Jenday Conure Tail Twitching

Shopping

Information

Find Answers

Site Info

Links

[?] Subscribe To This Site

Jenday Conure Tail Twitching

by Chrissi
(Sydney)

I have a beautiful and happy approximately 18 month old Jenday Conure (called Fish) who is the shine in my world. He (I never got him sexed, but always call him a boy) seems really happy, I give him a balanced pellet, seed, fruit and vege diet, he hardly ever screams, makes hilarious noises and gestures, cuddles and loves me to scratch and says a few words.

In other words, I don't think there's anything wrong with him, I'm just curious about this odd tail twitch that he's been doing. He's done it before, just occasionally, but today he seems to be doing it a lot! He's just sitting on his perch and his tail is wagging up and down really fast, and sometimes he's lifting it up a bit while he does it.

I also have two scaley brested lorikeets (who sleep and live in a separate cage of course, but they all come out to play together on the play gym and get along really well). Anyway, the lorikeets seem to be a bit frisky today (I never got them sexed either, but after today, I'm pretty sure I have a boy and a girl =P).

I wonder if maybe my Jenday's tail twitch has something to do with mating... I also wonder if perhaps he is a she if he's lifting his tail like that...

Can anybody enlighten me as to the cause of this comical habit my baby is entertaining me with today?

Comments for
Jenday Conure Tail Twitching

Click here to add your own comments

Sep 02, 2010

Tail Bobbing?
by: Anonymous

Hi,

if he's just sitting on a perch without doing anything and you can see his tail moving up and down with each breath then this could indicate a respiratory illness. the reason this happens with respiratory illnesses is because breathing is laboured and, therefore, forces the tail to bob up and down with each breath. if this is the case, please have him seen by an avian vet ASAP! respiratory illnesses are usually successfully treated, so more reason to have him seen by a vet asap. lastly, try to listen to his breathing when he's relaxed on a perch. if you can hear a whistling noise (or any other audible noise for that matter) this is even more indicative of respiratory illness.

Aug 07, 2010

Jenday Conure Tail Twitching
by: Linda

Hello and thanks for writing. Female birds do a little mating ritual where they bend over and raise and lower their tails plus switching them side to side. They bend over so their vent is "available" if any handsome, buff male happens to be looking. This may be what she(?) is doing. If she/he continues this and adds to it, then you have a female. The male's mating posturing looks quite different. They stand up very straight, become quite rigid and "stalk" slowly back and forth on the perch bobbing their head, fanning their tail feathers, with lots of eye pinning. The female is supposed to be so impressed that she almost swoons over this gorgeous display of his manly attributes! It really is quite impressive, and I'm a female human, so female birds are even more impressed!!! Of course, in the wild, she will be romanced by several good looking males, and she'll pick the one she likse the best. In captivity, there is usually only one, so she'll pick him unless she already dislikes him. Birds do not always like the mates we pick for them (the stigma of the arranged marriage, you know).

If you decide to breed any of your birds, make sure you do a lot of study first, get a cage made for breeding that is larger with a place to hangthe nest box on outside of cage. Also BEFORE breeding, make sure both birds have been checked out by an Avian Vet to make sure they are healthy and free of any infection and/or other physical problems that will cause problems with the babies. You'll need to learn the art of handfeeding baby parrot formula just in case one or more of your pairs decides they either don't want to do it or don't know how to do it. Handfed baby birds incubated away from their Mothers and fed by humans imprint on humans and do not know they are birds. This causes severe problems when these birds are bred because the Mother and Father do not have a clue as to what they are supposed to do for the crying, hungry babies in the nest box. So, you will have to learn this skill, and doing it correctly is a matter of life and death for the babies, so find a breeder in your area so they may teach you.

Linda

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Ask the Vet