Sexual Maturity in my female pineapple

[nickel31]

Good evening-

I noticed that Marti has been acting very different these past couple of weeks. A few weeks ago I noticed her ripping up all the paper in the bottom of her cage. She even makes this new noise that I cannot quite describe. Today for the first time ever I watched her preening one of my keets. It was adorable. Sometime this afternoon I also witnessed her rubbing up on one of my keets while making that unusal sound and she had her butt in the air. Marti will be 2 this December and I wanted to ask how long this behavior lasts?

Thank you

Nicole

[lahcdh]

Your bird wants a mate, it sounds like a Cockatiel. The noise won't stop.
If you want babies you will need a mature male bird.

lahcdh

[xafsmom]

Yep, she's in the throes of the mating urges. She'll continue that for a week or three then settle down again. It'll crop up once a year, twice, four times, depends on the bird. Green cheekeds mature sexually at 8 months to 12 months old. Don't give her paper to rip up, keep dark things like boxes or happy huts away from her during this time, and lessen the amount of light she has, so the extended days don't trigger the breeding response. Also, if you're feeding her a mash type of food, stop. Give her chunks of fresh food instead. Mashes also can trigger the breeding response.