sarahmcrawford
New member
- Oct 6, 2012
- 11
- 0
- Parrots
- white capped pionus
My white capped pionus Max is exhibiting new behavior today and I wondered if anyone can help me learn what it means. He (?) is 2 years old and I have had him for about a month. He is afraid of hands and so I have been trying to touch him with one finger. I have gotten to having my finger next to the very end of the perch and reward him as soon as he steps to the very end near my finger. I am letting him decide when to touch me by leaving it up to him to get close enough for his body to touch my finger. I feel like we are pretty close. He tries to get me to move the finger so he can get to the end of the perch so I think as soon as he gets that it's not leaving he might decide it's worth the treat. Today he started with head bobbing and beak opening which I always thought meant excitement but not in a good way so I was cautious about approaching him. He accepted the treat and there was no biting so I guess it was good excitement. He also was puffing up his belly and leg feathers and dancing back and forth on the perch. At the end of our training session he was puffed, dancing and stroking at his under tail area with his foot. It actually was a great session and he came closer to me than usual but I don't know what sex 'he' is and being that he is 2 I want to make sure he was just happy to see me and the treats and not exhibiting sexual behavior as I don't want to encourage that. And if it is sexual behavior is it more as a male or as a female? He is my 1st parrot so any help would be great. I plan to have the DNA test done but it is not worth the fight and loss of trust I am trying to build getting him to the vet so it will have to wait until he has more trust and will step up and come out of the cage so I can put him in a carrier.