neoow Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Well I guess it's that time of year again. Alfie is starting to show some hormonal behaviours- he regurgitated for my big toe the other day and often starts drooping his wings and making his baby clucking noises which usually mean he's getting a little excitable. I've noticed a new behaviour though- he has a toy hanging in his cage at the bottom of his boing which he usually loves to beat the snot out of whilst hanging upside down and bouncing around on his boing. Recently he's decided that instead of trying to beat it up that it's now his best friend and keeps trying to feed it... I've caught him a few times hanging upside and regurgitating for it... I don't make a big deal of the behaviour and tend to just walk on by so I don't make things worse. Should I remove the toy from his cage for now so I don't encourage the behaviour? Or is that likely to upset him more than just leaving it there? Not sure what he sees in it really... it's just a plastic toy with a bell in it... but he sure does love that thing... uh, more so than usual now I guess! 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Oh my! That reminds me of Timber's love affair with his bell a few years ago. Nothing this year so far. I just left the bell and it passed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNCAG Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 I'd leave the toy. I don't think you can modify the behaviour with toy removal; you can only make it slightly more difficult for him to find a new toy/outlet to express himself. I'd argue he needs an outlet. Good luck with your fellow -- he sound very normal. Greys just do the best they can in their circumstances, yannoe? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapillonDeNuit Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Keep the toy! The behavior comes and goes with the seasons. My little Timmy has a bell that he occasionally falls in love with. I never understood why people make a fuss out of this. I think it stems from stupid puritanical ideas that anything to do with love and sex is bad. It's like if one of your kids was dating, except that Alfie can't get the toy pregnant. And he won't get his heart broken, either! The world needs more love. Let Alfie love the toy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoow Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 I try not to encourage him regurgitating for me as I don't want him to get frustrated. He had a particularly hormonal time just before he decided to take a disliking to me nearly two years back- I couldn't even say hello to him without him getting worked up. So I am trying not to encourage that kind of behaviour with me. We're doing good with our trust and relationship and have been working hard to build bridges again so I'm trying not to do anything to rock the boat and set things back. I wasn't sure on the toy though as he's not really regurgitated for a toy before, so it was a new one on me after 17 years! It is one of his favourites and he does normally get a lot of exercise by hanging upside and beating the snot out of it - so I was reluctant to remove it but obviously didn't want to potentially cause any issues if I left it there either. I'll leave it in place and just keep an eye on things. The only toy I've ever removed were some jingle ball toys which were foot toys. He started trying to treat them like eggs and tried to sit on them whilst drooping his wings and making his clucking noise. I removed them as I didn't want to encourage any egg related behaviours... just on the off chance that he is actually female and starts to lay eggs! 😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNCAG Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 My grey can be very intense and devoted. He's regurgitated millions of times for me. I don't encourage it (basically just put him back on his stand or in his cage) and I prefer it if he picks toy instead. They need an outlet so I think you made a good choice. A funny: I have had parrots who regurgitated for me and then re-swallowed it, like "Wait! I don't want to waste this on you." So hurtful. Where's the love??? lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Neoow, funny about the "jingle bells." I've got a worse one though. Last year we would put a couple of ice cubes in Timber's water bowl in the morning because he enjoyed playing with them. Until season, when he decided he would pull them out of the bowl and do the "hatch" thing with them. It was funny, but not funny if you know what I mean. No more ice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoow Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 On 1/3/2021 at 4:25 AM, LNCAG said: My grey can be very intense and devoted. He's regurgitated millions of times for me. I don't encourage it (basically just put him back on his stand or in his cage) and I prefer it if he picks toy instead. They need an outlet so I think you made a good choice. A funny: I have had parrots who regurgitated for me and then re-swallowed it, like "Wait! I don't want to waste this on you." So hurtful. Where's the love??? lol Oh Alfie ALWAYS eats it... which is gross. He regurgitates and then immediately swallows it again. 🤢 He does the same when he regurgitates for his toy. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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