I'm pretty sure Pyro regurgitated on me today. He was sitting on my shoulder and I was petting him like I always do. I could tell he was really loving it because he was making his little chirp noises that are like birdy purrs. Then I could hear this strange sound like he was mushing around food in his beak and sure enough he had food in there. It looked like his formula, but I hadnt given him any formula since this morning. There was 3 pea sized piles on my shirt that I hadnt noticed until I heard the mushing sound and I am 100% sure it wasnt poop. I dont think he was vomitting because it just didnt seem that way. He is only 15 weeks old. Is this normal behavior for his age? Is this okay for him to be doing? I'm not really sure what to do or what to think at this point.
regurgitation
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roxynoodle
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Sometimes babies do it as well, especially males. My sister's Meyers did it from the time she got him. Now later he did think he was mate bonded to her, so as he gets older I'd be watching for those kinds of behaviors.
Pedro
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I would be careful to watch him. In my experience with suns, no i have never seen it in such a young baby & i have reared a lot of them over the years. I would think if he was bring up food at this age it would be because of other reasons. Like something he eat didn't agree with him or he ate or drank to much. Or it could be a sign of illness. Even a low grade bacterial infection.
If it's as the others have said i would discourage it. Sun conures can mature by the time they are 18 months old so you don't want a hormonal bird trying to feed you 24/7.
At 15 weeks i would be more concerned for his health & wellbeing. Seeing he is still having formula & is throwing up & if it keeps happening i would visit the Vets as it's possible he has a mild fungal infection. The other reason id It's time to wean off formula completely.
If it's as the others have said i would discourage it. Sun conures can mature by the time they are 18 months old so you don't want a hormonal bird trying to feed you 24/7.
At 15 weeks i would be more concerned for his health & wellbeing. Seeing he is still having formula & is throwing up & if it keeps happening i would visit the Vets as it's possible he has a mild fungal infection. The other reason id It's time to wean off formula completely.
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I really dont think it was vomiting, but then again I've never seen a bird vomit before. As soon as I noticed he had done this I looked around on the internet for any information I could find. I read that usually when birds vomit it looks pretty violent and they fling the food off by swinging their head back and forth. He didn't do this. It seriously looked like he had formula in his beak, but there was no way he could have food in their that was recent because I had been holding him for a while. I am just worried about this behavior and I am keeping a watchful eye on him. I will take him to the vet if he does it again.
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How can you tell if a bird thinks its mate bonded to a human? I'm sure this is a bad thing, right? I want to prevent it if I can, but I dont know what I did wrong to have him do this. I just dont get why he would do this so young and of course I hope nothing is wrong.
roxynoodle
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Well, if he eventually tries to mate with you, that would be very telling, lol! That might sound funny, but it happens. He/she will also try to chase off your SO or any future one you have. Or it may be very angry with you for "cheating" on it and attack you. So yes, you want to prevent it.
I'm trying to remember now the behaviors the Meyers was giving off to my sister, but it's been quite a few years. He did mate bond with her though and it turned out very ugly when she met her now husband. But, I was surprised when she told me he was regurgitating because I thought, he's too young! Well, somehow he wasn't. He was preparing for his future maturity!
I'm being courted by my amazon currently. He goes to the bottom of the cage and tries to entice me to come over (to nest with him presumably). He is also doing a mating dance. I ignore these behaviors and praise all his good ones. I think he's starting to get that I'm not going to marry him and nest in the bottom of his cage with him now, lol!
As he gets older, don't let him in dark places like under the furniture or in a paper bag. Watch him for trying to drive you into something that could be a nesting hole, like a dark room or closet or whatever (it could be under the furniture; after all he's a bird and it looks good to him).
You might want to set him down or back in his cage if he attempts any mating behaviors with you and ignore him for awhile.
I'm trying to remember now the behaviors the Meyers was giving off to my sister, but it's been quite a few years. He did mate bond with her though and it turned out very ugly when she met her now husband. But, I was surprised when she told me he was regurgitating because I thought, he's too young! Well, somehow he wasn't. He was preparing for his future maturity!
I'm being courted by my amazon currently. He goes to the bottom of the cage and tries to entice me to come over (to nest with him presumably). He is also doing a mating dance. I ignore these behaviors and praise all his good ones. I think he's starting to get that I'm not going to marry him and nest in the bottom of his cage with him now, lol!
As he gets older, don't let him in dark places like under the furniture or in a paper bag. Watch him for trying to drive you into something that could be a nesting hole, like a dark room or closet or whatever (it could be under the furniture; after all he's a bird and it looks good to him).
You might want to set him down or back in his cage if he attempts any mating behaviors with you and ignore him for awhile.
Pedro
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Pyro, is still very much a baby & i feel you have a ways to go before worrying about a hormonal parrot. In my experience with these birds they are not to bad when mature. They do get a little territorial when it comes to their flock & don't appreicate strangers. But if so******ed from an early age are usually very friendly towards everyone. IMO it all reflects on the way you train your bird.
Baby parrots spit up if they are fed to much formula or if the formula has been in the crop to long & sours a bit. Also worth mentioning it's possible he still had food in his crop & some pressure on the crop when you were petting caused the food to come up. When a young sun conure vomits it doesn't throw it's head about. so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. How many formula feeds is he having a day. If he was one of my babies & still on formula the first thought i would have is it's time to wean him completely or he has a bit of a fungal infection in the crop. A baby bird doesn't regurtate in order to get ready for breeding. That is something they learn as time goes on.
If you handle your bird correctly as he get older there is every chance that he will grow up to be a well adjusted adult bird. I have never given any of my companion parrots the opportunity to even try to mate or feed me, i find it disgusting & un-natural so i discourage any behavior before it becomes a bad behavior. You are the only one that can reinforce any behavior you see that is desireable or undesireable.
Baby parrots spit up if they are fed to much formula or if the formula has been in the crop to long & sours a bit. Also worth mentioning it's possible he still had food in his crop & some pressure on the crop when you were petting caused the food to come up. When a young sun conure vomits it doesn't throw it's head about. so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. How many formula feeds is he having a day. If he was one of my babies & still on formula the first thought i would have is it's time to wean him completely or he has a bit of a fungal infection in the crop. A baby bird doesn't regurtate in order to get ready for breeding. That is something they learn as time goes on.
If you handle your bird correctly as he get older there is every chance that he will grow up to be a well adjusted adult bird. I have never given any of my companion parrots the opportunity to even try to mate or feed me, i find it disgusting & un-natural so i discourage any behavior before it becomes a bad behavior. You are the only one that can reinforce any behavior you see that is desireable or undesireable.
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Pedro:
He is taking about 3/4 a syringe when he first wakes up and a second feeding about dinner time of about 1/2 syringe. Today he only had the first feeding and didn't want the second feeding at all. When he did this it was dinner time but before his 2nd feeding, so I hadn't given him formula in about 9 hours. Maybe he did have a sour crop, but his crop wasn't full so I'm not really sure. I hope it wasn't regurgitaion and maybe just some birdy spit up. He hasnt done it again. I feel like I'm completely in the dark and I wish I could talk to his breeder. The guy has totally disappeared off the face of the planet. His number is disconnected and his profile on birdbreeders.com is suddenly gone. I only spoke to him once since getting Pyro the day after I got him. I didn't try for 2 weeks and when I tried to I found out there was no way for me to contact him. I'm so happy to have this forum to go to with these questions. I love Pyro and I want to do what is best for him.
He is taking about 3/4 a syringe when he first wakes up and a second feeding about dinner time of about 1/2 syringe. Today he only had the first feeding and didn't want the second feeding at all. When he did this it was dinner time but before his 2nd feeding, so I hadn't given him formula in about 9 hours. Maybe he did have a sour crop, but his crop wasn't full so I'm not really sure. I hope it wasn't regurgitaion and maybe just some birdy spit up. He hasnt done it again. I feel like I'm completely in the dark and I wish I could talk to his breeder. The guy has totally disappeared off the face of the planet. His number is disconnected and his profile on birdbreeders.com is suddenly gone. I only spoke to him once since getting Pyro the day after I got him. I didn't try for 2 weeks and when I tried to I found out there was no way for me to contact him. I'm so happy to have this forum to go to with these questions. I love Pyro and I want to do what is best for him.
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Roxynoodle:
Thanks for the good info. I really hope he wasn't regurgitating on me and that it was something else of little concern. I will keep an eye out for mating type behaviors, but hopfully I have time before I need to worry. I actually dont really know if he is a male. He has never been DNA sexed. I just think he is a male and his vet palpated his internal organs and said he feels like a male. Do males and females act differently as far as mating or hormonal behaviors? Do I need to know his sex to prevent certain behaviors? I really thought I knew what I needed to know before getting a bird, but I still have so many questions.
Thanks for the good info. I really hope he wasn't regurgitating on me and that it was something else of little concern. I will keep an eye out for mating type behaviors, but hopfully I have time before I need to worry. I actually dont really know if he is a male. He has never been DNA sexed. I just think he is a male and his vet palpated his internal organs and said he feels like a male. Do males and females act differently as far as mating or hormonal behaviors? Do I need to know his sex to prevent certain behaviors? I really thought I knew what I needed to know before getting a bird, but I still have so many questions.
roxynoodle
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Well, don't worry too much yet. It could just be baby regurgitation from a full crop as others mentioned. Somehow I missed that this was a bird still on formula. The Meyers was weaned, but also just awfully young to be showing those behaviors already. I was very, very surprised when my sister began asking for advice and I heard what he was doing. But, if her bird could do it as a baby, I figure others might also.
I'd be careful where I pet him (or her). I'd mostly pet the head and not the belly, back or tail. With boys you don't want to pet their belly and with girls you don't want to pet their backs. Since you don't know yet, avoid both.
My conures are/were both female and had no interest in mate bonding with me. Rowdy definitely knows the difference between men and women. She does flirt with most men she meets (or sees for a few seconds), so I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. I think the amazon is a male but he's never actually been DNA sexed yet. This is my first time being openly courted by a bird. As I said, if he gets started, I just put him back in the cage or on his play gym and ignore him. I don't get upset or yell at him or anything like that. If he's in his cage already and making his moves, I just ignore those as well. I do praise him for other friendly and funny behaviors like hanging upside down and flapping his wings for me, or stretching.
If it helps, my understanding is that conures are not as bad about these things as some other species
I am just trying to ensure my amazon doesn't turn out like my sister's Meyers did. He got to the point where he was attacking her left and right. Her husband was not at all understanding and snapped the bird in his beak, which made him unable to be handled by anyone. I didn't have the time to devote to him and finally talked her into giving him to a good rescue that had people who could work with him. My understanding is that he is back to being a good pet and has been adopted. I would have taken him had I not been working 2 jobs then and had many other pets who needed my attention.
I'd be careful where I pet him (or her). I'd mostly pet the head and not the belly, back or tail. With boys you don't want to pet their belly and with girls you don't want to pet their backs. Since you don't know yet, avoid both.
My conures are/were both female and had no interest in mate bonding with me. Rowdy definitely knows the difference between men and women. She does flirt with most men she meets (or sees for a few seconds), so I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. I think the amazon is a male but he's never actually been DNA sexed yet. This is my first time being openly courted by a bird. As I said, if he gets started, I just put him back in the cage or on his play gym and ignore him. I don't get upset or yell at him or anything like that. If he's in his cage already and making his moves, I just ignore those as well. I do praise him for other friendly and funny behaviors like hanging upside down and flapping his wings for me, or stretching.
If it helps, my understanding is that conures are not as bad about these things as some other species
I am just trying to ensure my amazon doesn't turn out like my sister's Meyers did. He got to the point where he was attacking her left and right. Her husband was not at all understanding and snapped the bird in his beak, which made him unable to be handled by anyone. I didn't have the time to devote to him and finally talked her into giving him to a good rescue that had people who could work with him. My understanding is that he is back to being a good pet and has been adopted. I would have taken him had I not been working 2 jobs then and had many other pets who needed my attention.
MikeyTN
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Like Pedro already mentioned, it could be a bacterial infection and such. When birds vomit, it's like regurgitating. That's how they do it....If you want a peace of mind, bring him to the vet just to be sure.
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I will be taking Pyro to the vet tomorrow. He vomited again today while I was at work. This time on my daughter. I obviously didn't get to see it this time, but I do need the peace of mind. It was after she let him take a bath and she was drying his feathers while holding him.
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