female crested cockatoo in heat?

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female crested cockatoo in heat?

by GM
(Pa.)

Hi, My female crested cockatoo is 6 yrs old. I've had her for around 6 months now. she warmed up to us quickly, she has been showing signs of being "in heat". she backs her butt up to her hanging toys and "shakes" while pushing her head backwards to rest on her back. when she is on our shoulder she will turn and try to do this with our ears.

my question is since she's alone, and does not have a mate, will this pass? will she try to lay an egg? when she is on the couch with us she will try to burrow a hole in the blanket.. any advice will be appreciated! thanks

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female crested cockatoo in heat?

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Sep 26, 2011

female crested cockatoo
by: Anonymous

I have a citron cockatoo that also does the same thing, only she is older. Last september she laid one infertile egg, but hasn't laid since then. My goffin lays more often.

MY suggestion is to make sure she is on a proper diet so she doesn't get egg bound. I changed my birds over to roudybush pellets as their main diet and WAS cooking for them three times a day, but cut down on the cooking part and only giving them small amounts of cooked veggies and a small amount of fruit twice a day. They also get 1/4 cup of a good seed mix with dried fruit, veggies and nuts in it and they are only allowed to have the seed mix for a certain amount of hours per day. they also get the odd treat of spray millet OR avicakes once or twice a week. I also give them 14 hours of sleep per 24 hour period. the rest of the time, they are free from their cages.

I would also suggest not to pet your cockatoo below her head during the breeding season.

Just my opinion.

Sep 26, 2011

Bird rubbing vent
by: Tracie

Dr B has answered this for others, so I will share his previous answers.

Your bird may be masturbating, but it could have a health issue that is causing discomfort and it is trying to get relief. You need to Find an Avian Vet to examine your bird to rule out internal problems and infections.

If your bird is a female, it is possible she will lay infertile eggs, but this is not the norm. Some people have success with limiting the daylight hours to simulate winter by putting their bird in a travel cage in a dark room at night.

Once you have ruled out infection and internal problems with the avian vet, you can attempt to train her to do something different when she is out of the cage with you. If she does this on you or when out of the cage and you don't want her to do this, then you can look at some of our training articles on our Parrot Training page and either put her back in the cage or teach her another behavior.

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