Strange Behavior

[Evanskiver]

Hello all,

I have mentioned in the past that our rescue WFAmazon seems to constantly try to mate with me. She will come close, stand next to my hand, lean forward and fluff her wings a bit. If I ignore her, she will then climb on my hand to get my attention.

I was informed that this was a mating ritual and that I was doing more harm then good by letting her out around me and stressing her. I was also informed that they usually are only in mating mode for about a month at a time.

We are going on a good 4-6 months now and not a thing has changed. She still does the ritual, and will even come to the closest spot to me in the cage and do it while in the cage.

She absolutely loves being out and around me and I cannot even get out of my chair if she is out as she will fly to my shoulder the second she thinks I am leaving. I have left her in her cage for about a month and a half trying to see if this would solve anything and it hasn't. I hate seeing here just sit and look at me all night, but I also don't want to hurt her more.

Backstory: We got her from a pet store that had her in a hamster cage and fed her sunflower seeds for about 6-8 months. She was a drop off and they had no information on her at all, which helped me get her for around $150.

1. Is it possible at all that what would normally be a mating dance is nothing more then something her previous owner taught her to do? We have also gotten her off of the sunflower diet and atleast eating a seed mix.

I do not want this poor bird being locked up forever, it is not fair.

2. Something else that I wanted to get an opinion on is that when we got her she was extreamely clumsy, and I originally attributed it to being stuck in the hamster cage. She however is still falling. She can barely walk across a flat surface without tripping. I know for a fact that she climbs the cage and moves around a bit so she should have strength in her feet by now.

3. Reptar has absolutely no interest in toys. None. All she does is sit and stare at me. Could this also be a result of previous ownership? Maybe she was able to spend all her time with her person so that she never really played with toys?

PS: She no longer talks

As always, thank you for all your help. Hopefully we can get Reptar to say "Hello" to me again!

Edit: I fail at English.

 

[SandyBee]

Ok I am no expert, but

We got our DYH Amazon 2 months ago. Your bird may be just excited and in love with you. Bosley paces and coos every morning, when I get home from work and also when he smells dinner coming LOL. He also regurgitates (the motion only) when he is super excited. I let him out when I am home. He is only in his cage when I go to work or bed.

He at first didn't play with any toys, and just wants to be with me. In his cage he just sits and stares. I got him a bunch of foraging toys, made foraging toys and got him a playstand with a ton of wood blocks to chew. He is starting to use them.

The clumsiness should probably looked at by a vet to determine why and get the help she needs.

Talking, she probably will. Bosley has said hello to me 3 times in 2 months, he does it when he wants LOL

 

[Aquila]

Sounds like she's interested, and yes, it could have been something the old owner encouraged because it was cute. I wouldn't put her back in the cage and close the door, but I would put her on top of the cage and ignore her till she stops. You could also try to distract her with something, and make sure to reward her when she's doing the behavior (or not doing!) you want her to.

You could get her wings clipped to stop her from flying to you, and they do come back when she molts, so you're not hurting her by doing it, but it's up to you. As for being clumsy, my Amazon is, though he has foot problems, and when he walks along the floor he walks beak first on the ground. Some birds just aren't used to a flat surface so it'll take time, but she also might need her nails clipped.

My conure was scared of her toys when I got her, and I started with soft stuff like paper, and held it out for her to grab and shred. She still doesn't go for anything harder than paper, but she'll shred and preen anything she can.

Try foraging toys, anything you can hide food in, and I've also heard hanging toys in the way of the food or water bowl can start interest, since they have to move them to access the bowl. She might not have ever had toys, but it's really hard to say.

As for the talking, talk to her like a toddler, explain what you're doing in simple terms, use little phrases around her, and she'll get there. They usually need to be comfortable to be talking, so she might be preoccupied right now!

 

[henpecked]

Maybe you have "mating behavior" confused with something else. Could you post a video of this behavior, your description doesn't sound like "mating behavior". I'm afraid switching her from a sunflower seed diet to a "mixed seed diet" is not doing much to improve her health. Loads of older threads about what to feed your amazon. I hope you get back to us in a timely manner so that we can help improve the quality of life for you and your Amazon.

 

[Evanskiver]

Thanks for all the help! I will not be home until around 9 tonight and will get a video done then. As for the food switch, I can't force her to eat things, she litterally throws anything that is not a seed to the bottom of her cage. I have tried fruit and vegi and even Zupreem and Nutri-Berries to no success. Not sure what else to do.

 

[henpecked]

I'll bet we can switch her over, never met a zon i couldn't get to eat better. They naturally prefer fat rich foods but i'm sure we can improve her diet. The first thing to do is get you two together , Then we can fix her diet.

 

[Evanskiver]

I am ready and willing! On a side note how well do African Greys get along with Amazons?

 

[MonicaMc]

You said your zon was recently to an a-vet and got a clean bill of health?

If so, may I ask what the vet did and any tests performed?


I would suggest teaching her tricks and behaviors to perform instead of the behavior she is displaying.


It reminds me of Sirocco, whom Barbara Heidenreich had to help train him to stop trying to mate with humans and to perform better behaviors instead! You can find blogs and videos about him on her blog site!
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk

 

[Evanskiver]

They did a stool test and did a physical basically.

 

[MonicaMc]

I would highly suggest getting blood work done, because that will tell you more or less what may be going on with the organs and deficiencies, and you can then adjust the diet accordingly.

 

[MeganMango]

Maybe try some trick training to get her distracted. Mango does something similar to what you are describing if he wants our attention. He sort of squats and lifts his shoulders. His wings are still folded but he holds them out from his body. He then bobs his head a bit and chirps. We ignore it, but he doesnt stop. He doesnt do this near us though, usually when hes in his cage and wants out, or if he wants what Im eating. Ive associated it with begging. Hes not an amazon though, hes a red belly and might be completely different.

 

[henpecked]

That's what i'm thinking. It's a begging behavior. Goes back to being a baby an begging for food from momma. Mine do it for attention ,even at age 40. Of course it usually works. LOL Maybe she can get us some video.

 

[Evanskiver]

Maybe try some trick training to get her distracted. Mango does something similar to what you are describing if he wants our attention. He sort of squats and lifts his shoulders. His wings are still folded but he holds them out from his body. He then bobs his head a bit and chirps. We ignore it, but he doesnt stop. He doesnt do this near us though, usually when hes in his cage and wants out, or if he wants what Im eating. Ive associated it with begging. Hes not an amazon though, hes a red belly and might be completely different.

This is EXACTLY what Reptar is doing! Sadly we tried to get a video and she was camera shy. So this really could just be her wanting attention? Looks like I failed and did the opposite on the advice of the vet. I think I may need to find a new Avian vet, I have taken her 4 times now for various reasons and am always sent out the door with a "Come back if anything new happens." and even was told one time that due to her not being sexed that the vet wasn't going to spend extra time checking for problems that would be gender specific.

 

[henpecked]

Can't imagine what problems would be gender specific that a vet would check for. Maybe excessive egg laying /calcium levels ? I think you need a better vet. Where do you live? Maybe there's some other members in your area who could make recommendations.

 

[Evanskiver]

I live in Villa Rica, Ga. West of Atlanta, and the vet said if she was female then she would look for a stuck egg but because we didn't know she wasn't going to worry about it.

 

[henpecked]

Oh i see. Egg bound hens are usually quiet and subdued, puffed up in the corner of the cage.Don't let me convince you your AV isn't the best, just seemed strange.

 

[MeganMango]

Is this behavior the only reason youre seeing your vet? It sounds like she just wants attention or treats. Mango is definitely male and displaying the same behaviors, he doesnt have a suck egg
I would work on stimulating her a bit with some simple but fun training, and make sure you rotate her toys lots. Are zons knows for being independent? Mango usually is, but hes not an Amazon. He has certain times when he is really sucky and he just needs to be on/with us. We have a mobile play stand that we use to keep him near us if we are busy and cant play with him directly. I suspect leaving her in her cage would make it worse if she is begging for attention.

 

[MonicaMc]

It appears there are several avian vets within an hours drive... and even a few within 20 minutes of you. Hope these links help!

Find an Avian Vet | Lafeber Cares – Pet Bird Food

The Association of Avian Veterinarians | Association

Birdsnways - Board Certified Avian Veterinarians

 

[melissasparrots]

My older female bonded to me in a big way after I first got her home. Sometimes she would be sitting on the couch beside me and if I reached over her to pick up the reomote control, she would crouch down and do the female mating thing. This went on for quite a while. I just distract. I don't think in most cases you need to ignore a bird because of hormonal behavior. If mine do it, I just walk away for a few minutes, or I give them a new toy, or switch gears and practice some trick training.

I really think you need to get a blood chemistry done on her and also get her on a better diet. Amazons on seed only diets almost always have major vitamin A deficiencies. With most parrots, if they are refusing more nutritious foods, its because you're letting them get away with having too much seed. If I do a diet change with a new bird, I weigh them every day. If you don't have a gram scale, get one. Once I know what their stable normal weight is, I start slowly reducing the amount of seed they get while offering pellets and veggies. Good veggies to try first for a bird like this would be cooked until soft sweet potatoes, carrots, squash or dark green veggies. Some birds will pace back and forth, or scream and drop a little weight while trying to convince you that they won't eat the icky pellets or veggies. But after a few days, most will get tired of being hungry and actually start eating it. I would guess, that once on a better diet, some of this clumsiness will start to go away. Depending on the size of the bird, you might see a 10-20 gram weight drop while the diet conversion is going on. If you see more than that, then you might be doing it too fast. Unless the bird is way over weight to start with, in which case getting on a lower fat diet might contribute to a continuous slow drop in weight as it gets healthier.

 

[Evanskiver]

So, after taking some advice I recieved here and a little research, we have progress! We went and purchased (For both our Alexandrine and Reptar) a whole new diet! While I must confess that on advice from our vet, we were giving them both a Parrot mix with pellets and seeds as their main source of feed. But, I think we have got this down now, and am happy to announce that after she got done eating in the picture she took a poo about an hour or so later and didn't struggle! Could be a coincidence, but heres to hoping for the best.

Below is the meal plan, please offer any advice you may have as we do want the best for our feathered children.

Note: all fruits and vegi's are bought frozen with no additives such as salt and then thawed in warm water so that they are warm to the touch. When it is not meal time, we are leaving some zupreem in the cage.

Morning (7-8 am) :

- Brocli
- Califlower
- Corn
- Peas
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Blueberries

Lunch (12-1 pm) :

- Whole Grain Cherios
- Saltless Cracker
- Small amount of seed mix

Dinner (5-6 pm) :

- The remnants of the morning meal (Note: it has been refridgerated all day)
- Some of whatever meat we are eating that night that was set aside and not seasoned or otherwise altered.

Again, were new to this and any help would be great!