Questions for new Lovie Mom

[TLL]

Hello All - Your advice would be appreciated!
1 - Regurgitating on toys ? My Lovie has been doing this for a couple days now, any reason why?
2- Is there a way to tell if my Lovie is Male or Female by looks, or habits instead of being surgically sexed?

Thank You!

[kimsbirds]

1 - Regurgitating on toys ? My Lovie has been doing this for a couple days now, any reason why?
Completely normal, usually hormonal...just keep the preferred object clean.

2- Is there a way to tell if my Lovie is Male or Female by looks, or habits instead of being surgically sexed?

No, not by looks. Nor by habits, although some people say that females will shred and become nasty natured, and males will regurgitate and masterbate on toys. That being said, just as many females regurg and self-gratify, and males have been known to shred, although not as effectively as females.

You don't need to surgically sex a lovie in order to tell its' gender. You can email healthgene.com or avianbiotech.com and ask for a free sample kit. You pluck several fresh chest feathers,or clip a toenail to extract a drop or two of fresh blood, send them back with your payment (usually around $25) and they'll let you know once they extract/test the DNA.
Hope this helps !

[TLL]

Yes, it does THANK YOU!
It does not matter to me what sex he/she may be, I was just curious..
But, since HE is regurgitating on toys, and claiming everything as his "Sex" toy, I will assume HE is a MALE!

[kimsbirds]

Assumption made? LOL
You'll have lots of folks tell you that their "males" eventually laid eggs, and that their "girls" fathered chicks...so beware ... this IS simply an assumption on your part !!! Stranger things have happened LOL

Glad to have you aboard !:)
K

[shylevon]

All my gals 'gack' on things like toys and such, and Danae will self gratify on her rope octopus with total abandon all-the-live-long-day, seven days a week.

I also have two sets of lesbian pairs and one on each team plays the male role religiously, hopping on top during swishy dances, guarding the nest, feeding the little missus. Then, of course, they layed eggs of their own, so that was the sure sign of erroneuos assumptions.

[Cathy]

When I was at a bird show a few months ago, I watched an avian vet surgically sex a bird. I would never have a bird surgically sexed!!! I understand that sometimes people at bird fairs are looking for birds of a certain sex and don't want to buy a bird until they know the sex of the bird, but my answer to that is to plan ahead. It is much more humane, in my opinion, to get DNA results from the plucking of a few feathers than the invasive surgical process. I have read that breeders sometimes want a bird surgically sexed to make sure that if a bird is a female that her female organs or ok but that woud have to be the very rare case.

[Janie]

When I was at a bird show a few months ago, I watched an avian vet surgically sex a bird. I would never have a bird surgically sexed!!!


Yep, Dr. Shepherd was there today and she was sexing about 6 or 7 GCC's when Jackie and I walked by and we decided that if it were our birds, we couldn't watch. I could have it done but I just would not watch. She has surgically sexed birds as small as Parrotlets. Hard to believe.

I prefer the feather plucking method but even that, I could not do. I'd have to have someone do it for me! :D I could no more pull 5 to 7 feathers out of Oliver's chest than I could run a marathon! It's gotta hurt! :eek: Forget cutting a nail either.....I am a chicken when it comes to causing my birds pain so I'd have to get someone else to do it. :whistle: