"Too" in the mood?

[DeepLikeNin]

Hi everyone ... weird question. Mercuri is about 1 1/2 years old, and for maybe a year now, she's done the "mating position" ... the wings spread, tail up, weird sounds ... but it's always been occasionally, and usually just with my boyfriend, whom she's in LOVE with. Lately, she's been doing it very very very often. You talk to her, she gets in the position, you look to the computer while your finger is in the cage and look back at her to see her trying to "back in" to your finger. She's had less attention since I got a puppy a few months ago, but she's still very friendly, doesn't seem depressed (though she has spent more time at the bottom of the cage, preening herself ... but she still climbs all over the cage and flies around, sings, etc) ... I've also stopped adding a fruit mix to her seeds, but I'm not sure that any of this would affect her "sex drive"?

....any ideas?

[Emery]

Not to sound crude, but it sounds to me like she's, well, horny. She may be going through a molt and hormones are now rushing through her or it could be that it's spring and...it's that time of the year. :)

[DeepLikeNin]

hmmmmm that's true I hadn't thought that it's summer and it's her first sexually mature summer ... it's still crazy!!! Horny, tho she may be ... this is excessive!!! lol, thanks for the input :o)

[butterfly1061]

Well, I have 4 little "horny" lovies then :lol All of them dance around, clicky-clicky, feed each other, etc... It's just too funny, but I try and distract them when I can. It's just part of their natural behavior :D

[sdgilley]

Hi!
Has Mercuri ever laid eggs? I'm asking because my hen gets more "agressive" when she's starting to make eggs. It lasts through her laying cycle and then subsides. Now I know some lovies are on 24/7, but that's my limited experience in this area.
:)

[bellarains]

Hey Cerissa,

It does sound like Mercuri is in full blow hormonal mode. The time she is spending at the bottom of the cage is her way of searching out a place to nest, since she has no nest box.

If you notice her start to bring things to one corner, say sunflower seed hulls, bits of paper, or whatever she can get her little beak hold of, you will know the time has arrived. Watch for the bulge toward her vent area to appear, and then you will want to provide her with some sort of nestbox. You can give her a box, or you can give her a Kleenex box with the plastic insert removed, and modify the opening a bit so that she can get inside. Put a little nesting material inside the box, and she will take it from there to modify it to her liking.

Let us know when the time comes, and we will help you through it all. Good luck, and watch those fingers;)

[DeepLikeNin]

Thanks everyone! No, she's never ever laid eggs. I'll keep an eye on her ... I was worried for a little while that she might be sick, but she's so happy otherwise I figured it had to be nesting behavior. Should I wait until she's showing an egg before I give her someplace to "lay"? She used to get cereal boxes every once awhile, but she got verrrrry nippy at those times. Now that she's obviously nesting ... maybe I should bring out a box? I thought that you were supposed to discourage nesting? But I don't remember where I heard this. Phew. Thank goodness all this is normal.

[Oscar]

haha! Yup sounds like a hormonal lovie.. don't worry Oscar humps his happy hut and my hair till the cows come home.. its hard not to laugh...

[butterfly1061]

I was laying on the sofa one day and had on socks. Molly decided the hump my big toe since it was sticking up in the air >o Tis' the season :whistle:

[Cathy]

Isn't there some special herbs or something to help these birds? My bird is 20 months old and she hasn't done any of that yet. I'm hoping that she is frigid!

[LauraO]

Thanks everyone! No, she's never ever laid eggs. I'll keep an eye on her ... I was worried for a little while that she might be sick, but she's so happy otherwise I figured it had to be nesting behavior. Should I wait until she's showing an egg before I give her someplace to "lay"? She used to get cereal boxes every once awhile, but she got verrrrry nippy at those times. Now that she's obviously nesting ... maybe I should bring out a box? I thought that you were supposed to discourage nesting? But I don't remember where I heard this. Phew. Thank goodness all this is normal.

Just my :2cents:, but discouraging nesting is always a good thing because laying eggs for any hen becomes a health risk. If Mercuri is sitting in one corner, I would move her cage around and put a perch or something in the corner she's picked to move her out of there. I would also move her toys and other things around, and her cage placement if necessary. I find that even temporarily moving the cage around is helpful. Of course, if Mercuri decides she wants to lay or her bodies already in laying mode there's not much you can do, but I would wait to give her a box til' she's swollen with egg or lays an egg.