What the Heck is Zilla Doing???

[Amanda_Bennett]

The last 2 days she is going to the bottom of her cage, making really awful "whining" noises, throwing everything she finds down there around, and almost balancing on her beak and scratching with both her feet.

She will spend 10 minutes doing this same thing several times a day! Is this hormonal? Or something I should be worried about?

She is eating, drinking, and active, playing with toys and loving me as usual. I know she doesn't feel very good, it's the day after her 3rd dose of meds and they always make her feel icky, but this is not her "normal" with or without meds.

 

[getwozzy]

Sounds like nesting behavior...

 

[Sunset_Chaser]

I would say hormones...........

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Sounds like nesting behavior...

Does that mean she is going to lay an egg??? Should I be feeding her something special???

I've never had a female bird and males never did this!

Now I'm kinda freaking out! My worst fear is egg binding!

 

[getwozzy]

Maybe, maybe not- have you checked her vent to see if it's swollen or not?

The only time I've dealt with this was when my eldest budgie, quigley, started laying. She was nesting between the cage floor and the underside of her food dish so I had to rearrange things in her cage, and give her more light. Having a cage cover even partially on her cage made it dark and nesty.

I would remove any nesting type materials- what is she trying to use? And maybe rearrange things, and also try distracting her when she starts up.

If she does lay an egg, leave it in the cage until she loses interest in it otherwise she'll continue to lay.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Her vent doesn't look swollen, but she isn't being so cooperative of me poking around her privates!

There is nothing in the bottom of the cage except the paper liner and what food/seed she has tossed down there.

I moved her cage over by the window today, so lots of light, no dishes near the bottom to get under. I rearranged her toys and put in some new ones.

I tried to look for an "egg bump" like in some pictures I found on google, but she doesn't seem to have one.

I feel like a total "newbie" again!

 

[getwozzy]

I would just keep an eye on her- maybe the new arrangements will help.

You can always call her dr tomorrow and let them know she's being nesty and see what advice Dr L can give you.

 

[Kiwibird]

She is feeling nesty. It's quite normal, and unless she's getting aggressive, I'd ignore it but not actively discourage it. Female amazons are not prone to infertile egg laying like other species. I very much doubt she is going to lay an egg unless you get her a boyfriend that moves into the cage (I'll be sure to keep Kiwi away). Lucy does that every year, in fact she has a nest box she goes in and builds herself a nest. Since she isn't aggressive, she is allowed to have her annual nest Unless she starts laying (in which case you should contact the vet), I would just cut down on fruit and up her veggie intake. Extra sugar can exacerbate the hormonal behavior, even if it's coming from natural sources. Once she's less hormonal, you can reintroduce normal amounts of fruit.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

She isn't aggressive in any way, she actually seems more loving with me. She doesn't want to be away from her cage as much as she used to, but will still hang out with me on my shoulder or play on her playstand for periods throughout the day.

I took her "foraging" box out so she wouldn't view the shredded paper as nesting material. The box is way too small for her to get in, but it does sit on the bottom of the cage in a far corner (so she won't poop on it) and has treats tucked into the shredded paper.

Maybe Kiwi shouldn't visit for awhile! I love baby birds but I don't want any grandbirdies!

 

[Dopey]

The last 2 days she is going to the bottom of her cage, making really awful "whining" noises, ...

Whisper is whining too. I thought she was imitating my dog. But it may be the Amazon whine.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

The last 2 days she is going to the bottom of her cage, making really awful "whining" noises, ...

Whisper is whining too. I thought she was imitating my dog. But it may be the Amazon whine.

I don't have a dog, but she does have a different "whine" she got from her previous owners dog.

This "whine" just started a couple days ago and isn't really loud, but it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I don't mind most of her other noises, even really like some of them, but this one is going to drive me crazier than I already am!

 

[Dopey]

I have been silently chuckling about the dog whine and was being quite impressed that she had picked up the whine so well. Jeez - now I have to go back to feeling sorry for the Zon because they are so hormonal right now.

 

[Birdman666]

Sally is whining due to molt issues, but everything you described is normal hormonal behaviors for a zon.

And "being nesty" doesn't mean they're going to drop an egg. This is the time of year they establish new nests, and they are just doing what their instincts tell them to do...

(Sometimes with your best pair of flip flops!)

We went through two soda cartons and another phone book after I removed the phone book/flip flop nest. (Now it's under Lila's cage where it belongs!)

Coincidentally, Sally has gone back to living on her playstand... so we have a cause and effect confirmation.

Right now, though, Sally doesn't care about much of anything other than how miserable her new butt feathers are making her.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

So should I give her stuff and let her have a nest or keep "nesting" materials out??? She would probably have to build a new one daily since I change the papers in her cage at least once a day, but it might keep her busy??? Maybe not so much "whining" and driving Mommy crazy??? She does live in my living room with me, just outside my office, so she is pretty much no more than about 20 feet away from me all day every day!

Her cage is now in front of the window and she is enjoying watching the world go by, the little birds eating her leftovers, and the sunshine we are having today.

 

[Birdman666]

So should I give her stuff and let her have a nest or keep "nesting" materials out??? She would probably have to build a new one daily since I change the papers in her cage at least once a day, but it might keep her busy??? Maybe not so much "whining" and driving Mommy crazy??? She does live in my living room with me, just outside my office, so she is pretty much no more than about 20 feet away from me all day every day!

Her cage is now in front of the window and she is enjoying watching the world go by, the little birds eating her leftovers, and the sunshine we are having today.

Sally LIVES in the window, and pretty much always has... that's something I'd never take away from her.

Exactly... I took the big nest out from under Sally's cage. Put two new phone books out. One on top of Lila's cage, and one on top of Tusk's cage. And restocked the soda's in the fridge. Just tossed the boxes in the bird room on the floor. They spent the next two days (4 hours a day or more) turning all that stuff into confetti, and organizing it under Lila's cage...

Free bird toy, that occupies them completely during breeding season?! Does it get any better than that?!

Oh, and I saved "the bones" of my flip flops. When Sarah gets back I'll have to post a pic. (Then I'll give it back to her to finish the job.)