Horny male Eclectus

[Anyrice]

Our Solomon Island Eclectus, Atticus, has an insatiable desire to mate with our hands/arms/any-body-part-he-can-rub-against-himself. Sometimes this happens within minutes or even seconds after we pick him up. For a while (amusingly) he would even yell "TICKLE, TICKLE, TICKLE" while frantically scrubbing his underside around!

We have tried to discourage Atticus's awkward habit by just setting him down on a standing perch or in his cage whenever he gets cranked up. But our approach hasn't changed his behavior one whit over the years we've owned him. My husband jokes that we just need to get Atticus a female for company, but with my demanding full-time job, there's no way I could handle the potential babies that might result. Anyone have suggestions?

Just as background, we think that Atticus is between 4-9 years old, but that was the vet's best guess. We adopted him after he flew into our neighbors' yard two years ago and no one was able to locate his original owner. It's pretty clear that Atticus wasn't handled much before we acquired him, but he is now vey much the center of our family, i.e., hand-tame, talking up a storm, and attached to everyone. And in true Eclecus form, Atticus eats like a horse, with a balanced diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked legumes and grains.

 

[chris-md]

Hello and welcome!

I'd take your problem over mine any day. When my make ekkie gets hormonal, he just gets aggressive and unhandleable :-/

Big question: how old is he?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hello, Atticus, love the name LOL. Getting Atticus a female is not the answer really as likely to create more problems that it would fix unless you are keen on breeding and prepared to invest in doing it properly.

Giving Atticus loads of stuff to do is a suggestion. Go foraging toys, recall training, loads of toys, get the gist, keep him busy, too busy to focus on 'his tickle' LOL.

I am sure others will chime in for you but in the meantime have a look at posts by Anansi and have a good look through the Eclectus section on here as well. Please put up some pics or videos of your boy especially talking, we are such suckers for these.

PS Hi Chris "Atticus is between 4-9 years old, but that was the vet's best guess"

 

[chris-md]

Hello and welcome!

I'd take your problem over mine any day. When my make ekkie gets hormonal, he just gets aggressive and unhandleable :-/

Big question: how old is he?

 

[chris-md]

Ugh I'm having posting issues apparently. And I'm reading way too fast!

Constant horniness, I doubt anything you are doing would keep him consistently horny all the time. My guess is he's on the younger end of that age range and going through puberty. 3-6 is generally when they go through the dreaded change. You are handling it the right way by giving him "cool down" time when he gets hat way by setting him down.

I really hope Tracey speaks up here. She's going through this same thing with her female. She has developed ways to cope with it (that's all you can really do) that she can share.

 

[plumsmum2005]

It is best to limit starch and sugar in their diet and this includes grapes and corn.
Also helps is more sleep ie less sunlight hours.
Distraction, trick/clicker training, change of scenery.
New interesting toys/cage rearrangement, swings, boings etc.

 

[Anyrice]

Thanks for all your advice! I will definitely try keeping him engaged with new toys and other constructive distractions to minimize the "TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE." :01:

As for food, I'll certainly try to minimize the sugary fruits. Fortunately, this isn't a serious problem in the scope of things. And if I can eventually get him to talk while the camera is rolling, I will definitely share the video. (He always seems to clam up when I point the camera his way, little twerp!)

 

[Anyrice]

Here are a couple of photos of Atticus.

 

[plumsmum2005]

He is a lovely bird, looks really good and looking forward to seeing more of Atticus.

We have some fabulous Ekkie parronts on here so do please have a look through this section on here, it is a mine of info.

 

[Anansi]

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family! Atticus is beautiful! (And that name isn't exactly commonplace. I like it.)

You've already gotten some great advice from Plumsmum and Chris-md. I do suspect that your ekkie is going through a particularly robust hormonal stage and is just having a little trouble adjusting.

As Plumsmum mentioned, try to get him to bed earlier if possible and limit his sugary foods. Extended daylight hours and a supply of rich foods and such are hormonal triggers in the wild.

Also, you want to be mindful of where you are touching him. Sometimes, while petting their birds, people unintentionally give them the wrong idea about the kind of relationship they have. The fact that he says "Tickle" when he's ready for that loving feeling is an indication that this either is, or has been (in his prior home), an issue. When tickling, people are usually aiming for what passes as an armpit on their birds - the area beneath their wings. What many don't realize is that area is an erogenous zone for parrots. As is the back and, unsurprisingly, the vent area. So petting should be largely limited to the head, neck and chest areas.

 

[coopedup]

Wrangler has the same issue as Atticus--unrelenting hormones. He isnt much of a chewer despite the toys I have for him and he also doesnt play much. To help him burn off some excess energy and to give him a more appropriate channel for his urges, we have resorted to "hump bunny". HB is a stuffed rabbit that is tied by the ears to the top of the cage. He/she gets quite a workout several times a day but I credit HB in part with alleviating "frustrations". As a result, Wrangler has made huge progress in regrowing his feathers. Wrangler will still attempt to feed my hands/fingers/toes at times but that is strongly discouraged. He is either put on a stand where he can feed the post or back on top of his cage. I dont believe in suppressing a natural urge (nor do I think it can be, successfully) but it can be redirected. Just remember you have the equivalent of a teenage boy on your hands

 

[Kentuckienne]

Wrangler has the same issue as Atticus--unrelenting hormones. He isnt much of a chewer despite the toys I have for him and he also doesnt play much. To help him burn off some excess energy and to give him a more appropriate channel for his urges, we have resorted to "hump bunny". HB is a stuffed rabbit that is tied by the ears to the top of the cage. He/she gets quite a workout several times a day but I credit HB in part with alleviating "frustrations". As a result, Wrangler has made huge progress in regrowing his feathers. Wrangler will still attempt to feed my hands/fingers/toes at times but that is strongly discouraged. He is either put on a stand where he can feed the post or back on top of his cage. I dont believe in suppressing a natural urge (nor do I think it can be, successfully) but it can be redirected. Just remember you have the equivalent of a teenage boy on your hands

Hump Bunny? You made my day.

 

[coopedup]

Just remember...you cant unsee this!

FYI, the pic was taken 5 weeks after I got him. View the album for a more recent pic

 

[melbourned]

My guy will pluck his feathers prior to entering this stage. He stops talking and loves my hand. He also regurgitates and on his toys and me, if I let him. Once he passes this stage he lets his feathers come back in and tends to be a little more aggressive. Does this behavior sound normal? It kills us, when he looks beautiful and in a matter of 5 to 10 days he's all plucked and grey and stops talking..

 

[Anansi]

Just remember...you cant unsee this!

FYI, the pic was taken 5 weeks after I got him. View the album for a more recent pic

Wow. You weren't exaggerating. Hump Bunny indeed. But you are very much on the mark when you say that hormonal behaviors are best redirected rather than suppressed. Never encouraging these behaviors, and finding a way to redirect if possible when they do arise, are the beltways to work through their hormonal periods.

I know you're probably well aware of this, but keep in mind that he should be watched closely with a toy like that. Choking hazard and all that. So at the first sign of any wear or damage, HB should be pulled from active duty.

My guy will pluck his feathers prior to entering this stage. He stops talking and loves my hand. He also regurgitates and on his toys and me, if I let him. Once he passes this stage he lets his feathers come back in and tends to be a little more aggressive. Does this behavior sound normal? It kills us, when he looks beautiful and in a matter of 5 to 10 days he's all plucked and grey and stops talking..

How old is he? How long have you had him? And how often has this happened in the time that you've had him? Often enough that you can say with certainty that his hormonal urges are the causative factor?

Yes, I've heard of ekkies who pluck when deep in the throes of their hormonal urges. Though more often in females than males, and usually around the chest area. (They pluck the feathers to provide nesting material in lieu of anything else.)

My suggestion would be to first take him in to your avian vet to eliminate the possibility that there might be a medical cause that is exacerbating the effect of his hormonal surges.

Then you might consider ways of redirecting his energy. If you're not fortunate enough to find an alternative such as Coopedup's HB strategy, try rigorous exercise to head the plucking behavior off at the pass. Encouraging a lot of flight (if he's fully flighted) is usually the best way of accomplishing this. A significant portion of his pent up energy and sexual frustration can be expended this way. This doesn't eliminate his desires, of course, but it might bring them down to more manageable levels.

If he doesn't fly, you can try encouraging wing flapping to expend some energy. Or trick training. Anything to keep his mind diverted and stimulated. They are not so different from humans in this, you see. No, we don't pluck or anything out of sexual frustration (I should hope), but having something to take our minds off of it does help. As does exercise.

Another option is giving him more frequent showers. Showers trigger the preening instinct. Birds preoccupied with preening are less focused on sexual desires. Again, shifting that focus. This isn't an alternative to the exercise option, mind you, but rather another available tactic.

Foraging toys are also great diversions. Just keep up the variety of options. The more variety, and the more engaging (and exhausting) the activities, the more diverted he will be.

 

[coopedup]

Just remember...you cant unsee this!

FYI, the pic was taken 5 weeks after I got him. View the album for a more recent pic

I know you're probably well aware of this, but keep in mind that he should be watched closely with a toy like that. Choking hazard and all that. So at the first sign of any wear or damage, HB should be pulled from active duty.

HB had eyes and neck bow removed prior to ummm...active duty. I throw him in the wash weekly to get the dried regurge off his face. Im already looking for a replacement--better to be prepared BEFORE it's needed!

 

[Uglow]

Here are a couple of photos of Atticus.

what a sweetie.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Just my dos centavos...
My Patagonian rooster is an ongoing challenge ever since he hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age. If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September. He has his own room, so I can do that easily. Light management has really been the key for us.