Please help! I think my parrot is savage

[aroona786]

Hi there,

I am the one who asked for help about my parrot who swallowed the plastic tube. That parrot is now about one year and 2 months old. She is perfectly ok. Eats well talks a lotttt. And she is so adorable.

May be you guys know, I have another parrot who is now 2 years old.

My pair was completed with this female parrot. They were very happy with each other. They exchange food via regurgitating.

But don't know what happened 1 month ago. I saw that my male parrot is biting on her head. As if he is searching something over there. lol. I stopped him. But then he started doing so after every 4-5 hours. My female parrot is almost BALD now.

Other than this my male parrot is plucking his own feathers. Doesn't it hut him? He started this yesterdday.
Can you guys tell me why is he doing so. Is he gone insane or savage?

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

I have no experience in this srea and hopefully somebody with more experience will come along soon and answer you but from the little I do know I would say your males change in behaviour is hormonal. It sounds as if he might be getting frustrated with the female or perhaps is over preening her to cause the baldness...hopefully someone will come along soon who is more helpful than me and be able to advise you on what to do. Do you want to breed them or are they just bonded pets who are never to be bred? The fact that they have been feeding each other means they have bonded as a couple.

 

[aroona786]

I have no experience in this srea and hopefully somebody with more experience will come along soon and answer you but from the little I do know I would say your males change in behaviour is hormonal. It sounds as if he might be getting frustrated with the female or perhaps is over preening her to cause the baldness...hopefully someone will come along soon who is more helpful than me and be able to advise you on what to do. Do you want to breed them or are they just bonded pets who are never to be bred? The fact that they have been feeding each other means they have bonded as a couple.

Thanks for the reply.

May be you are right. his behavior is hormonal or may be he is frustrated.

They live in the same cage. Should I put them in separate cages?

Yes I want them to breed. I put her into my male parrot cage when she started eating herself. since then, they are living together happily. So, I am hoping they'll breed next year. I also took them to the parrot shop from where I bought, the shopkeeper said, they'll breed next year. and when I showed him that he made her bald, the shopkeeper said. its because of age difference in them. I really didn't get this thing. So I am here to ask you guys

 

[wrench13]

Hi there. Where are you located?

I think your female at 1 year and 2 months is not sexually mature yet, so she is not interested in breeding and your male parrot is just having his first cycle of hormones that trigger the urge to breed. And the first time, like he is experiencing, is the worst!
It is much stronger and lasts longer then the typical breeding season for your parrot species.
He is plucking at her head feathers to try and stimulate her into breeding ( but she is not ready yet) and now he is becoming frustrated and starting to pluck his feathers.

I would not only cage these 2 separately, I would cage them out of sight of each other, or even in different parts of your house. If the male sees the female he may still pluck his own feathers, and MAYBE, just maybe if he can smell her ( parrots give off pheromones, just like people) his plucking may continue. Next year, around normal breeding time, it may be a whole different story, and the males sexual advances to your female may be accepted.

I am hoping some one with Alexandrine parrots will respond, and maybe they know the usual breeding season and length of time for your birdies ! But you have to stop the male from plucking her and himself, otherwise it may become a habit and thats bad!
Good luck aroona!

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Okay I found some information which might help give you an idea about pairing and breeding eclectus
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww67eii.htm
It says;
"The female is the dominant member of the Eclectus pair. Puberty and sexual maturity are more dramatic with the female than the male, who seems to change very little as he approaches sexual maturity. The males continue to play like young birds and enjoy their human flockmates even while raising babies. They are happy-go-lucky guys whose ladies manage the home and family. Eclectus females are loyal to all who are lucky enough to win their affection, but they are fiercely protective of their nest and babies. They go through an aggressive stage as they mature sexually and become protective of the "nest area" which includes their cage as well as the nestbox. With consistent love and guidance from the owner, this stage passes and the female Eclectus remains a wonderfully loving companion to her human family. Even though they have a well-deserved reputation for being aggressive toward strangers when they have eggs or chicks in the nest, they will allow a trusted human friend to handle the eggs and chicks. Many small-scale breeders whose Eclectus pairs were loving pets before they became producing pairs, are allowed to be a "third wheel" and function as a member of the "family team". Interference by humans is not tolerated by many parrot species.
Breeding

Eclectus parrots become mature enough to breed at two to five years of age. The smaller Solomon Island subspecies can reproduce as early as eighteen months of age, and some of the larger subspecies such as the Vosmaeri and Macgillivray, mature sexually as late as four to six years of age. Most subspecies lay two eggs per clutch and the Solomon Island Eclectus occasionally lays three or rarely, even four eggs. Fertile Eclectus eggs generally hatch in 28 days. The chicks hatch blind and naked but quickly double in size. It is important to allow first-time Eclectus parents to raise their chick(s) for as long as they will feed them. If one pulls the chicks after a few days or weeks, the parents will come to expect the babies to leave the nest prematurely and might never feed their chicks to the fledging stage.
*
Solomon Island Haley sitting in seed cup
Once an Eclectus pair starts producing fertile eggs and hatching and feeding babies, it is difficult to stop them. In captivity, they will lay eggs year round unless forced to rest in order to prevent the problems that accompany overbreeding. Once the birds figure out the logistics of breeding, incubation, and raising chicks, many Eclectus females are so determined to lay eggs that they will lay in food dishes or in any other suitable place they find if they have no nestbox. It is sometimes necessary to change the environment completely to force the birds to rest."

 

[aroona786]

Hi there. Where are you located?

I think your female at 1 year and 2 months is not sexually mature yet, so she is not interested in breeding and your male parrot is just having his first cycle of hormones that trigger the urge to breed. And the first time, like he is experiencing, is the worst!
It is much stronger and lasts longer then the typical breeding season for your parrot species.
He is plucking at her head feathers to try and stimulate her into breeding ( but she is not ready yet) and now he is becoming frustrated and starting to pluck his feathers.

I would not only cage these 2 separately, I would cage them out of sight of each other, or even in different parts of your house. If the male sees the female he may still pluck his own feathers, and MAYBE, just maybe if he can smell her ( parrots give off pheromones, just like people) his plucking may continue. Next year, around normal breeding time, it may be a whole different story, and the males sexual advances to your female may be accepted.

I am hoping some one with Alexandrine parrots will respond, and maybe they know the usual breeding season and length of time for your birdies ! But you have to stop the male from plucking her and himself, otherwise it may become a habit and thats bad!
Good luck aroona!

Hmmmm.. you are right. My female parrot is not mature yet. I'll put them in separate cages. Now, I completely understood why he was doing all this plucking thing. Thanks for your reply

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Apologies for my earlier post for some reason I got it into my head that you had a pair of Eclectus...SORRY !
But I think wrench 13 gave you the answer you were looking for

 

[aroona786]

Apologies for my earlier post for some reason I got it into my head that you had a pair of Eclectus...SORRY !
But I think wrench 13 gave you the answer you were looking for

ohh no, its ok. It means a lot to me that you searched on Internet to help ME. Thanks

Yeah, wrench13 gave me the reason why my parrot was behaving like this. Thanks to him too

 

[wrench13]

Your welcome. Let us know if the plucking stops.

 

[aroona786]

Your welcome. Let us know if the plucking stops.

I put my parrots away from each other. But my male is still plucking his feathers. I live in Multan, Pakistan. Here we have very hot climate. so, I was thinking may be he feels hot with his feathers that is why he is plucking them? Although I put them underneath fan 24/7. And I turn on A/C at noon and at night and they take shower almost everyday. isn't these things enough for them? If that is the reason you said, then after how many days he'll stop plucking his feathers?