Hormonal female

[Ernies mom]

Ernie my 4 yr old irn is hormonal all year! She is very bonded to me as I raised her from about 5 weeks old. She crouches and clucks when I just walk past her or speak to her in a sweet voice. I am affectionate with her but neve touch her anywhere except her head for scritches. She also is extremely territorial and tries to commaneer the laundry room and has an obsession with my front loadind washer and dryer. In order to do laundry I have to put her in her cage. I'm at the point that I'm considering getting her the hormone implant. Any advice out there? Btw she is extremely stubborn and resists even clicker traing with a cashew reward just throwing them, and cashews are her favorite thing! HELP

 

[Thechoplady]

Ernie my 4 yr old irn is hormonal all year! She is very bonded to me as I raised her from about 5 weeks old. She crouches and clucks when I just walk past her or speak to her in a sweet voice. I am affectionate with her but neve touch her anywhere except her head for scritches. She also is extremely territorial and tries to commaneer the laundry room and has an obsession with my front loadind washer and dryer. In order to do laundry I have to put her in her cage. I'm at the point that I'm considering getting her the hormone implant. Any advice out there? Btw she is extremely stubborn and resists even clicker traing with a cashew reward just throwing them, and cashews are her favorite thing! HELP

My ekkie girl is the same way and she will commandeer the kitchen. I’ve been able to reduce some of the behaviors through diet and sleep. No fruit. Nuts only for training and topps pellets only in foraging toys. Her diet is a vegetable based chop twice a day. I also increased her sleep from 12 hours to 14.

 

[Ernies mom]

My ekkie girl is the same way and she will commandeer the kitchen. I’ve been able to reduce some of the behaviors through diet and sleep. No fruit. Nuts only for training and topps pellets only in foraging toys. Her diet is a vegetable based chop twice a day. I also increased her sleep from 12 hours to 14.

I should have also mentioned that she absolutely refuses chop. I make it fresh myself with her favorite veggies, also have tried several of the Bird Bistro chops, she refuses all even when I know she's hungry after waking up in the am. For a while she did eat Lafebers Pelletberries but refuses them now too. She eats mini sweet peppers, squash, snap peas, and if she's in the mood, broccoli. I give her a couple of blackberries daily too. She is currently eating a small amt of Zupreem sensible seed mixed with Mazuri small bird pellets. She gets 14-15 hrs of undisturbed sleep in her own room completely darkened. We revolve our lives around her schedule. (We're retired) We live in Florida and have a very large pool cage area that she goes out and flies and plays with soo many toys and tree stands we made her. She's a good girl and very sweet most of the time but is constantly horny and searching for places to hide and nest. She even found a small opening under the kitchen cabinets and we couldn't find her for over an hour. I think she would like to be a breeder but I don't want another bird. She's 4yr old and I'm 70. Our son lived with us and bought her at 5-6wks and we hand fed her together but he passed away before she was a year old. I want her to be happy and content.

 

[Thechoplady]

I should have also mentioned that she absolutely refuses chop. I make it fresh myself with her favorite veggies, also have tried several of the Bird Bistro chops, she refuses all even when I know she's hungry after waking up in the am. For a while she did eat Lafebers Pelletberries but refuses them now too. She eats mini sweet peppers, squash, snap peas, and if she's in the mood, broccoli. I give her a couple of blackberries daily too. She is currently eating a small amt of Zupreem sensible seed mixed with Mazuri small bird pellets. She gets 14-15 hrs of undisturbed sleep in her own room completely darkened. We revolve our lives around her schedule. (We're retired) We live in Florida and have a very large pool cage area that she goes out and flies and plays with soo many toys and tree stands we made her. She's a good girl and very sweet most of the time but is constantly horny and searching for places to hide and nest. She even found a small opening under the kitchen cabinets and we couldn't find her for over an hour. I think she would like to be a breeder but I don't want another bird. She's 4yr old and I'm 70. Our son lived with us and bought her at 5-6wks and we hand fed her together but he passed away before she was a year old. I want her to be happy and content.

Im very sorry to hear about your son. It sounds like you want the best for your bird. I would suggest visiting birdtricks.com for a detailed plan on how to be successful converting her diet. Without getting the diet dialed in, its going to be very difficult to bring down her hormones.

 

[Ernies mom]

Im very sorry to hear about your son. It sounds like you want the best for your bird. I would suggest visiting birdtricks.com for a detailed plan on how to be successful converting her diet. Without getting the diet dialed in, its going to be very difficult to bring down her hormones.

Thank you so much for your help. I definitely will do that. It's my fault I'm sure that I have not been firm enough with the dietary restrictions. I don't know how to be firm enough with her, she plays me like a fiddle! Wish me luck, I'm going to have a few good bites coming my way.

 

[Thechoplady]

Thank you so much for your help. I definitely will do that. It's my fault I'm sure that I have not been firm enough with the dietary restrictions. I don't know how to be firm enough with her, she plays me like a fiddle! Wish me luck, I'm going to have a few good bites coming my way.

lol trust me I know what you mean!! Its really tough to say no to them. Also please keep in mind that if you do start a diet conversion to get a scale that can weigh in grams and weigh your bird every day. Birds can lose weight during the conversion and you dont want your bird to lose more than 10% of its body weight.

 

[wrench13]

Yeah, get rid of any sugar bearing foods and fruits. And realize that the first few years after puberty are often HUGE hormonal periods - after all she is a young hen in the first flush of youth! She want to get BIZZY ! My little amazon was almost 3 years in a constant mating season after puberty. It will calm down. Just takes time.