Mating Behavior Gone Awry

[LoveSkittles]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, and I have some concerns about my lovebird, Skittle.

I got Skittle about 8 months ago through a mutual friend. He (I'm not actually sure on gender) had a mate who was killed by his previous owners dog. In order to save Skittles from an untimely demise himself, he now lives with me where he is safe from canine predators. He lived in a large enclosure with my two cockatiels for a long time, but when the cockatiels had babies, I thought it was in everyone's best interest to remove him from their cage.

This is where the problems begin. Skittle has bonded to not just one, but all of the toys in his cage (about 5). This wouldnt really be too much of a problem except for the fact that he regurgitates for all of them. Because he is constantly throwing up, I dont think he is eating enough. His poops have been pretty dinky lately. I certainly cant take all the toys he has away from him, but I dont know what to do. I have tried keeping him covered more, I have tried rearranging the cage. I dont know if its because he senses the cockatiel babies that he has been thrown into this mating frenzy, but it has to stop.

I was wondering if anyone had any advise on what would be best for Skittle. I was thinking about possibly DNA testing him and getting him a female (or male if it turns out he is female) companion so he can get some birdy love. Its so sad to watch him groom his toys and bow his head and wait to be groomed in return only to be let down again and again.

Skittle is pretty much hand tame. He doesnt like scritches, but sometimes he will let you pet him, it just depends on his mood. Unless of course he is next to any one of his mates, then he wants nothing to do with me and will snip at me if I try to pick him up. I am concerned that getting him a bird friend will make him love me less, but if it gets him to stop throwing up all over everything, it would be worth it.

Tried to get a picture of him, but he is so spastic he wont hold still! Haha. But I love him anyways. You can see his disgusting rattle that he has just gotten done regurgitating allll over.

Any advise you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Remy]

What a cute little lover boy!

Have you weighed him to find out if he's been losing weight? He may be eating extra to make up for all the regurgitating.

 

[IcyWolf]

I agree, the only way to tell if it's really a problem is to weigh him and see if he is actually losing weight.
I also had to laugh, when you pointed out the rattle, our conure has the exact same one in his cage, except his is pink. I've been asking friends for their used infant toys and one of them gave me that.

 

[MikeyTN]

Your skittles is most likely a male from the sound of it. A female will shred the newspaper you have within that cage and tuck it in it's tail. They use it to make nesting materials. If he doesn't improve with constantly throwing up, I would suggest in removing all the toys he's doing it on. It's hormonal season, it shouldn't last much longer.

 

[Pearl]

I have a female, so I get the shreddy-tucky thing, not the barfy thing. They're horrible little hormone machines aren't they? I'd take away the toys that seem to be provoking the behavior worst, and try rearranging the whole chage, even moving it to a new area of the room or changing the orientation if you can!