Hormonal female lovebird

Boo Boo just celebrated her first birthday last week! I wanted to post a question that some of you may have more experience with involving birdy hormones and mating behavior. Over the last 6 months, but ESPECIALLY within the last 2 months, Boo Boo has been masterbating with all her toys, and also by hanging on her cage and putting her own beak in her vent. I've tried everything. She gets 14 hours of nighttime every night. I've removed/switched toys. I've tried distracting her by doing clicker training sessions with her. But she always goes right back to the mating behavior and regurgitating food. The avian vet didn't seem to think there was much to be concerned about and that she will eventually grow out of the stage she's in. But sometimes her vent area seems irritated due to her constantly rubbing it with her beak or with toys. I've read and researched quite a bit and know that it is a common problem with birds, but I'm wondering if any of your have had experience with this with any of your female birds and offer me any advice on something else I can do to discourage her behavior. She is very active and playful and gets a lot of out of cage time to play with us and is very sweet.

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You might need to try more hours of daylight - instead of less. Try changing diet. If need be, a different cage? Encourage her to forage for her food instead of eating it out of a dish?


I've had/have hormonal females, but never anything excessive to the point of chronic egg laying or harm.

I hope this might be helpful... Ever since the Rickeybird became a rooster at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! 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 for few months in summer). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.

MonicaMc said:

You might need to try more hours of daylight - instead of less. Try changing diet. If need be, a different cage? Encourage her to forage for her food instead of eating it out of a dish?


I've had/have hormonal females, but never anything excessive to the point of chronic egg laying or harm.

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Thanks for the ideas! She has never laid an egg so far. I'm more worried about her hurting herself by irritating her vent with her beak. The amount of time she spends doing that seems pretty excessive to me. I'll try switching her diet up a bit, though she is a picky eater.

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GaleriaGila said:

I hope this might be helpful... Ever since the Rickeybird became a rooster at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! 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 for few months in summer). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.

Click to expand...

I wonder if living in South Florida without much seasonal change keeps her constantly in the mood as well.

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If she's overly hormonal, she could start laying eggs.

Being in Florida where temps are more moderate could play a role in it... but we humans may also play a large role. My birds, for the most part, go to sleep with the sun and wake with the sun. I do not keep them on any strict daylight schedule. If they do get hormonal, it's Spring through Fall but mostly Spring/Summer time.

Add in the rich diets that we feed them... or perhaps the inappropriate way that many pet their birds... or the various things in their cages that could be used as a nest or nesting material... heck, even the cage itself!


So many factors!