he was slightly older I thought it was just a display of affection. Now that he is around 4 and the behavior is so pronounced that I have realized what he is doing. Lately he also will not tolerate me at all other than this mating thing he does in the morning. Any other time of the day he either gently takes a finger and starts gnawing on it really hard or he lunges to bite me. This has become worse and worse over time.

I am at my wits end because every time he tries to eat me I tell him "NO!" sternly and walk away from him. As a result we are spending less and less time together and that is just a rocky road.

Has anyone got some advice?

[shanlung]

Do not let that go on.

 

Do a jiu jitsu and redirect that kind of activities.

 

I extract a section below

 

On affectionate gestures from Tink/Riam such as regurgitating for me, I did not regurgitate back for her. I cannot scold her for an affectionate gesture as that will be incredibly mean to do so. I quietly clean up and ignore that.

 

Riam showed from time to time, she wanted to be mated by me. No relation to clicker training at all. I cannot scold her for that.

I tossed her towards one of her perches that she flew to hang there a while to reflect on her own mysteries. She flew back sweet as before but with her ardour cooled. And if not cooled, another toss to the perches for her. Nothing special about being tossed to the perches. When I had no time, or no inclination, or when I decided to, and/or for the fun of it all, she got tossed to the perches. Tossed to the perch is neither good or bad or evil. Its just getting tossed to the perch.

 

You might like to read that in its context.

Which came from here.

 

To Shanlung-Charlie and clicker training

 

Charlie and clicker training - beyond touch target //LiBai on finger and in slow motion videos

[carlsjr]

since you have a male disregard the egg laying stuff.

 

 

10 things you can do to discourage breeding behavior in your bird

 

1. Put your bird to bed early, by 5 or 6: 00pm.

A long day length is one of the most important environmental cues triggering

egg laying in birds. By allowing your bird to stay up late, you are mimicking

the long days of spring/summer, making your bird think it’s time to breed. An

early bedtime will help to turn off her breeding hormones. Note that she will

need complete darkness and quiet for this to be effective (covering the cage

while the radio or TV is on is not adequate!)

 

2. Keep your bird away from dark, enclosed spaces.

Most parrots are cavity nesters, which means that instead of building a nest

out in the open they look for dark, enclosed spaces in which to lay their eggs.

In order to stop your bird from laying eggs it is essential that she is kept away

from such areas. Nest boxes should be promptly removed. Birds can be

ingenious when looking for a nesting site (under a couch, behind the

microwave, even in the dryer!), so it is important that she is under close

supervision when out of the cage.

 

3. Keep your bird way from other birds to which she is bonded.

Having a mate is a strong sexual stimulus for your bird. This mate may be a

member of the opposite sex, a bird of the same sex, or even a bird of a

different species. If your bird is bonded to another bird in the household, a

temporary separation will help turn off her hormones. Ideally, she should not

be able to see or hear the other bird during the separation period.

 

4. Discourage breeding behavior in your bird.

Some birds will display breeding behaviors with their favorite person, such as

vent rubbing, tail lifting, or regurgitating food. Discourage these behaviors by

putting your bird back in her cage for a “time out” whenever she displays

them. Don’t pet your bird on her back or under her tail, as this can be

sexually stimulating. Petting on the head and chest are not as stimulating.

 

5. Remove your bird’s “love toys”.

Some single birds will display mating behaviors with objects in their

environment, such as food cups, toys, perches or mirrors. Mating behaviors

include regurgitating food, vent rubbing, and tail lifting. If your bird engages

in these behaviors with an inanimate object, that object should be permanently

removed from her environment.

 

6. Rearrange the cage interior and change the cage location.

Your bird is more likely to lay eggs in a cage that hasn’t changed in a while.

Putting your bird in a different cage and/or changing the cage location can

help discourage laying.

Changing the arrangement or types of toys, dishes and perches in the cage can

also be very helpful.

 

7. Give your bird optimal nutrition and provide full spectrum light.

Producing and laying eggs robs your bird of the vitamins, proteins, and

calcium she needs to stay healthy. It is especially crucial during the breeding

season that she is on a complete and balanced diet, which in most cases will

be a pelleted diet. A seeded diet supplemented with vitamins is not adequate.

Ask your veterinarian to recommend a pelleted diet for your bird. Full

spectrum sunlight is necessary for your bird’s calcium metabolism, and can be

provided by unfiltered sunlight or by a full spectrum fluorescent bulb.

 

8. Avoid removing the eggs which your bird has already laid.

Sometimes the easiest way to turn off the egg-laying cycle is to allow your

bird to sit on her eggs. If your bird lays a few eggs and then sits on them,

leave the eggs in the cage for 21 days or until she loses interest. If however

she does not stop at 3 – 4 eggs and continues laying, this strategy may not

work, and you should call your avian veterinarian for further suggestions.

 

9. Ask your veterinarian about hormone injections.

In certain cases of excessive egg-laying, your veterinarian may recommend

hormone injections in addition to the above environmental and dietary

changes. Hormone injections are relatively safe and can help reduce egglaying

in some birds. The effectiveness of hormone injections varies from

bird to bird and can not be accurately predicted beforehand.

 

10. When in doubt, ask your avian veterinarian.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your bird’s health, or if the above

changes do not stop your bird from laying, please give us a call. We have

helped hundreds of bird owners stop their birds from laying, and we can help

you too.

 

more stuff you can try.

 

http://rationalparrot.com/tease.html

 

How to make your parrot stop wanting to make babies 101

 

Stop the sensual stroking and cuddling. Scratch your parrot on the head, under the chin, preen off those obnoxious pinfeathers, but don't spend all your time petting him or her.

Teach your parrot to enjoy being out of their cage somewhere other than on you. This means a playstand, a movable perch, sitting on the drawer of the computer desk destroying magazines, whatever. Yes, I realize this is all but impossible for some parrots, cockatoo owners.

 

Remove the environmental triggers for hormonalness. 12 hours of darkness a night, a balanced diet of either fresh foods in the right proportions or pellets and veggies with some seed as treats (or part of the diet for the species that do better with them), rearranging their cage on a weekly basis to keep things from being too settled.

 

Stop letting the parrot go on top of their cage, particularly for male birds. That's what they do, when the female is nesting -- stand near their nest and defend it if need be. It doesn't give them the moving around as a flock mentality that a moving playstand can.

 

We do and have done this with all of our parrots, and each of them have a preference for a person. What, then, if your parrot already thinks you're their mate and attacks your SO?

 

Stop all mating triggers immediately and work to balance out the parrots feelings some. The least favored person does all the really really cool things, the most favored person does all the terrible things.

 

As an example, if I had a parrot that prefered my partner, I would make a list of all of their favorite things and all of their least favorite things. I would do their favorite things and my partner would do their least favorite things. In the end, the parrot would very likely have a balanced level of affection for us both, which is one way to prevent a one person bird.

Edited December 15, 2011 by carlsjr

[Marlene]

Thank you so much. I have sttarted putting him to be a lot earlier (despite his anxious enquirie "Where you?"/ "Whatcha doin?") and besides head and chin sctratches he gets no petting from me. He is taking to spening time out of the cage away from me personally much better than I anticipated. I am just mad at myself for not realising sooner what was going on! I really appreciate the advice!!! Thanx again