Moses the lovebird

Question


The person that I took Moses to is very well respected in that city for taking care of birds,,,  She checked him out and did find a bit of a wheeze in his lungs.  She put him on antibiotics as well as giving him the hormone shot. She said he was very healthy and that he showed no signs of illness. When I took him back two weeks latter for recheck she said his lungs were clear and heart sounded real good. However she did call an avian specialist in Tulsa when I told her that the problem of regurgitating was the same.  The specialist in Tulsa said that it was very normal and that if I cut his day light time down  hours and his dark time to 14 it would do the trick and that come December things would slow way down,,,,,,,,Well it has not,,,,,,,, now for your question,,,,,, Moses regurgitates all day,,,,,,,not sometime,,,,,,but all day,,,,,,He does not "mate" in the cage but mates on the table, the counter top and the dresser tops,,,,,, Then he turns around and regurgitates all over the table, counter top and dresser if he can get to the bedroom.   If I could describe to you how much I would tell you that a space of 12x12 would be covered in about an hour or less,,,,,,,  then he turns and eats what he has regurgitated.  I know that he is not throwing up as he does nothing of this when he stays with my brother. There has been occasion that we have been out of town and they keep him,, ( he is very bonded to them as they have kept  him off and on for 7 years now)  He does not mate with anything and does not regurgitate on anything for days,,,,,,,,  He has also been kept by my son on a couple of occasions and he has gone 3 days with non of this behavior  ,,,,,,,sooooooooo it is his sharing with me and his bonding with me,,,,,,,,,,   The specialist in Tulsa said that keeping him from me for a while will slow down the desire to mate.  So I have left him in his cage all day and only let him out for short periods of time. When he does get out he goes immediately to the counter top or table where he begins,,,,, It is never on me. He is never with me, if he is out of the cage he is on the table or the counter. If I put him in a different room he finds a new place, ie. desktop, dresser top etc., so changing his environment does not help.  I have changed his cage, his toys, and his routine. Nothing stops him. He is on a mission. I hope this helps,,,  I do not know what else to tell you,,  He is a beautiful color and does not seem to loose weight. I am worried that this will take a toll on him soon, but I am at a loss as what to do next. I would put another bird with him if I thought it would help, he needs another bird I think, but I do not want to put a young bird in there. Years down the road I would then have another single love bird without a mate, so I would love to find a bird 5 or 6 years of age. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.



The text above is a follow-up to ...



-----Question-----
I posted a question a few months ago about Moses and his  regurgitating  everywhere,,,,,  I did take him to a specialist and she gave him a hormone shot,, it helped for a couple of weeks but then he was back at it,,,,,,  I took him back and she called an expert in Tulsa Oklahoma,,  According to the expert on Lovebirds this is common with male love birds and it should stop by the middle of December,,,,,  I was to leave him in his cage,, do not pet or love on him and cover him at least 14 hours a day,,,,,, I have done all these things and he is worse than ever,,,,,,,, and it is Dec 23rd.   I wonder if he is going to spend the rest of his life like this,,,,,,,, Have you come across anyone else that has this type of problem with a love bird,,,,,,,,,  I am tired and so is he,,,,,,,,,,,   

Thanks  

-----Answer-----
Hi, Denise.  Thanks for letting me know what's been going on with Moses.

I know people who have problems with their birds regurgitating, but not to the
extent you describe in your post.  Was this a certified avian vet you took Moses to or a different type of vet?  Frankly, I'm surprised at the treatment given by the vet and the information from the lovebird breeder.  As long as Moses doesn't have any medical reason for regurgitating, he's doing this out of his affection for you.  I don't understand why they would advise you to keep him away from you, except to try and break the bond he has with you.  And then to give you a date when you could expect this to stop...sounds fishy to me.  

Exactly, how much is this bird regurgitating?  I want to know if this amount is abnormal.  You say he's regurgitating everywhere.......exactly how much is this?  I have parrots who regurgitate out of affection, but not like you describe in your posts.  If he's regurgitating that much, his health would be affected, as he's not getting the nutrition he needs (he's throwing it up).  Did the vet say Moses was healthy himself?  Just by the fact you state he's worse than ever tells me the treatment plan didn't work.  

Does he do this mainly when he's out of his cage or also when he's in his cage?  Does he regurgitate when he's NOT with you or only when he's with you?  To solve this problem, it might take you getting another lovebird for Moses.  How would you be with doing this?

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Denise.  Thanks for all the additional information.  It does help.

I have to admit, I've never known a parrot to regurgitate as much as you describe.  The first thing you have to do is keep him away from the things he regurgitates on, like the table, countertop, and dresser.  He cannot have access to any of these things at any time.  Keeping his lights down to 10 hours per day is good advice...this will help with keeping hormone levels down.  I think you should try keeping Moses at your brother or son's home in order to try and break this cycle.  This behavior might have gone from hormonal to normal behavior if it has gone on for a long enough period of time.  You need something drastic to occur in order to change Moses' behavior.  This is why I suggested another bird.  This will take his mind off of you and the other objects he "loves."  The problem with an older bird is that they usually bring with them behavior problems the owners can't deal with, unless you can find a bird where the family is moving or similar where the bird's behavior problems aren't the reason they are getting rid of the bird.  A young bird would be your best bet.  You don't know that a young bird will outlive Moses.  In addition, a young bird will have so much energy to keep Moses occupied with something new.  You wouldn't even necessarily have to get another lovebird...it could be any type of parrot (this will avoid baby lovebirds, too).  Moses needs something drastic to break the cycle of his behavior.

What do you think?

Chrys