Crazy Female

[Chikoo]

Chikoo is going crazy. As of the past two or three days, I have walked into my office to find her underneath the futon. As I approach it, she appears underneath with her wings held outside her body, and she begins to lunge and lurch at me or anything that comes near her. Her basic posture under the futon is crouched down with wings to her side, defending her "nest" I presume.

She has a snuggle hut in her cage for this reason, but somehow, when I am not in the room, she slips down from her perch and crawls under the futon. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to remove her from there. I basically had to wrap my hand a few times in a blanket and let her lunge at me until her beak grasped my hand to the degree that I could grab her neck and pull her out from under there.

I don't know what to do because she is a flighted bird who is just free on her perch or cage during the day. But now that she is crawling down onto the floor and trying to nest under the futon, I am wondering if I should just keep her caged whenever I am not in the room.

I personally wonder if she will ever be happy as a pet bird, or if she is just going to need to breed. My male on the other hand doesn't show any hormonal signs and seems content just being a companion bird. He doesn't even fly much even though he can.

Just looking for advice in how to manage this situation. Should I stop giving her seeds altogether? Should I stop the one almond I give her everyday? She is molting at the same time, so I am hesitant to remove protein from her diet. She sleeps covered for about 12 or more hours. I wonder if all females are like this, because I'm starting to understand why people don't recommend female ekkies. Their strong instincts to nest and become mothers just seems too strong to really allow them to be sane pet birds. I know that's the common stereotype and "myth" about female ekkies....

 

[c3honey84]

First thing to do is TAKE THE SNUGGLE HUT OUT OF HER CAGE! By having that in there, you are promoting breeding behavior! Don't let her in or around anything that could potentially be a nest. I can't even put my girl on top of the couch without her going crazy trying to get under the pillows. I'm not sure where you live, but I am in the states and fall is when she wants to breed because it is spring now where they are from. The best thing to do is to give her closer to 14 hours of covered time. Do you have seed guards on the bottom of your cage? It should be difficult for her to climb down with them on there. The other idea is to get a tree or some other type of stand where it is impossible for her to climb down. As far as when she is under the futon, have you tried offering her a treat and getting her to step up on your arm that way? That usually works with Roxy. Just remember, that this stage will pass. It just takes time. Put extra toys in her cage that involve chewing and shredding to keep her mind off of it. Just make sure to remove the chewed pieces shredding from the bottom of the cage. Roxy likes to climb down and dig in that stuff to make a nest. Good luck!