Ah. Kermit enters birdie puberty.

[IndySE]

In the most LITERAL way possible.
She's deemed all females in the house as sub-par. She doesn't want to waste her time with us. Why should she ? We don't play hard to get. We give our attention freely... so why should she NOT lunge at us when we attempt to pull her away.

The boys meanwhile... those guys play don't pick her up nearly as much. So of course they're the most desirable persons in the household. There's nothing like seeing the parrot you've spent the last 10 minutes sweet-talking hop up easily onto the nearest boy. If my father's not careful, she might try to claim him as a mate LOL. She's very *ahem* turned on by his foot, for some reason....

She's a bit over a year and a half. I hope her puberty doesn't get worse. In the meantime, I will be somewhat amused as my bird goes through this bratty phase LOL.

 

[PetoftheDay]

Bless you - and good luck! Human puberty is hard enough!

 

[clark_conure]

Your just jealous all the men and boys in your family are handsome!

j/k (sorry to easy) Yeah it will pass, it's biology to the bird, but keep giving treats, that's also biology, and everything will go back to normal eventually.

 

[IndySE]

Hahahaha. I'll have to remind my dad he's married, and he really can't have another girl P: ! Especially as my mom watches him.

In all seriousness... she's not bad at all ! Perhaps it will get worse as she gets closer to the two year mark, but all I'm noticing is she plays favorites and has opinions about being taken off her cage by someone not on her list. She will lunge, but she never bites hard because we've tried hard to respect her boundaries. Fingers crossed we stay at this level.

 

[Skidood]

Haha, my girl has a foot fetish as well..and I got new moccasins to protect my toes, now she wants to dine on the moccasins...

 

[GaleriaGila]

Hey, Indy...
I've read and heard a bit about this issue, but, I'm curious...
As awful as the Rickeybird has been since beccoming a rooster, I've always been grateful not to have to worry about eggs (and all the complications that go along with them). Do you plan to do anything special for your young/maturing hen to prepare her, nutrition-wise or environment-wise? How early do you think Kermit might lay? I'm guessing you don't want her to?
Other young GCC hen owners?

 

[IndySE]

That's a good question. I've had mostly male budgies before her, though I did loose a budgie hen to egg binding when I was young and naive. Her pellets give her a good base, but if she starts getting nesty then I'll have to increase her calcium and make sure she eats those leafy greens, while cutting back on the high fat warm mushy food (not that she has much). We've currently been having a fight about vegetables. Kermit has deemed them as beneath her and much prefers her pellets and seed x__x;; so, I hope egg-laying issues are sometime after she stops getting fussy. We do have the good sense not to stroke her in those sexy parrot zones, and my mother and I try our best to discourage any amorous attention.

.... we can't talk my dad out of wiggling his toe so sexily, though. He's much too entertained. Fortunately it's not too often, so we can mitigate how much sexy behavior she has.

edit;;
I also don't know when to expect eggs, if at all. Some female birds never do, others have a chronic issue of it. My fingers are crossed Kermit will not be so inclined. As long as you don't take away the eggs when they're laid, the hens will usually just sit on her clutch about a month (without hopefully laying more) and then be done with them. You can also discourage it by not providing objects they'd consider a nest, like a snuggle hut (which I don't use anyways since they have all other issues associated with them).

 

[clark_conure]

for calcium get the fortified orange juice with vitamin D and Calcium added.

I also let my bird sneak in a couple sips of milk or a couple bites of cheese once a week, but if you do that pay attention right after, if she changes behavior or her stool changes don't allow it anymore. It doesn't bother clark in the slightest, but I can't speak for all birds.

 

[IndySE]

I fixed her issue against veggies. I took the batch mix she decided was no good, ground it up in this little nut grinder, sprinkled in some chia seeds, and all the sudden it is a Conure treat LOL. It's amazing what little it takes... no taste has changed. These guys are all about presentation P: They're the world's worst food critics.

@clark_conure: Oh, I've never thought of giving her store bought orange juice. Nor did I realize Clark was a female. Does the store bought stuff have any additional preservatives or added sugar I should be wary of ?