Hi Vanda,
It sounds like you and Cuddles do have a strong bond. This is good but can also contribute to these type of hormonal issues. I would first suggest a lifestyle change. We naturally want to hug and cuddle our pet birds as if they were a dog or cat. The problem with this is pet parrots are not domesticated like a dog or cat. When you domestically breed and raise a parrot, it is much like raising a tiger or lion – in the sense that they retain most of their natural instincts. We have learned a lot in the last 20 years about bird behavior and the key is to understand the behavior of their wild counterparts. In the wild, only a bonded mate of the opposite sex would be allowed to preen and groom its mate all over the body. When they are juveniles, they will generally live in flocks with other immature birds and some mutual preening will occur, but it will be restricted to the head and neck area. It is only after they are sexually mature and choose a mate that the full body preening takes place between birds.
This will not be easy and will seem radical to begin with, but the first thing to do is restrict all petting to head and neck scratches. Otherwise, when you stroke your bird on the chest, and especially around the tail area, you are triggering hormonal behavior. You can find other ways to interact – Cockatoos are very smart and respond well to behavior modification. Look into teaching Cuddles to put a ball in a basket, or put rings on a pole. There are a lot of “tricks” that are based on natural behaviors that you can work on. Search on youtube or Google for some ideas.
Until you have this egg laying curbed. you should also cut back on food abundance, especially fresh produce. Reduce the offerings to a couple times a week, as long as Cuddles is on a nutritionally balanced diet otherwise. Fresh foods and particularly an abundance of foods are a breeding trigger.
Reduce her daylight hours, also. Set a bedtime and cover her cage if necessary and uncover during the day. Try to cut her daylight hours back to winter type hours – about 10 a day.
Don’t give her anything to shred. No paper, cardboard – nothing that can mimic nesting material.
Don’t let her get into dark spaces or anything that could mimic a nest.
If the cage can be moved around, changing the location once a week or so can help. She needs a stable environment, long sun hours and abundant food for nesting so basically you are removing these factors but not to the point that you traumatize her.
You are correct that this constant egg laying is hard on her and will eventually deplete her resources and possible lead to death. While she needs a nutritionally balanced diet, extra fortification may only stimulate more hormones. Sometimes a one time hormone shot, along with the lifestyle changes, can break this cycle. Think of this as a progression rather than a quick easy fix – which is what a hormone implant might be. However, your concerns about putting her under anesthesia are valid and should only be a last resort.
Good luck with Cuddles and keep us updated,
Brenda
