my umbrella thinks I am her mate.Help!!

[charolette]

I have a fifteen year old umbrella cockatoo.I have had her a little over two years now she use to be a breeder .She lays a egg every month and when i hold her on occasion she will start this panting thing it is usally a week before shes lays the egg.I ignore her and sometimes I will put her in her cage .What can I do to make her not think as me as her mate.

[kensbuns]

You may want to take her to the vet. She actually may need some kind of hormone shots to pull her out of breeding mode. I was told that it is not normal for cockatoo's to lay eggs when there is not a nest box available or a mate. Sooo you may want to consult your vet immediately.

[KimBear]

First, realize that she doesn't really think you're her mate. What's happening is that her instinctual drive to reproduce is over-powering the limits of her situation: That she doesn't have a mate and she's in captivity. When this happens to a parrot, they will do what they feel they need to do to fulfill that drive and it can seem as though they think a person, or another bird of a different species, is along for the ride.

Many things influence whether or not this normal impulse becomes "out of control" and results in egg laying and other signs of breeding behavior. Daylight hours, temperature, and humidity are just a few, and we don't know enough about these factors to be able to manipulate them to our advantage. If we did, parrot breeders everywhere would be able to get their pairs to mate and produce babies whenever they wanted!

Sometimes it's okay to let a parrot work out their hormones and get it out of their system, but when it results in chronic egg laying or other problems, you may have to step in. You probably can do some things to help your bird turn her attention to other things when she's at her broodiest. Provide more exercise opportunities and increase her mental stimulation. Take away any toys or materials that she is able to hide in or under, and make sure no one pets her in a way that seems to stimulate her.

If she does lay an egg, you're likely better off letting her keep it and care for it until she loses interest. Removing eggs as they're laid can make a parrot "double clutch", or keep laying eggs beyond what they'd normally do. For a cockatoo, expect no more than 2 or 3 within a week's time. If she wants to tend to them, let her. If after a month or so, she's still caring for them, then you can take them away, and hope her motherhood instincts are fulfilled for now. When she is in this egg-producing mode, be sure she's eating right. She will need extra calcium and other nutrients.

The use of hormones to treat this sort of thing is a controversial subject. It may be worth discussing if you aren't able to get her to stop laying by the end of the summer.

And a reminder: Members, please let me respond to these posts before adding your input. I have an email alert set to tell me when a question is posted here, so usually I will be able to get to the questions quickly. Thanks!

[kensbuns]

Sorry Ididnt realize it was the "Experts Section" and I am by no means an expert, I have just had my cockatoo and have had birds for 4 years now.

[charolette]

Thanks To You All For Your Replies But It Was A Vet That Told Me To Go Online To Talk To Bird Experts And Owners So Here I Am And Thanks Again.

[KimBear]

You're welcome, and I hope things are looking up for you and your bird.

To receive information from me, a professional parrot behavior consultant, this is the correct forum to post in, which is the "cockatoo expert" section. To talk with other parrot owners, users can go to the general "get help with your bird" section, or the species-specific sections.

It does get confusing sometimes because there are so many sections you can post in.