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Post by oliveoctober on May 6, 2011 18:50:19 GMT -5
 I am at my wits end with this one. I have a 2 year old male cockatiel who has been mating with his cage for the past 4 months (started in january!). I was under the impression that mating season only lasted a month or so, but he's still doing it, and getting more and more moody as time goes on. It's hard to dissuade him - it's his cage, after all! If it was a toy, we could just remove it. We have tried covering different parts of the cage up with towels and such, but he just starts mating with the towels. Needless to say, he's not very pleasant anymore- will hardly let us hold him, doesn't talk as much, etc. What should we do?! He doesn't show any sign of stopping. I'm not even sure that this is the root of the problem. We are not interested in getting another Cockatiel to keep him company, and would be willing to give him up to a good home, although I can't think of anyone who would want a moody, nasty bird. We'll be having our first child in November, and can't imagine trying to deal with all of it at once. I also feel bad that he's just not happy!! PLEASE, ANY advice would be welcome!! Thank you so much in advance- Rebecca
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Post by marieandchirpy on May 6, 2011 23:37:40 GMT -5
Try some of the suggestions in this link: www.birdchannel.com/bird-behavior-and-training/bird-small-bird-behavior/hormonal-cockatiel.aspxIf none of these work then a more drastic method to stop the masturbating is to get a new cage. The problem is we don't know how he will respond to a new home. It could be a disaster. Hopefully some else will see this post and respond. Hopefully this issue will be resolved before the baby is born. If the problem is not resolved by september and you are overwhelmed with the bird, then you might want to consider relinquishing it to a parrot rescue, where they can find a potential owner who is more experienced with birds and can work with the tiel. Also parrot rescue's have parrot behavior experts on staff to work with problem birds. Good luck. |
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john
New Member
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Post by john on May 7, 2011 10:08:45 GMT -5
THIS IS Mother Nature relieving stress and tension in your bird. Think back to your childhood and teen years. But this is not only something that youngsters do, my wife works at an aged care facility and those that make it to 100 years old still do it. As a parent, I can remember the first time my wife and I caught our daughter (about a year old at the time) doing the nasty. Off we went to the doctors and all he did was laugh and explain it as I am, natural occurrence. It would help if you could get another bird, but you said that is out of the question. You might try a nature video that you could leave on a TV for him or even A CD of birds in the wild. This might take his mind off his problem. Just ole Mother Nature at work.
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Post by marieandchirpy on May 7, 2011 11:10:50 GMT -5
My Chirpy is 9 yrs old going on 10 on the 28th. I had hormonal problems on and off since she's been with me ( she's been with me for two years ) and chronic egg laying. Most hormonal problems with captive parrots have to do with the environment and according to parrot experts can be caused by boredom. Hormone problems are a common thing for captive parrots because weather conditions outside in the wild do not exist and the abundance of food, nesting sites and a mate ( the human companion ) can cause parrot hormones to go into overdrive.
As for Chirpy the chronic egg laying stopped when I reduced the availability of food at certain times. Her hormones also calmed down a lot when I recently replaced one of the dowal perches with a rope perch. Also taking her out of the cage calms the hormones down.
It is now Spring which typically the time when bird hormones go into overdrive. So far Chirpy is doing ok.
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Post by mrshilobird on May 9, 2011 11:47:19 GMT -5
Dear Oliveoctober, As being a new bird owner myself, I was totally freaked out when Shilobird was doing this too. It didn't take long to figure out what he was doing. He loved to make out with his food dish!! This lasted for about 3 weeks. I thought something was wrong with him. He stopped talking,whistling etc. that seem to happen overnite. I did find him a playmate and bought a huge cage for them both. This really seemed to work for him, and to my satifaction of knowing this is a natural thing that birds do.. I hope that you find all the post on your subject is great ones, and not to worry it will all pass soon hopefully..
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