Understanding Hormonal Changes in Pet Birds: A Comprehensive Guide for Bird Owner

Hormonal changes in pet birds

Keeping a pet at home is not just about feeding them or playing with them. Taking care of them in every aspect, such as meeting their physical and psychological demands, is a responsibility on the pet owner’s shoulders. 

Just like humans, hormonal changes in pet birds have effects on their bodies too. Physical and psychological effects are evidently seen in a pet bird, for which awareness is mandatory. 

In this post, we would reveal how you can take care of a pet bird when you experience its hormonal bird behaviour. We would also disclose what exactly hormonal bird behaviour is, what its signs are, and how you can curb it. 

What Age Do Birds Get Hormonal?

Every bird has its own age and time when it shows changed hormonal bird behaviour. For example, if you want to keep parrots as pets, you should know that small parrots like Budgerigar and Lovebirds get their puberty from 6 months to 1 year of age. Large parrots get their puberty from 3, 6, or sometimes 7 years of age. 

What age do birds get hormonal has only one answer: as mentioned previously, the ages of different birds and different types are entirely different. It depends on the ‘signs’ of puberty that every pet owner must know. The signs when you would notice if the bird is showing changed behaviour, and that his physical and psychological needs would be diverse, look closely when:

• When you pat the back of the bird, the bird shows sexual behaviour
• The sexual behaviour of male birds is more aggressive which could sometimes include excessive biting, chasing people in the house, and even strutting around. The sexual behaviour in female birds is more ‘presenting’, such as opening and displaying wings or feathers, becoming more vocal, and sometimes just being cuddly with the owners. 
• The pulling of feathers is easily seen on the chest or between the legs.
• Regurgitating food whenever he sees the pet owners would be a normal behaviour during puberty days 
• Birds are intelligent creatures who would need a separate or private place when they think they could mate. For that, they would spread paper or anything shredded and make a ‘so-called’ nest for the said purpose 
• The bird is extremely protective of his/her new nest and would show aggressive behaviour if you come close to it
• Dropping their wings and panting would be another sign of the same condition in some birds 

What to Feed a Hormonal Bird?

What to feed a hormonal bird is the first question that might come to your mind after getting to know that he or she is in his/her puberty days. Vets recommend that do not give high-fat or high-calorie foods to the pet bird. These food support high hormonal production, which is not good for the bird once the puberty period arrives. If extra hormone production is observed or becomes unbalanced, the birds might also get serious health issues. 

Hormonal deficiencies or extra production of hormones, or sometimes both- all conditions are not good for the bird. Such conditions negatively affect birds’ sleep, causing them to be restless and aggressive.

Therefore, feeding a hormonal bird becomes one of the most important aspects of this condition. Giving the bird more fruits and vegetables, When they are struggling with hormones, fresh and organic foods would keep them healthy. For a variety of food, leafy greens and chickpeas are also good options. 

How to Stop Hormonal Behaviour in Birds? 

Here are some precautions you need to follow in order to stop bird hormonal behaviour: 

• Never pet a bird on its back, on its tail, or feathers as these are the places that trigger his/her hormonal behaviours.
• He might become hormonally frustrated once you touch down its tail or under the wings
• The best place to pet a bird is on its beak or feet. It is a friendly signal for the bird as compared to the mating behaviour. 
• A hormonal pet bird needs 10-12 hours of darkness to get appropriate sleep every night. For this matter,In order to ensure that the bird gets a proper rest, keep the room sufficiently dark during that time.
• For curbing hormonal changes in pet birds, remove anything that he or she might use to make another nest for mating. Twigs, extra cloth pieces, papers, newspapers, sticks, etc. should be removed from the home so that the pet birds do not make the nest either within their cage or anywhere in your house. 
• You can use a finger covering when you want to take the bird out of the nest to avoid his or her biting when in the hormonal period. It is a train preacher that could curb the aggressive bird and prevent your finger from his or her aggressive biting. 

Conclusion

Finally, hormonal changes in pet birds are important to know for getting familiar with their behaviour and physiology. These changes occur naturally as part of the life cycle of the bird and can be impacted by a variety of external variables such as light cycles, food, and social interactions.

Hormonal changes may have a profound impact on everything from a bird’s physical appearance to its mating behaviour and attitude. To protect the health and well-being of their birds, pet owners should be aware of these changes and learn to spot the indications of hormone imbalances, such as excessive hostility or territorial behaviour. Pet birds may flourish and have happy and healthy lives with proper care and supervision.