regurgitate?

[lilwonder512]

recently my lovebird, peanut, has been regurgitating his food and spitting it into his chest where he's missing some feathers. he's not pulling the feathers, he's just a little bald there. regardless this behavior is very weird and i'm a little concerned. there has been no change in his environment and he always has plenty of food.

believe it or not, he flew into my house when he heard some lovebirds that i was bird-sitting. he had spit up food in his chest when i found him (which i took as a way to save food while he was wild).

but i cant understand why he's doing it again.

any advice? :confused:

thanks!

[lilwonder512]

and he's been humping his rope toy a lot too! ????????

[linda040899]

Reguritation and self-satisfaction sometimes go hand in hand with male lovebirds. It's perfectly normal and there really isn't much you can do except love him. Many lovies will choose a favorite object to feed and if you remove that object, they will simply find another one to replace the one you removed.

Keep an eye on him to make sure his weight is OK (his chest area should not feel thin on either side of the center bone that runs down the middle of his body). If in doubt, consult your avian vet.

[bellarains]

It does sound hormonal, but since Peanut literally flew into your life the way he did, I would recommend a well bird check up. Peanut coming in from the wild, may have picked up some sort of bacteria, and a grams stain test will ensure his good health.

Oh, and his "humping rope" will need to be washed on regular basis. If he's humping it, he's probably regurgitating to it also, and bacteria grows quickly. Just wash it good will a 10% bleach/90% water mixture, let dry, and he can have it back. It's always good to have an extra one of those "favorite" toys or objects of affection, so you change them out also.

[Janie]

I have three males and the two younger ones do both, hump and feed their birdie buddy. I have to clean the birdie buddies every day. :)

[lilwonder512]

thank you all so much for your help! it's so nice knowing that there is somewhere to turn for questions with peanut!!!

I've had him for 9 months and i'm not sure of his age. he's never shown signs of this mating behavior. does this indicate his age in anyway? how long does this mating process last for?

he does not allow me to touch him but the regurgitation in his feathers builds up quite a lot so i've had to clean him (against his will) several times. when i didn't clean him for a week, the regurgitation was so thick that it took a while to get it out of his feathers. should i leave him alone and he'll eventually clean himself or should i continue to clean him? i ):

[Asue]

Mikey's been humpin' on everything. His seed dish, his cholla perch, and recently, my head! He's gotten some crusty regurg' food on himself and I hadn't had time to offer him a bath since the hectic move to another apt. :(

I've watched him pick up his ball toy and put it inside his dish to keep it from getting away. He feeds his ball and humps against the food dish like a mad man. :rofl:

Mikey's stopped plucking since before the move... I think it was cigar/pot smoke from the downstairs neighbor that started his plucking. ( :mad: I had no idea about the cigar/pot smoke because the neighbor isn't usually home during the day... his pals started to crash there, I caught one even peeing outside! Thank God we've moved! )

If he's regurg' on one perticular toy, try rotating it with another toy. I think with lovebird's the amount of daylight time sets of breeding behaviour too. Mikey and I usually sit in a chair cuddling before bed and he lets me preen the crusties off him.