My bird thinks im his mate and i have no clue what to do.

[kikirose25]

Hi all! My 3 yro cockatiel has started exhibiting mating behaviors, like rubbing against his food dish and licking/nipping my face and mouth. I am really uncomfrtable with this and want to know how to stop it. I had been previously opening his food door when he was rubbing to force him off of it, but i have read that can redirect that energy to me. I also didnt know biting/licking my face and mouth was courting, but I will not allow him to do that anymore. I am going to start making it darker earlier in my room, but I wanna know what to do when he rubs against his bowl. How do i stop him without redirecting the energy to me/breaking his trust? I love him to pieces but this has really strained our relationship as im scared of him wanting to mate. I never pet him and the only physical touch is on his terms, typically on my finger but once in a while sitting on me when i lay in bed. What do i do??

Edit: Have been shutting lights off earlier to the best of my ability. Also moved a toy above his food dish that will bother him when he tries to mate the dish. He eats fine, but I haven't noticed any mating behavior yet.

 

[osklvste79]

Only pet head and neck. Avoid wings, tail at all costs. Remove objects if possible that stimulate this behavior. Is it the bowl or attached food dish? Switch if possible. A brighter daylight light. Try to make sure there are no dark spots in cage. Ensure 12 hours of night sleep. No interruptions, tablets, phones included. What is diet? You want to limit high sugar foods. There's plenty of forums here's about hormones and feedings. I find easier to simply put my CAG in her cage. Ignore her mating behavior until she settles down. Every bird is different. Is your bird male or female. If female you want to be more aggressive in discouraging mating behavior. Females lay eggs. That can lead to a new set of problems best avoided. Read through the posts here about hormones. Your bird can't avoid them. It's natural. So don't blame your pet.

 

[texsize80]

I have 2 female cockatiels that have this problem.
With a male cockatiel it is (in my opinion) not such a big deal. They won’t lay eggs or become egg bound.

But my females have been near impossible to curtail the rubbing of their bum on just about anything.
Angel laid 3 eggs earlier in the year.
I change water dishes, and rearranged perches to no avail. She was backing up to the bars of the cage and even got a tail feather stuck and pulled out in the door.

Both girls love scratches and we only touch head and neck .

I have no answers. The drive to breed is very strong in some parrots not so much in others.
I was not concerned about it till the egg showed up.
At least I was able to stop egg laying at 3.

 

[Zilga52]

Rearranging or moving cages has always worked pretty well to disrupt ours, but it doesn't work for everyone. I also echo what everyone else said about food and sleep. I sometimes avoid petting entirely, even on the head, during particularly hormonal periods since it seems like all attention ends up resulting in, uh, amorous behaviors.