Budgie Trying to Breed with Her Perches.

[Lola2]

Sexual behavior is a part of animal behavior. Is it really a "problem"or do we, as humans, just find this behavior embarrassing? A healthy bird will pick a mate, it will pick an organic creature as a mate or an inanimate object. Unless she's hurting herself I wouldn't worry about it.

Yes, I agree, and should have stated just as an "issue". I feel sorry for my girl, and hate that I feel I have to do things to try to keep them from breeding...I just can't have baby birds. I never would have gotten opposite sexes, but they were a rescue. I am trying to follow some suggestions I have seen re daylight, removing certain toys, changing up cage, putting in active rooms, etc...Hoping it can help, etc...Funny though, I have not noticed the male trying to jump the girl or anything; she is the one that is being agressive toward him and vent rubbing, etc...He does have a blue cere, but I'm beginning to wonder if it really is a male...they do seem love each other and feed each other sometimes. I'm pretty sure the male is probably about 6 mos old now, judging by the iris, neither had one when I got them in August. The female still doesn't have one, according to info I've seen, she may keep the black eyes. So, I don't know if there is much age difference, and/or, he might not be ready to mate, or ? She has been throwing up food on her toy ball for about a month, then started hanging on it & vent rubbing on the perch, so, I took the ball away, and less daylight hrs, nothing to hide in or nesting material, etc.,so far. Just keep looking & trying things...If they do mate & she lays eggs, what should I do if I don't want the chicks? Freaking me out to take them out if they would be developing, etc..Suggestions? Thanks for your reply! You are right! (But, I did get a wonderful laugh about how the posts were written, eventhough, I know peeps needed help...I wasn't making fun...the writing was wonderful, I couldn't get my point across so eloquently as that !!)

 

[Chickassan]

Every bird I've ever had has been a perch humper,you'd know when you hear all the little bird bells chiming. They just do that stuff, just look away lol!

 

[LoveChooks9000]

I know this is an old post, but it came up in a search I did, since I'm having same problem with my little rescue budgies. I have been depressed these last couple days, but when I read your post (& these others), I can't tell you what a wonderful laugh I have had!!! Not laughing at the problem, but at how funny and congeneial you & others have "described the behavior" of your budgies!! Thank you so much for lifting my spirits!! I have taken the suggestions from this thread and elsewhere...Thank You!! You and the others here, should write, and/ or publish your writings, it's hilarious!! Thanks again & Best wishes for you & your feathered babies!!

Hi Lola2,
I agree. This thread gave me the best laugh I've had for a long time! Hilarious.
Re: the problem/issue with your budgie, it is almost certainly a male...99.9999% chance, I'd say. Do you have any pics of it? If so, one pic showing the whole front of the body and also one showing a fairly close-up view of the cere would be good (cere photo taken from in front and slightly above the bird's head, if possible) - at an angle like the following photo, is probably an easier way to explain it!

Not all budgies follow the blue cere for male/tan cere for female program any more, (although the one in this pic. does. It isn't mine, btw - just a random pic I got off the net to show the best pic. angle). With so many different mutations these days, the chances of working out the sex by the cere is fairly non-existent in some of them, and along with that, the ceres of younger budgies take quite a while to settle into what their adult colour will be. If you post a pic, that will help a lot, but going by the behaviour, I do think it's a male. If you have pics of both of your budgies, post pics of both by all means. I love all birds, and all animals for that matter, and would love to see them, and I know others on this site always love to see pics of peoples' pets as well.
Along with the cere confusion issue, there is another major thing that most people don't know about the breeding habits of budgies and cockatiels, which is this: Because they are from outback Australia, (where I grew up, even), they are brought into breeding condition by rain, not by day-length and so on, which is the case with most other birds. They will breed at any and every time of year, as long as it's rained, because it very rarely rains out there, and they have to take their opportunities when they can. This is the main reason we have so many problems with never-ending egg-laying of budgies and cockatiels that live in the coastal and wetter areas of Australia as peoples' pets. They breed/lay eggs at the drop of a hat, and there is no doubt that the ones that now live in other parts of the world in rainy areas have the same issues. In Aust., the habit of male budgies getting overly-friendly with all manner of inanimate objects is often known as 'Randy Budgie Syndrome'. What the previous poster said is so true...i.e. just look away. lol There is very little else you can do, short of putting them in a totally de-humidified environment, which would probably work, but I don't think it is worth that trouble.
So, anyway, if you would like to post some pics, that would be great, but if not, I would assume it's a male and turn a blind eye to his capers.
As for your question about what to do if one of your birds starts laying eggs (fertile or not - hens can lay eggs with no male in the picture as well) when you don't want babies, don't remove the eggs, as this will often cause them to lay continuously, potentially causing calcium deficiency, egg-binding, and so on. Let them lay as many eggs as they are going to lay for their clutch, then you can either take the eggs out and shake them all vigorously, which will stop any chick developing, or freeze them (until totally frozen - not just cold), and then let them warm up a bit, then put them back under the hen. I don't recommend putting them back under the hen while they're still frozen. Would hate to see a thread on here titled, "HELP. Eggs frozen onto my budgie's butt". lol Other than that, you can remove all the real eggs and replace them with fake eggs, which you can buy at some pet shops and similar places. Then, let her sit on them until she loses interest. It will be a number of weeks. That way, she will get over her urge to breed for that occasion, and not have had to go through laying dozens of eggs to try to succeed in her goal of having a clutch of young.
Hope that helps, and post some pic's if you can.