Hormonal African Grey Parrot

Apollo has started to get hormonal while standing on the bathroom door now that the pot rack is gone. We try and work through the "excitement" when it happens. What will his next hormone trigger be? Nobody knows.
Good news is there hasn't been any aggressive behaviors. Bad news, training is near impossible. Wish us luck!
Apollo is our 2 1/2 year-old African Grey parrot we've had since December 2020.
Founder of Shrock and renowned GLASS connoisseur.
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[@neeneets]

Everyone take note. He did a very good job of distraction without causing any distress. Apollo was not rejected or encouraged in his hormonal behavior, what an awesome relationship. And this will last decades. He looks healthy and happy.

[@zooning-6843]

Me taking note: “Apollo… wants… to bone… his, owner. This… will, go on… for… years and, Apollo… will… continue, to be… friend, zoned. Many, birds, in… captivity… have, to go… through, no, nut… November, all, year… round… often, for… there… entire, life.” Me looking at what I just wrote down: “someone get that bird a girl for heavens sake!”

[@madduxnagel6935]

Your comment made me die😂poor Apollo, perpetually horny all the time

[@SiiriCressey]

​@@zooning-6843 It's almost as if they should be living wild in the company of their own species. I'm not saying Apollo's humans have done something wrong by keeping him. I'm saying that whatever sequence of events led to him not living with a parrot flock in the first place likely involved some very shady doings which should not happen.

[@madduxnagel6935]

@@SiiriCressey Why would you assume something shady happened? There are plenty of very legitimate and caring CAG breeders out there. Now whether you think they should be kept as pets or not is up to you, but his old owners bought him fresh from a breeder and gave him up at 8 months to the pet store, where he was quickly rescued by Dalton and Tori

[@SiiriCressey]

@@madduxnagel6935 For that to happen, at some point, someone took wild parrots captive.

[@Newbster_0]

"Bird puberty doesn't exist, it can't hurt you." Bird puberty:

[@tatertotbobaandpieck]

Poor buddy, he doesn't know what's going on, only that he loves you and wants to start a family... 😅😭

[@CJ-tx8nu]

I have an African Grey. Sometimes when he gets like this, a cool mist seems to calm him down a bit. Same mister used when giving him a bath.

[@eldritchtourist]

You're literally giving your bird a cold shower. That's incredible.

[@Oddyisodd]

@@eldritchtourist As someone who doesn’t own a parrot, is that a bad thing?

[@BJGvideos]

@@Oddyisodd Not in hot weather (in cold weather you've gotta towel them off or dry them with a bird safe hair dryer)

[@Raptor-tooth]

That’s super interesting. My only parrot experience is with my cockatiel and any sort of rain or bath makes him get a little excited rather than calm down. (Unless he gets a proper bath and goes into preening mode)

[@eldritchtourist]

@@Oddyisodd No, I'm just finding it amusing because humans also take cold showers to relieve lust.

[@Wellnseddich]

Aww, at least he's not like a human teen. No acne for him, no acting like a tough guy, no talking back or being mean, no teen angst.. Man, I don't miss puberty at all.

[@jessicagislason4855]

Horny birds do all of that except acne 😂 Apollo is being a extra good boy, mine attacks my garden tools and fights the fence 🤦

[@Yeshuawillreturn]

Quit acting like you've matured past puberty. You're no different.

[@simplycinclair8979]

Poor Apollo, down atrocious

[@saramartinez3142]

I love how poor Apollo is dealing with hormones and his owner is like "relax" but then there's a video of Apollo saying "SUCK" making very moist mouth noises 🤔

[@thomasharris9059]

SSS UCK … SHHSHLLSHPSHPSHPSHLLLSHP

[@zerourtaga1129]

Wait I thought that was another bird. Edit: nevermind continue

[@nho2x113]

that has nothing to do with hormones, idk from where does this guy get his info. When the bird makes these noises and starts to move his hear, he is trying to get food from down there to gift you, thats why there was something coming out of his mouth.

[@simplycinclair8979]

@@nho2x113 “Wanna snack?”

[@DoubleBullet]

@@simplycinclair8979 "alright apollo you just gotta do one thing 😈"

[@MrDlt123]

I just tell my grey: "I love you too. But this will never work"

[@whist1221]

😳

[@MaxOakland]

“We’re just two different… species”

[@MrDlt123]

@@MaxOakland "It's not you. It's me" 😆

[@whist1221]

@@ReverseGuy Okay.

[@donnamealy4877]

“Snack! Pistachio?” 😄. How can you resist that?

[@leesashriber5097]

Poor little guy. He's all excited. Beautiful wing span , Apollo! Daddy always takes good care of you. ❤️

[@dudemorris7769]

His colors are absolutely gorgeous!

[@anjachan]

cute Apollo 🤍

[@theauklet]

I'm glad you don't encourage the mating behavior - but you have to admit the little noises he makes are adorable.

[@kristybowlin3055]

Apollo and the girls make me smile everyday and it warms my heart to see you both interact with your “family” of beautiful birds🥰🦜💖 They are very loved !

[@Lookup33]

When he turned around 🥰 his color-way is fire

[@MermaidTheory]

This was really informative, I still don’t really understand the beginning signs. I can see the neck regurgitating symptoms but I would’ve never known this is what is the signs birds go through. Nice to know, I like it. It would be nice to see another video of him explaining the first signs. Like when he said Apollo is going to want to share, I thought he was already sharing.

[@pharoahcaraboo9610]

oooohhh my gooood if my pet could ask me for their favorite treat in a cutesy voice i'd be done for. it'd take just one 'pistache?' and i would already be reaching for one. that is so, SO cute.

[@natto84]

I have a grey and when he gets hormonal or territorial I have found that Taxonyx’s herbal calming drops work very well. We used to use Avitech but then I couldn’t find it anymore. But it’s also worth keeping in mind that nutrient dense foods like pistachios will encourage hormonal behavior.

[@Phoenix.Sparkles]

Literally all nuts are nutrient dense, taking them away won't change anything since Apollo is hitting puberty.

[@harounben342]

I've seen people putting pistachios with seeds like the bird's daily food, here I see him feeding him pistachios just when he does some commands successfully.

[@janedoe1776]

‘“Stach? Pstach.” He’s learning slang, guys!

[@Mega_Croissantamence]

“I know it’s hard when you wanna regurgitate” is such a great quote out of context

[@DeIphina]

awhh Apollo. How old is he right now? Every bird goes through this in their teenage years right.

[@thehistorynerd8537]

I believe he is 2 years old

[@DeIphina]

@@thehistorynerd8537 ahh then he is indeed a teenage birb.

[@janne-metteandreasen5622]

@@thehistorynerd8537 Do you know if Apollo have had other owners? (Can’t find the answer😉)

[@ApolloandFrens]

someone bough him fresh from a breeder, then surrendered him to a pet store at ~8 months old, which is when we bought him.

[@janne-metteandreasen5622]

@@ApolloandFrens I take my hat off to you. A really nice job. You will surely surpass Pepperberg.

[@davidca96]

"wannnnsnack?" "pistachh?"

[@newtype7460]

Apollo: Look at my wings. They are so big 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

[@mamoonbalawnah2986]

🤨📸

[@Argeaux2]

I love his red tail.

[@ArrowXskyReborn]

Poor Apollo, his little brain is just 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵.

[@tuskiomisham]

I think he's trying to offer you a snack, not trying to get a snack 🤔

[@themagnificentschooloflear5575]

You should see when he says "succ, *whohwohwihwiwhww9w9wj*"

[@cupidwxings]

Aw poor boy we have all been there 😂

[@theparrotchannel2625]

What worked with migray is as soon as she would exhibit that behavior she immediately went back in the cage and then it's and then I would give her a treat to switch her mind off of that And that worked now she very rarely does the hormonal behavior thing fortunately When I 1st got her she did it a lot Now all I really do if I see her doing it is pretty much just ignore her and when she's not doing it then I pay attention to her again You are basically sending a signal to the bird telling it you are not interested You would think the treat would reinforce the behavior but it does not it switches their mind away from it if you notice in the video that's what happened with Apollo but it's very important to put them back in their cage so they get the message

[@susanpark7398]

I actually had a pair and they got along fine and less hormonal

[@stillblazinkush]

If they shared a cage there is no mystery as to why they were less horny

[@my2bigkitties]

I love to see you fly Apollo ❤️

[@ChemEDan]

Such an amazing birb!

[@deecarpio53]

He's so cool ❤👏👏👏👏

[@theresalacey6126]

He's so beautiful

[@vegetablepolice1]

cool bath would seem a good way to calm pollo down

[@amrxxnb363]

Insha'Allah he is ok Ur doing a great job by looking after him keep up with the hard work ❤️❤️❤️Love you Apollo

[@GourSmith]

This isn’t hard work …

[@kingcrimson4133]

@@GourSmith if you think pet ownership isn't hard work then i feel bad for your pets.

[@GourSmith]

@@kingcrimson4133 Buddy 🤦‍♂️ I love my pets more than anyone 🤡 I’m saying that this isn’t *HARD* work at all 🙄 This is literally their hobby, goofball 🤦‍♂️ Nothing hard happening here. Find other adjectives and adverbs to use. That ain’t the proper one here, goofy.

[@michealdoor7035]

Apollo is my favourite Parrot 🦜❤🎉

[@matth1005]

"Relax, brother" bro needs to take his own advice

[@MG-je5xq]

Question bud, I'm no expert. Would exercising him a lot help him through the hormones?

[@ApolloandFrens]

Almost certainly. Stuff like that seems to be the same across the animal kingdom. We have him flighted, but our house is small. We live in an urban are with heavy traffic so free-flight isn't a viable option yet. His recall training is coming along great, so hopefully we can fly him in the future.

[@MG-je5xq]

@@ApolloandFrens thanks!! Your videos are so educational for me. Glad that y'all post videos and give me a glimpse into the bird world. Thank you again!!

[@colinmartin9797]

The one thing I hate about parrot ownership is the smell and sound of regurgitation. It's so foul. If Apollo's hormones get really out of control, the vet can give him a shot of lupron (a testosterone blocker) which takes the edge off of excessively horny bird behavior for a couple weeks. We've only ever had to do it with our sun conure once. Now her "hormonal" seasons are about 2-3 days once or twice a year, where we make her do tricks but don't reward her with any of her favorite hormonal foods.

[@manunited1235]

And here you have Apollo’s owner rewarding him by giving him nuts and then saying good bird. That’s not good for a parrot that’s going through this hormonal stage

[@colinmartin9797]

@@manunited1235 eh, every bird is different. Some aren't triggered by certain foods or behaviors, others are. Some birds get really horny when you touch their head, others when you touch their feet. Some just get it seasonally, others when they're given a specific kind of food. I also forgot to add that the worst thing about owning a parrot is everyone elee thinks they know what your bird needs. Best you can do is make suggestions when someone asks. Don't just tell someone their otherwise very healthy looking parrot is going to die because it stole a piece of pasta or the like. Ours gets a "terrible" diet of mostly zupreem and we give her all the "bad" kinds of affection like head petting. But she has been a healthy weight with very few hormonal episodes and is generally a very quiet example of her species for the last ten years we've had her, so who really cares?

[@FlySuperJesse]

Even birds goes through hormonal seasons

[@HereForTheComments]

Explain bird puberty to me. Is the beak an erogenous zone? Or is Apollo fighting Dalton so he can be with Tori? Or both?

[@eldritchtourist]

Regurgitating food is something birds will do with mates to bond with them and show they can provide for them, I believe. And no, he seems to have a bit of a crush on Dalton, since he's trying to share food with him and getting excited around him. I can't confirm or deny if Tori also receives this behavior, might be a comment somewhere that mentions it that I haven't seen, so it could be just Dalton or both of them that Apollo is "crushing" on. Some aggression wouldn't automatically mean that he was trying to compete with him, either, since birds can also behave aggressively when overly excited/aroused by a mate. Just getting a bit rough and bitey, you know? "I'm fighting you!" aggression in birds can be pretty intense constant attacking, which I've seen with some birds whose owners get a new boyfriend/girlfriend that the bird hates for stealing their owner they're bonded to. The birds will constantly chase 'em around, peck and bite at their feet, screech at them. The territorial jealousy is not subtle.

[@theauklet]

Yes, Alien Tourist is right - parrots regurgitate for their kids and mates. When he moves his neck and head like that, he's bringing up food from his crop and trying to feed it to Dalton's hand as a sign of caring.

[@Catherinzsl]

Reading the comments in this thread have confirmed to me that I am not a bird (not that I was in any doubt). If anyone puked up their food and offered it to me as an attempt at seduction... Let's just say, I'm not a bird.

[@namegoeshere197]

@@Catherinzsl Why do people kiss? where do you think it evolve from? xD Think about it for 5 min :D

[@crescent_sun482]

​@@eldritchtouristso the parrot is gay.

[@charlie-jd3ls]

LMFAOOOOO apollo 😭😭

[@Siddich]

seems like you are very attractive…at least for your birdy buddy. 🤗

[@supersultan7374]

Ok but his little panting is kinda adorable

[@yassoftwaresarchitectcivil4945]

When was a kid I didn't know harmony problems my father grew up hen that behave be like apollo suddenly I feed them unknownly but now only I come to know what's the hormone changes,,,

[@nomeatplz]

Give him a snack and a companion.

[@MM-eh6ge]

So this type of behavior means the birds is in heat I too just inquire a gray African parrot. I believe she’s a female. She laid an egg before She was my sons and he passed away We had a love-hate relationship. I loved her. She hated me but now we’re best friends. After a couple bites, I didn’t give up on her

[@Crubbert]

Hello!

[@EGLEWRRR]

Hey, I have a genuine question about hormonal birds - why do they throw up when hormonal? Is it to feed chicks? (that aren't there right now)

[@K8McQ]

They feed chicks that way but also their partner. It’s part of courtship behaviour for most parrots.

[@EGLEWRRR]

@@K8McQ Interesting, thank you for letting me know :)

[@uaenrg]

Request bro. My grey started becoming wild.. Biting me. I dont know why. I thought maybe I stopped giving him enough attention n play time. Or its hormonal changes. When hes terribly hungry I give him treats and he would be fine. If stomach filled he wont let me get close to him. What do you thinkb?

[@susanlee298]

What would that be then? PPS instead of PMS?

[@TheOtherSteel]

Pistash now!

[@melstiller8561]

Poor baby! Nature can be so unfair, right Apollo? 😳😵

[@14nads]

Easy tiger...

[@vinicioramirez3409]

My 5 month old sun conure is doing the same 😭

[@priyadharmasena6067]

Daddy Daddy..what shall I do ?

[@Vetani325]

Could somebody explain what is going on? In which way it affects Apollo himself and his owners? I have 0 idea about birds.

[@BusinessCazual]

He's horny because puberty and these hormones can make the birds aggressive, disobedient, and/or attracted to their humans as if it were the mate.

[@adsrickhenlenix6632]

Right now he's going through Hormones , as hes going from a baby bird to an adult bird. My cockatiel and green cheek conure do the same things. About twice a year they go through matting season for birds. Where they get extra horny, try to nest everywhere, and for my conure she always tries to woo me. Their doing very wellwith Apollo. Its also important to never, ever pet your parrot anywhere but the top of their head. Anywhere else is sexual to a bird. Apollo will most likely go through this also twice a year. This is normal behavior for those times.

[@jonetoshka8652]

Hormones. OMG. Tell me about it.

[@otsu3011]

0:58 pistassh

[@SiiriCressey]

As a house bird, is he likely to mate?

[@cegeldenhuys7775]

He is going to get worse before he will get better. Mine is 11 years old.

[@thedaily30]

Possibly a stupid question… what’s the solution here? Does he have a mate?

[@gamecock_1960]

If Apollo had a mate he wouldn’t listen to his owner & they don’t want babies

[@tacitozetticci9308]

With a human inprinting it's actually difficult for them to find another bird attractive. And btw introducing birds to each other and keeping them together is extremely dangerous, they can kill each other in the blink of an eye.

[@thedaily30]

@@tacitozetticci9308 really? Is that just with this species of bird, or in general? Thanks for the reply.

[@thedaily30]

@@gamecock_1960 Interesting; I didn’t realize there was a correlation between the bird being trainable and (not) having a mate. Thanks for the reply.

[@DoodleDoo]

I think it's animal abuse at this point. They want to do their thing as nature intends but you are just using this single bird for KZbin money. Why don't you get a female bird too?

[@numberbirb7728]

He wants a "snack" if you know what I mean 😏

[@davsny5]

It would be funny if you played Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Apollo could relax don't do it when you want to come.

[@vegetablepolice1]

pollo needs some chochi

[@fractalzombie]

This because I bought for my girl male and then they make me 2 mini African grey parrot)

[@supersoapdropper1826]

I try to tell this to people but no one seems to understand the hormones part, she was pretty young when I got her.

[@nmxsanchez]

Are we still talking about birds

[@supersoapdropper1826]

birds are a cool areal based life form

[@RockandRollWoman]

​@@nmxsanchezI sure hope so! 😬

[@maykasaharav2k385]

He needs a lover?!

[@WTFBOOMDOOM]

That looks like a problematic choke point created by the furniture at 1:10.

[@sonoftheway3528]

Get him a lady bird!

[@sarajoy2742]

Apollo is gonna take your finger off one day if you’re not careful!! 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤣😂♥️

[@JunethSnowdrop]

Does the sound Apollo makes indicate that he's aroused?

[@harryballz4803]

Like me on every Weekend..and i'm 35 😄😬

[@egghaverr]

:( 🏊

[@JIMBO8472]

its not his fault in the wild his roid-rage a useful tool to rival males

[@user-jx4ro5df4e]

Do you thought about getting a female African Grey?

[@tatertotbobaandpieck]

That's not a good solution to this issue. Breeding is a huge thing to take on, and a bird imprinted on humans is not necessarily going to be what Apollo "wants". Discouraging the behavior, hormone teas, and distractions are all you can really do without going to a vet.

[@francescofabbri573]

I've had the same problems just today. Today Maya, my female african grey, couldn't keep her hormones at bay 😳 They're so cute but it's a nightmare to handle this period 😅1

[@lisaaltman9363]

Poor Apollo! I hear u trying to get him to relax, but I have just one question for u, & it's actually on the rhetorical side: If u needed to "get some tail" so badly that u were unable to see straight, would being told to "relax" make a difference to u? No, I thought not! "A" for effort, tho. I certainly don't envy the position ur in right now

[@Eijimiji]

why are you commenting in such a condescending way?

[@supermatt135]

For some reason this video is broken on console

[@kolika1670]

Are you planning to get him a female? In my country it is prohibited by law to keep these birds alone because they need a partner…

[@bl0odtea]

african greys don’t need another one of their kind as long as they spend most of their time around their owner. birds can get attached/bonded to humans, so having only one is okay.

[@umapessoaqualquer3688]

Apollo needs a gf

[@ruthhopeful1405]

Cannt we find him a wife?

[@tatertotbobaandpieck]

That's not a good solution to this issue.

[@chocoborider87]

That's exactly why I got both male and female. So they never feel lonely like that. However, it's easier said than done. African greys are very expensive.

[@lisaricci4779]

Looks like Apollo needs a girlfriend.

[@jaja20869]

get him a female

[@crowspears3265]

Awful idea

[@jaja20869]

@@crowspears3265 why?

[@crowspears3265]

@@jaja20869 He's going through puberty so he will get over it eventually. Getting him a female grey will result in aggressiveness towards the owner and he might not even like her or downright hate her. Greys are "one person bird", so he sees his owner as his mate. Plus it will lead to sexual frustration if he does get a mate . . .

[@jaja20869]

@@crowspears3265 ok thx..man that sounds complicated

[@BB-bw8tk]

thank you for not throwing your bird and instead putting him down properly

[@Mint-kj9kw]

I like Apollo....not his owner.

[@bl0odtea]

why?

[@ronaldrichardschramm3752]

For the sake of the African gray parrot, please provide a large cage with toys (to prevent boredom), fresh fruit and vegetables, free flight every day, but keep the windows and doors closed (because they fly away) and ensure the humidity is around 60% and take a regular shower. Have fun with your parrot.

[@Dorito230]

It’s so sad that they are punished for hormones.

[@ReddyRAD]

the point is not to punish, but to discourage/not interact in a way that might make hormones act up because if they encourage the hormonal behaviour that can cause sexual frustration in the bird!

[@bl0odtea]

you clearly don’t know much about birds.

[@Eijimiji]

Where is the punishment? Stop being so sensitive

[@موسى_7]

Why don't you get a female parrot for him? Nothing nicer than seeing parrots hatch out of eggs.

[@ravenbazaar]

what a weird thing to say

[@eldenvedetta635]

@@ravenbazaar I imagined him getting all ready with food and wine to watch it happen XD

[@irenafarm]

They’ve said there may be a future Mrs Apollo, once he retires, depending on their circumstances.

[@WhistleblowingGoodWitch]

I swear I've been where this bird's been. In my teens 🫠