New Behavior – Need Advice

[Mom2Bailey]

Bailey has been bobbing his head and regurgitating on one of his toys in his cage. Here’s some background information: the toy is hanging on the opposite end of the perch that his cozy corner is on. He likes to hump his cozy corner. >o The toy and the cozy corner are both the same color. Does that mean anything? Is he relating the two because they’re on the same perch and they are the same color?

Secondly, I’ve only been catching him doing this in the morning. My morning routine is taking Bailey out of his cage for about 10 minutes for a head scratch before I’m off to work. Now when I take the cover off his cage, he’s in the process of bobbing his head and regurgitating on his toy and doesn’t want to come out and see me anymore in the morning. My feelings are hurt. :(

Should I take this toy out of the cage, or maybe move the toys around? I don’t want him to become overly aggressive over the toy. Opinions/Advice appreciated! TIA.

[bellarains]

Alyssa,

Totally normal behavior for a single lovie. Without a mate they will choose a favorite toy, cozy, etc.... to be intimate with.

You can try and rotate the toy, and this might deter him a bit, but he will find another :rolleyes: You will want to keep the toy clean so that bacteria will not grow, and that's about all you can do.

[Mom2Bailey]

You will want to keep the toy clean so that bacteria will not grow, and that's about all you can do.

Should I just wash the toy in hot water? I think it's wood and acrylic.

[RicosPoppy]

I have a single Male Lovie at home and he has been in full feeding mode lately. Everything around our house gets regurgitated on. Fingers, toes, soda cans, milk bottles, toys, happy huts, remote controls, keyboards, mice, I think I even caught him regurgitating on a mayonasse jar I had sitting on the counter. Heck, even perfect stragers who are bold enough to put their finger near his cage (with encouragement from me ;) ) are likely to get barfed on. He just a very affectionate boy I guess. As long as you keep everyting clean, hot water works for me, I guess its not a problem. Your boy will hopefully come around and start sharing his meals. I always feel very privelaged when Rico wants to feed me, until I see him feeding the cereal box and I start to wonder..... :confused:

[Janie]

Let me tell you that after what I saw Jackie's "Molly" (a male, for sure) do, what you're seeing is normal! I'm sure I'll get a taste of that behavior soon with my two 5 month old males. Glad I saw Molly do it first or I'd never have believed it! :D

[bellarains]

Alyssa,

The way I clean my fids things is, I first use a scrubber to get most of the gunk off, spray it down with GSE(grapefruit seed extract) and a water mixture, and then rinse with hot water, or for a quick clean of all the perches, etc... I run them through a hot rinse cylce in the dishwasher. GSE is an all natural disinfectant, so it's all safe for birdies. You can also use a 10%/90% bleach/water mixture, but I prefer the GSE.

[MrsDutchy]

hmmm GSE thats a great idea.. wonder if I can get it here in Holland what its called lol. Maybe I can pick some up in the states during my xmas visit back home. Where could I find it in the states?

[bellarains]

Gina,

If you can't find it there, you can order it online. This is one site that carries it. It is awesome stuff!!!

http://www.herbalremedies.com/gseliqcon2oz.html

[MrsDutchy]

thank you!!! We're gonna check out a herbal store locally here tomorrow after the birdie store :) I'm on a mission to find GSE now, I love all the amazing uses of it and that its natural and non-toxic and fights bacteria!

[Janie]

Gina, after looking for a couple of months I did find it at a very good health store. No more vinegar and water rinse for me......GSE has replaced that. :)

[butterfly1061]

Yep, that GSE is great stuff! I use for all sorts of things. When I researched online, I couldn't believe what you could do with it. :)