intro...and mating behavior questions

[terriebari]

Hi!

 

i'm new to this forum. I have a 9 y.o. CAG Casper, along with a 9 y.o. indian ringneck, Winslow, (and a 1 y.o. dog, Molly).

 

I recently bought Casper a silver stainless steel bell toy, to replace his old, beat up green stainless bell. He always loved the green, but he has found a really new way to love his silver bell. He has been humping the daylights out of it. I have seen some sexual behavior with him in the past, usually aimed at me, where he will get in a crouched position and start making a whining sound, but this is different. He is actually humping this bell with lots of effort. This had been going on, off and on, for about a week. He was also grumpy toward me tonight when i let him out. He never really bites at me, but tonight, I could just tell he was in a "mood" and that i needed to kind of back off.

 

So, I have two questions/concerns.:

 

1- should I take the bell away?

2 (less important, but curious)..I've never had him sexed. Does this "prove" that he is male? My current vet thinks "he" is a very large female, but I am not convinced.

 

Any advice/input would be welcome. I've had him since he was about 6 mos. old, but this is a new behavoir toward a toy.

 

Thanks!

Terrie

 

Post edited by: terriebari, at: 2009/01/03 03:02<br><br>Post edited by: terriebari, at: 2009/01/03 03:03

[terriebari]

oh, and here is a photo of him, several years ago (only one I have on my computer at home). <br><br>Post edited by: terriebari, at: 2009/01/03 03:03

[Dave007]

""""1- should I take the bell away?

 

2 (less important, but curious)..I've never had him sexed. Does this "prove" that he is male? My current vet thinks "he" is a very large female, but I am not convinced.""""""

===============================================

1---No, it's very common for greys and many other species to react to bells in many different ways. What your bird is doing isn't unusual and that bell willeventually act as a toy to fight with, bang around and screech at and also sleep and snuggle with. So, no, leave the bell there.

 

2---Male vs female...it all depends on where the male's and female's wings are facing. A female will flatten out the body and spread the wings outward and level with the ground. The male will spread the wing out less but will curve all the flight feathers downward as if he's covering another bird under him.

 

Other parrots masturbate against swings, chains, toys, bowls and perches. Again, when the male does that, the tail aimed downward. The female's tail is aimed upward.

I don't know if your vet is an avian vet but an avian vet would have suggested that a DNA test be done in order to determine the sex. The test is 99.99% accurate.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/03 03:55

[Luvparrots]

Hi Terrie and welcome to the family. Casper is a great looking CAG. I'm a new grey owner so you have much more experience as a grey owner than I have! I can provide you with a site where you can get information about sexing your grey. I believe it is less expensive than what a vet would charge.

 

http://www.avianbiotech.com/Index.htm

 

Can't wait to hear more about Casper.

[terriebari]

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate you both responding.

 

Dave- the vet is an avian and she told me that I "could" have the test, but that since I wasn't breeding, I decided not to. I have wondered a few times over the years, primarily when I'm told something new from a vet regarding the sex (my last vet thought he was a he, this vet is "sure" it's a female). It isn't that important that I find out, really. Just curious. I like what you told me, so I will take a closer look at his bell activity to see if I can figure it out from your description.

 

Thanks to you both!

terrie

[judygram]

Well from Dave's description I can tell that my sun conure, Sunny is a female after all, I never had her sexed as it didn't matter to me but she backs up to my neck occasionally and sticks her tail feathers up so she is a she after all, thanks Dave.

 

My grey, Josey is a DNA'd female, I did want to know what sex she was.

[Char]

My vet told me their are health reasons to know if a male or female. That is why I did it.

[Dave007]

Is is possible that you could tell me what the vet said about health as it pertains to gender?

[Lyric]

Hi Terrie, Casper is a handsome boy- thanks for sharing that photo with us. The others have given you good advice- I don't think I'd take the bell away either- why not let him have a little fun with it? He may be a little crabbier if he is being hormonal, but if you watch his body language you should be able to avoid a bite.

I imagine the vet was talking about the fact that a female may lay eggs and the associated risks that come with that- that is my guess....however, if an egg was laid, then you would know for sure without a DNA test!

[Dave007]

Even though I'm still waiting for an answer, in my opinion this sounds like a vet who's suggesting that a certain procedure be done just to make money and there's many vets who will do that. It's one thing to tell people that they should have different tests done in order to make sure that illnesses aren't present or are lacking in certain nutrients. It's another thing to suggest a procedure on a bird that has no visible problems yet, especially egg laying. Sexing a bird isn't done on the bird. It's done by sending out blood or feather specimens from the bird to check the gender. The results won't tell a vet any other thing that's wrong. Just the results of the DNA test will come back with an answer as to the gender of the bird. Future over production of eggs can't be seen until a bird is actually doing it. The test won't tell if the bird will be over productive as far as egg laying. Many people never have their birds sexed and there's no problems.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/06 18:24