07/10/2026
Spring is officially here! 🌻
While we love the warmer weather, the change in seasons can bring some challenging times for parrot owners. Spring is peak season for hormonal behaviour in many pet parrots, and even the sweetest, best-behaved bird can suddenly turn into an aggressive, screaming, biting, territorial, egg-laying monster! 😂
Meet Maggie, the female Eclectus. Maggie has a habit of laying eggs when the weather warms up, and this year was no exception.
Chronic egg laying can have serious and potentially life-threatening consequences for birds, including reproductive tract infections, prolapses, depletion of calcium and protein stores, pathological fractures and egg binding.
Maggie’s owner was already aware of the risks associated with chronic egg laying, so to help prevent further egg production, Maggie receives a hormone implant at the beginning of spring each year. The implant, along with dietary and husbandry changes also helps managing Maggie’s plucking.
Hormonal behaviour and egg laying can be influenced by a number of factors, including daylight hours, diet, environmental cues, nesting opportunities and interactions with owners or other birds. Addressing these factors can be an important part of managing hormonal behaviour.
If your bird has a history of chronic egg laying or is displaying increased hormonal behaviour, booking a consultation with your avian veterinarian can help identify potential triggers and develop an individualised plan to reduce hormonal behaviour and minimise the risks associated with reproductive disease.
Early intervention and preventative care can make a big difference to your bird’s health and wellbeing.
