deni416
New member
- Oct 24, 2010
- 9
- 0
- Parrots
- Rico--pineapple Green Cheek Conure, Dmitri RIP (Peach faced lovebird)
Hi,
I am now in my second week with my new pineapple GCC, Rico. He is now 15 weeks old and my one and only. I have 8 years of previous parrot experience with a lovebird. I bought Rico (genetically sexed) from a local breeder who is very experienced. He had been caged with one sibling when I bought him. Overall, our first week went really great. He has done very well with step training. As probably should have been expected, tho, I am encountering things I did not expect!
Rico is very hand tame and did not hesitate to let me know from day one that he wanted to be out of his cage to be with me--plastering himself to the doors of the cage. He is never eager to go back to his cages (2 large cages, approx 2'x2'x3', with some good toys, but not an overwhelming amount). He does not seem to know how to play; most success is with chewing type things. I have been sitting with him to try to engage him in play with limited success so far. He still always wants out with me. So far I am forcing myself to ignore a lot of his pleas, with intermittent quality times out with me throughout the day.
Question: do I go along with his desires for more time with me now & then try to taper him off gradually? Or do I try to keep to my anticipated later times for one on one time? I would love to be his constant companion, but know this is not best or practical for either one of us. I have tried a combination of being outside of his presence and also being in the same room with him (hoping it may reassure him). Do I just trust that he will find ways to entertain himself when left to his own devices?
Question 2: Rico has a strong desire to beak my lips and even my teeth. This goes beyond curiosity for him. He just leans and leans to get at my mouth a lot during the day. I try to distract him with food or chewable sticks, but this only seems to work when he actually is hungry. I thought it might be a signal from him of hunger, but that doesn't seem to hold. He uses his tongue on my inner lip and also uses a chewing motion (has learned "gentle" command somewhat). Giving him quick kisses to the beak (which I like) and saying "kiss" have not been a good substitute for him yet either. I obviously want to stop this activity, but would like insight as to why he is doing this so I can teach him most effectively. He gets lots of scritches and cuddles otherwise. Do I keep to a strict "no" policy on this?
Thanks for any advice.
I am now in my second week with my new pineapple GCC, Rico. He is now 15 weeks old and my one and only. I have 8 years of previous parrot experience with a lovebird. I bought Rico (genetically sexed) from a local breeder who is very experienced. He had been caged with one sibling when I bought him. Overall, our first week went really great. He has done very well with step training. As probably should have been expected, tho, I am encountering things I did not expect!
Rico is very hand tame and did not hesitate to let me know from day one that he wanted to be out of his cage to be with me--plastering himself to the doors of the cage. He is never eager to go back to his cages (2 large cages, approx 2'x2'x3', with some good toys, but not an overwhelming amount). He does not seem to know how to play; most success is with chewing type things. I have been sitting with him to try to engage him in play with limited success so far. He still always wants out with me. So far I am forcing myself to ignore a lot of his pleas, with intermittent quality times out with me throughout the day.
Question: do I go along with his desires for more time with me now & then try to taper him off gradually? Or do I try to keep to my anticipated later times for one on one time? I would love to be his constant companion, but know this is not best or practical for either one of us. I have tried a combination of being outside of his presence and also being in the same room with him (hoping it may reassure him). Do I just trust that he will find ways to entertain himself when left to his own devices?
Question 2: Rico has a strong desire to beak my lips and even my teeth. This goes beyond curiosity for him. He just leans and leans to get at my mouth a lot during the day. I try to distract him with food or chewable sticks, but this only seems to work when he actually is hungry. I thought it might be a signal from him of hunger, but that doesn't seem to hold. He uses his tongue on my inner lip and also uses a chewing motion (has learned "gentle" command somewhat). Giving him quick kisses to the beak (which I like) and saying "kiss" have not been a good substitute for him yet either. I obviously want to stop this activity, but would like insight as to why he is doing this so I can teach him most effectively. He gets lots of scritches and cuddles otherwise. Do I keep to a strict "no" policy on this?
Thanks for any advice.