Last Updated on by Mitch Rezman
Dorothy T. is seeking a pet bird keeping solution
Henry a Male, by all means, started wanting to feed me, he became obsessive.
Then my other bird.
Not a buddy, but someone he talks with, in my room.
A Rainbow Lory.
Noah the same age suddenly passed away.
Henry and I took it very badly.
Not even a week later, there was an egg in the bottom of Henry’s cage.
It was broken so I tossed it.
It of course was not fertile.
Another egg followed.
I swapped it out with a wooden egg, much too large.
She played with it. 3 months later a new egg. Now she is on the bottom of the cage, loving and sitting on her egg. I did swap it out for a fake egg, the right size. she accepted it. I gave her some cloth.
She lets me lift her and love her, but want to go right back to the baby, is this hurting her?
I love her so much.
She is eating.
And just wants her egg.
She is so sweet to me but wants to kill other members of my family.
My Monk Parrot is the same, I believe they are also called Quaker’s.
But Henry is alone with me in my room and likes it that way.
Thank you.
Dear Dorothy
Henry is the 23 yo severe macaw? Now found to be female and laid the eggs? Noah, the Lory passed, and was Henry’s friend and or room buddy? And you still have a Monk/Quaker parrot but it does not share the same room?
What sex is this one? How is the behavior there?
Sounds like Henry switched his/her attention to you which is a good thing, but unfortunately, she has become hormonally attached as well.
Are you able to handle her? Touch her body, stroke her, cuddle with her?
If you are doing anything other than pet her head from the neck up then you have to stop that. Birds do not touch each other below the neck except when mating. You are not her mate.
Remove all eggs, fake and real, loose balls, cloth, nesting materials, huts, or anything that will encourage nesting behavior.
Do you have supplemental lighting over her cage? If not, now is the time to add it.
Mount a full spectrum or strong daylight bulb in a fixture and hang it as low as possible (6″-12″ away) above her cage/reach and place it on a timer set 12 hours on and 12 hours off daily, forever.
If you have a play-top cage with a tray top, remove the tray and do not put it back on top. The light has to shine through.
This listing provides you with all you need
Clamp on Lamp, Bulb and timer
To break the hormonal cycle/egg laying, you will need to give her a light treatment.
You will use the same lighting I advised above but you will lock Henry up in her cage below the light and leave the light ON for a solid 72 hours/3 days and nights.
The exposure will affect her Pineal Gland which rules the Circadian Rhythm that tells a bird when to molt, when to breed, etc.
After 3 days of this, Henry should lose interest in breeding, egg-laying, and broody behavior, and abandon any eggs. If she still has an egg in her system, remove it when laid. Then you can resume normal activities, put the lighting back to 12 hours on and 12 hours off (year-round) on the timer.
No more cuddling, enjoy her without that.
Don’t hesitate to reach out with further questions.
Regards,
Catherine
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