Regurgitating food

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nodster
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:06 pm

Regurgitating food

Post by nodster »

My male IRN is 6 years old and seems to be regurgitating alot, :?: do you think he needs a mate?
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Regurgitating food

Post by MissK »

In a nutshell, no. Having a mate will increase hormonal related activity, not decrease it.

My bird has a sometimes regurgitation hobby. He is almost 12. Last year he started regurgitating enthusiastically at just about the turn of the year, and kept it up for months. I was even worried he was keeping enough food to not starve!

He fed his toys. One by one, I took them away. He fed his vegetables. He fed the bars of the cage. I tried tinkering with his diet, to no avail. I gave him back his toys and figured I now had a bird who feeds stuff. In late Spring he stopped.

This Fall I tried manipulating the light to try and prevent him feeling so hormonal and starting the regurgitation again. It didn't work, and I had some other reasons to discontinue monkeying with lights, so I put him back onto natural daylight. Since, he has fed a few things, but overall is not doing it. There seem to be some factors:

If I give him warm grain mush he immediately starts regurgitation. If I give him a whole lot of nuts he resumes regurgitation. If any of his food is in extra bountiful supply he regurgitates. These things make sense to me. I think birds are more inclined to nesting in times of bounty. (This is my opinion.) Rocky also has a new "tree" for playing outside the cage, and it affords him more interest than just flying around the room and coming back to the cage. He has had the chance to build and use a few more skills on this tree and in his cage. He had a Budgie neighbor last year, but now has a cage of four very active Budgies next to his cage. I also spend more time in his room, having placed my computer there. A question is raised in my mind whether the increased environmental enrichment has given him something else to focus on.

Interesting to note, this afternoon we had a visit from another Ringneck and a Quaker. Rocky got to eat more nuts that he would usually, and he got to see these other birds in his home at close range. There was a lot of food leftover, so he got a very big bowl of goodies when the visit ended. Shortly after they left, I observed him making the characteristic neck motions that precede regurgitation towards an almond shell, though it doesn't look like he actually did it. I will be interested to see if regurgitation resumes.

If the regurgitation bothers you, or is excessive, you might try cutting back on the foods I mentioned. Others advised me to reduce the sugar in his diet, but there isn't much sugar there to start with. I did not alter his sugar intake. I was advised to remove the toys, and it did not seem to matter at all for Rocky, but might for your bird.

This is the bulk of my experience with male IRN seasonal regurgitation. If your bird is feeding you, I feel you may have an inappropriate bonding situation, and the steps to address it will be different. If you have specific questions I can attempt to answer them, but as I said, this is the bulk of what I've seen.
-MissK
nodster
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:06 pm

Re: Regurgitating food

Post by nodster »

Thank you, he isnt regurgitating to me but to any object that gets near him. I will take your advice on the food situation, he also has very little if any sugar except from fruit so I would hope that isnt an issue. Thanks again
machine
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 12:08 am

Re: Regurgitating food

Post by machine »

All my handraised ringnecks started regurgitating at about 6/7 years old.

The stink and the noise 24/7 drove me crazy so I snapped all 4 of their necks. That stopped them dead.

NEVER get male ringnecks, get any other bird.
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