Gogo
Baby Bird
Gigi: 'cause I'm moma's baby Girl!
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17
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Post by Gogo on Aug 1, 2005 7:15:44 GMT -7
Gogo fitted in smoothly with my household and all love him to bits after the last two months - what a life entertainment "person" he is!!
What worries me though is that he have 3 small round balls in the bottom of his cage that he loves to play with, but last night he started scratching and cleaning one side of the cage. It seems like he's trying to clean out a "breeding" space and is handling the "eggs" very careful...can it be that he's broody? He's making soft chicken like noises when he handle the balls - maybe I should remove them?
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Post by Jane on Aug 1, 2005 8:44:47 GMT -7
It is always best to discourage any sort of breeding or nesting activity in pet Greys. Try and distract him with other toys. Mitzi had a session of scratching around and chewing up newspaper a few weeks ago. I put a soft toy in the corner where she had been doing it and she stopped (surprisingly). Are you sure he is a boy?
Jane
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Gogo
Baby Bird
Gigi: 'cause I'm moma's baby Girl!
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17
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Post by Gogo on Aug 16, 2005 4:23:25 GMT -7
Hi Jane
Funny that you should ask the female question...Preston asked the same thing when I mentioned the noises he make and the "bringing" up of food on my hand as if he's trying to feed me.
How exactly do I know if he's male or female? He was sold as a boy to his previous owner. He's the normal grey colour with a bright red tail...no black markings underneath on the red feathers and looks like the background - Preston placed a photo of him a while ago as my avitar, but it disappeared again.
I will place a toy on that side of the cage and see if he stop this nesting. This behaviour started just after I placed a wooden toy with mealies, round wooden circles and stuff on it on that side of the cage...he almost totally demolished that in the last 3 weeks!
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Post by Jane on Aug 16, 2005 5:27:59 GMT -7
There are some pointers which can be used to ascertain the sex. These are not absolutely definite, but they do seem to be a good guide and the best one is probably the tail feathers. You say there are no black markings on Gogo's tail but on a female there seems to be a very pale silver edging to the upper and under tail coverts. Mitzi has this, Monty doesn't. There are other pointers such as head shape and beak size but these are more difficult unless you can compare birds.
I have put your avatar back, there was a problem with some of them disappearing after the upgrade.
Jane
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Gogo
Baby Bird
Gigi: 'cause I'm moma's baby Girl!
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17
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Post by Gogo on Aug 16, 2005 5:52:56 GMT -7
I have not noticed silver marks on the feathers...the ones just above the brilliant red tail feathers and on the bottom of the wing is almost a black colour. I've been putting this behaviour down to the 6 yrs with no/limited attention from the previous owner and his appreciation of 24hr attention now. During the day my parents speak to him and he whisles and talk with them...but don't allow anybody but me to pick him up or pet him.
Another reason for me believing he's male, is that he dislike all males!
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flick1979
Baby Bird
Blade 18 months
Joined: August 2005
Posts: 11
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Post by flick1979 on Aug 16, 2005 8:51:06 GMT -7
Hi just to ask, how do you define head shape and beak size? is the females larger or smaller? Do parrots have some sort of a mating call, or do they display with feathers or sounds? Just asking coz Blade keeps making some really weird sounds when she sits with my dad.
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Post by Jane on Aug 16, 2005 9:06:32 GMT -7
The males heads are broader and squarer, the females more rounded. The male beak is larger but you really need to have two birds to compare. Monty has a larger head and beak than Mitzi but both birds are otherwise the same size. Both sexes make noises and regurgitate food for a favourite person. Mating behaviour also involves holding the wings out slightly and making little squeaky noises.
Jane
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flick1979
Baby Bird
Blade 18 months
Joined: August 2005
Posts: 11
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Post by flick1979 on Aug 16, 2005 9:17:57 GMT -7
Thanks for the advice jane, I think afterall she may be a little girl, her head is quite rounded and she does seem to have a silvery outline to her tail feathers, she is also very tempermental!! She doesn't seem to like any other males apart from my dad that is, she loves him alot. My dad was just worried about the funny noises she was making with him. My boyfriend is a little worried though, my parents are going on holiday soon and he will be looking after her while they are away, but he is too afraid to take her out of her cage, after being bit that is, and we know parrrots like thier routine, we take her out every afternoon and every evening, if he was to keep her in her cage, would this upset her alot? They will be away for two weeks.
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Post by Jane on Aug 16, 2005 13:07:46 GMT -7
If she is used to being out every afternoon and evening she might not like being in her cage for two weeks. Could your boyfriend spend more time with her before your parents go on holiday and get more confident? Greys can tell if someone is nervous of them.
Jane
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