Seeking advice - new to the board

[mnm17]

Hi all,

I am hoping to get some advice from some of you who may have experienced a similar behaviour from your conure.

I have an almost 6 year old GCC and for about the past month she (female is not confirmed, just a 50-50 shot at being right!) has been very, very vocal whereas before you could go days and not even know there was a bird in the house. This is particularly heightened at night, and even when I put her to bed (and continuing past when I go to bed) she continues her noise. She has also started rolling around in her food dish to the point where I take it out of her cage at night because it ends up flying everywhere. This does not happen every night, it seems more intermittent.

In the 5 years I have had her, she has never exhibited any of these behaviours. The only routine that may have changed recently was that I went from being a full time student to a full time teacher and so I would say that yes, I have been out of the house for longer periods of time/she doesn't get quite the same amount of attention. This is not to say that she gets none, but in trying to find whats bothering her I have thought of this as a stressor. I thought that the seasons changing may also have affected her, but this is nothing new for her so I am not sure.

Her appetite and drinking habits are the same. She has regular poop and her behaviours other than this (bedtime) are all the same (preening, bathing, playing).


Anyways, if you have any thoughts/questions/comments that may lead to what is upsetting her, they'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

MNM and Calypso

 

[Mamanda]

I am a new conure owner myself and have nothing to offer to help you, except I wanted to welcome you to the board. I'm sure there is someone who will be able to offer something up ... lots of wonderful folks here with tons of great info.

 

[Spiritbird]

At that age and with the behavior you are describing your bird may have become hormonal. I have a friend with a GCC who was doing the same thing at 10 years of age. We took her to the vet to see why she was screaming so much. Always be weary of egg binding. Vet gave her a good check and a brief sonogram and found she had multiple follicles which can turn into eggs. She had also increased wt. and was puffy. He massaged her and educated us on the subject. If she did not get better the vet would have started a series of Lupron injections. She did get much better and settle down after that visit.

 

[kitt]

Hi and welcome to the board....
My first instincts in reading your post was hormones.....
I don't own a conure but it sounds like you got some good advice from spiritbird....good luck.

 

[melinda]

My first thought is hormones but i would take he to a vet for a check up. Any time a bird is not acting like its self can be a sign of problems that might need to have meds to help her. Your vet can do blood work to check her and see if it is hormones or worst she might be sick. If it is hormones they offer meds to help your baby feel more like her self and everyone can rest easier at night.

 

[mnm17]

Thanks for all your posts. With the rolling around and laying in her food dish, I thought it may have something to do with that but I needed to check. I will have to call the vet and figure this out. Thanks to all! I will let you know what I learn

 

[mnm17]

Took her to the vet. Nothing out of the ordinary or worth worrying about.
I'm still really happy I took her! Thanks everyone

 

[mnm17]

UPDATE!!!! - Ok so SHE laid an egg.

Now what? Where do I go from here? I guess I have a lot to learn really fast!

 

[IcyWolf]

You're going to want to leave the egg in with her until she shows no interest in it or for around a month, whichever comes first. You don't want to take it too soon or she may just replace it and you don't want her getting calcium deficient. Also make sure she has a little extra calcium in her diet right now to make up for what she's losing for egg production, cuttlebones are a good source. If she won't eat the cuttlebone you can try grinding it up into her food Good luck.

 

[roxynoodle]

Do as IcyWolf suggests and leave the egg until she looses interest. Make sure she has cuttle bones to provide her with any extra calcium she needs.

We know by blood work that Merlin, my Grey, is thinking about laying an egg. When we go back to the vet for her checkup she will be getting that shot to calm her down.