DANCING?

[Alicia Marie]

Have any of you ever seen a lovebird dance? :confused: My lovie Sugar decided to show off her dance moves today. She stood on the highest perch in her cage. . . spread her wings as far and as high as they would go. . . . raised her tail feathers to an almost 45 degree angle. . . then she danced. :rofl: One foot to the next. . . in a circle, first one way, then the other. I think she's having a breakdown :rofl:. I'm going to try and get a video of it the next time she does it. The weirdest part was. . . . i didn't even have the music on. LOL. Just kidding. Seriously though, should i be worried, or is this pretty normal. I have to admit, i almost peed myself laughing watching her. When i went to get closer, she stopped, and acted normally. Could this be a sign of something serious, or does my bird just like getting her groove on? :confused: :lol

[bellarains]

Nope, not a breakdown, Sugar is dancing, but it's the mating dance. Sugar is actually soliciting when she does that little wing spread/dance.

I think Sugar is a single gal, so not sure who or what she is soliciting, but she does have a goal in mind. I read your other post, and it sure seems like she's got more eggies on her mind. You could try to dissuade her, but if she's already in laying mode, you might just get a second clutch.

You can move everything around in the cage, lessen daylight hours, lessen food(don't starve her), but don't overfeed her either. You can also move the entire cage to a different location in an attempt to take away her comfort zone. If all of this fails, or if it's too late, set her back up, and be very diligent in making sure she has plenty of calcium, ie cuttlebone, broccoli, kale, collard greens, and figs are a wonderful source of calcium also.

Do watch her very carefully if she does double clutch to make sure she is eliminating, and that she is not having a hard time laying an egg. Make sure you have an avian vet number handy, and also an emergency vet number, just in case you need it. Being prepared is priority with any egg laying hen, especially one that double clutches.

Good luck, and let us know how she's doing please.

[Alicia Marie]

thanks for the quick reply :D I'll try those things. I wonder if she'd be happier with a boyfriend? What do you think?

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Hi! There are a lot of things to consider before you decide to add a second bird to your family. :)

On one side of the coin, what if they don't get along? That there are no guarantees that the two birds will actually like each other. (Just ask my pair. They have a love/hate thing and spent several months in separate cages this year.) While there are exceptions to every rule, if you decide to get a mate for your bird you will want to get a separate cage for the mate at first, and not just for quarantine purposes; hens can be SERIOUSLY territorial. Adult hens will generally reject a younger male so you'd need to make sure you are getting an adult male.

On the other side, if they *do* get along, you have to worry about fertile eggs and possibly babies. You can stop the eggs from developing into baby birds by addling (shaking) or boiling the eggs as soon as they appear in the nest, or replacing them with fake eggs.

Just a couple of thoughts.

[Mandolin]

I am familiar with that dance :lol . I killed myself laughing when i first saw it too until i found out what it was thanks to these forums. Kameko is a single bird who has laid 2 clutches now and i have had to ask myself if she would be happier with a mate but for now we (Kameko and I) have decided she is plenty happy with plenty of attention from me and her best friend, my b/f. Although i cannot leave out the father of her last clutch, her 4 interlocking hard rubber rings with a bell on the bottom that i have seen Kameko, many times, perform that very dance with. I would pay close attention to the advice Laura gave about adding a mate because from what i have heard from many others, it is always a roll of the dice when trying to introduce a mate. Sometimes all they need is 4 interlocking rings to fill that void :rofl: