Conure trying to mate with all her toys!

[Aquila]

For the past two months or so, my GCC has been trying to mate with all of her toys, rubbing against them and screaming, fluffing up, doing the whole thing, and she won't stop! That's all she'll do. I haven't seen any eggs lain, but I changed her bedding from newspaper (which she was shredding) to Carefresh bedding, so now she doesn't go down there so much and cause chaos.

I've tried rotating out her toys, but now I feel like I can't have anything in there because she gets so preoccupied with them.

I'm not sure how to handle her behavior. She's never been particularly loving, she's very independant. She's forgotten "Step Up" since she had been neglected before I adopted her, and my attempts to teach her again haven't gotten very far. I can give her scritches and pick her up without a problem, but she doesn't like to sit with me for long.

 

[94lt1]

My amazon was like this... its a hard road back.. it takes a lot of care and patience.. good luck..

 

[MonicaMc]

Have you ever looked into clicker and trick training? It would help to redirect her energies into some healthier behavior that can be fun for both of you.

 

[Aquila]

Have you ever looked into clicker and trick training? It would help to redirect her energies into some healthier behavior that can be fun for both of you.

Yes, I've tried it extensively, and she looks at me like I'm crazy. I'm a dog trainer so I have plenty of experience with it. My best guess is she's just going through a hormonal period though I thought the time of year was odd, lol.

 

[Kern2012]

My Cooper is in that stage too, I sorta just direct her attention to something else like singing to her or giving her some fruits and vegs or taking her for a walk outside. It is kinda frustrating but it will all work out Good Luck

 

[MonicaMc]

Many people keep their homes at a constant temperature year round. We then have artificial lighting that keeps birds up longer than the sun has gone down. In other words, we can easily set up the "perfect breeding setup" for our birds any time of the year!

Does she even ignore her favorite treats?

 

[MikeyTN]

IS yours a male instead of a female? Just let him run it's course, he'll get over it eventually....Once they're in the mood to go into mating mood, sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it. I have actually tried leaving a girl of mine in the dark, solitary, etc etc. She still lays eggs on the bottom of her cage regardless of her situation, I took out all the toys even. The only time she sees us is when we feed her, that's it! So I give up and I provide her with plenty of calcium and move them around to different cages often enough to discourage them from laying....

 

[amysaviary]

Try to cut back her hours of day light and make her work for her food. Make her forage for her food to give her something to do other then what she is doing. Also r u sure it is a female? Males tend to rub more then females.

 

[Aquila]

When I adopted her, I was told she was DNA tested female. She seems to get "in position" with her toys and kind of get under them. As for foraging, I do give her foraging toys, and she gets an average amount of sunlight/activity during the day, but the thing is she'll still do this into the night.

 

[MonicaMc]

Increasing sleep time and/or increasing the quality of light she receives may help... may help to change around diet (if high protein diet, try less protein for example), no warm foods, perhaps temporarily decreasing moist foods, etc may all help... but some hens are just determined! You might try giving those a shot, perhaps even changing the temperature of the room, but if she's determined, not sure there is much you can do!

I have a female cockatiel known for using food dishes and perches to masturbate on. Can't exactly remove perches (just move them around), but changing dishes did help! If she found something she could deem as a nest, she'd lay eggs! Anything from a cage with a low shelf to the ground making a dark 'cove' to something leaning against the wall and making a dark covey on the ground... if it was dark and somewhat enclosed, she would lay eggs! Thankfully, she's easy to deter from laying eggs constantly!

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

I don't have a female. But when Pritti gets hormonal or just agitated, I like to let him down run around on the floor alot. So to the kitchen / breakfast room it is. Tile floor, no wires or anything to preoccupy him. It keeps him busy walking the perimeter and couple of times. I put a little dish or food and water down. sometimes he'll do that for long time, like hour.

 

[MeganMango]

If you are really desperate Ive heard that the vet can provide hormones to try to balance this. I guess it doesnt always work, and it seems extreme, but in some cases it might be worth a try. I had to do a similar thing to my show horse, she got frisky with everything! She would try to get with fence posts, buckets, walls.... people... and she stayed in heat for 4 months straight. It made a huge difference and actually made her regular. I dont know anything about this in birds though.

 

[Aquila]

She'd rather stay on top of the playstand, or fly and land on my blinds, and has chewed them to hell because she'll get a few bites in before I can get her.

 

[SweetPeasFriend]

Our blue crown started this with one his toys that was his size. My dad took it away for a while saying, "he got a little too involved with it," lol. That seemed to stop him.

Our mitred used to do that to her own tail! Couldn't stop that. She laid two clutches of eggs between age 12 and 13, but never again.