Hello,
I have had my adopted my Alex boy Hocico for a year now, he was 16 when I adopted him (microchipped, vet files from 3 days old). He's beautiful, funny and smart. But there are a few issues...
- His last owner was male, and Hocico mostly spent time around gay men, so he goes into breeding/mating behaviour around men, immediately and intensely. Specifically my son.
- He spent a lot of time in pubs/bars I think, he has brand recognition for many troubling things and goes insane when he thinks someone is opening a beer (we never are but he has broken into cans of drink before....) or chips or god knows what. He's got junk food issues.
- He used to have a vocab of around 150 words, it's now about 5, can he relearn? He says "Hello" like a parrot, but then whispers "so pretty, so geoooorgeous" in a totally different voice. He's learning "kiss" and "scratch" sorta.
- His eyes don't pin as much as other Alexandrines, is that because he is older? I know behavior triggers it, but even when he's triggered, it's just not as drastic as other alexandrines I've owned and know. Age?
- He sees me as his "Mum" and listens to me, but has recently tried mating behaviour with my partner (female) and is getting increasingly anxious when she leaves the room. Unless my son is in the room, in which case...obviously he only has eyes for him!
He also seems to always be in a mating behaviour period...constantly.His horrible cobra dance, flashing eyes, heart wings.....he must be so tired ha ha. He also does this thing where he sticks his tongue out the side of his beak and wiggles it, is that an Alexandrine thing? I can't find any mention of it. It's his cue for "give me a kiss".
- He is very sweet around other birds, he's a huge sook and was trying to make friends with our conures, but conures are cliquey and don't like the giant avocado with the huge beak. He watches over them and lets me know if they are in danger (according to him). So he sees them as his flock, and looks after them but they bite him. We don't let them mix obviously, their cages are just in the same room.
- I think he is lonely and would like to find him a friend. I've googled for a few species-appropriate friends for Alexandrines and obviously, Ringnecks come up, but in my experience, they are PROFOUNDLY loud. Derbyns and Plum heads etc are a bit rarer where I am. He's had "playdates" with a green fronted Amazon who he liked but she did not like him. He loves other birds.
- We are all in lockdown at the moment so he has a lot of engagement but as that ends, we will be out of the house more. I don't want his anxiety to increase, or his insanity.
- He ignores all toys and only bites his perch because he has no forward-thinking skills. He only bites the things he literally needs to rely on, BUT if his cage doesn't have toys and decoration he gets sad. But he will not play with them - ever. They look brand new after 8 months.
- He had his wings clipped by the previous owner all his life but can fly now (which is amazing since the neural pathways for flight were never developed in the critical stage, he's so smart). He flies around the room a lot and is always improving his aim and landing skills.
So - is another male Alex the right choice? I can't get him his preference of a human male to live in his cage, ha ha. Will another Alex make him noiser?
There is so little info on Alexandrines with various combinations of other bird companions. I understand beak size/general size issues but what happens with other species? Eclectus, Hahns Macaw etc. I'm just reluctant to have another ringneck because of the horrifying noise and my lack of skills and time to train it away.
Please explain my crazy bird and what friend he needs to make him happy.
I have had my adopted my Alex boy Hocico for a year now, he was 16 when I adopted him (microchipped, vet files from 3 days old). He's beautiful, funny and smart. But there are a few issues...
- His last owner was male, and Hocico mostly spent time around gay men, so he goes into breeding/mating behaviour around men, immediately and intensely. Specifically my son.
- He spent a lot of time in pubs/bars I think, he has brand recognition for many troubling things and goes insane when he thinks someone is opening a beer (we never are but he has broken into cans of drink before....) or chips or god knows what. He's got junk food issues.
- He used to have a vocab of around 150 words, it's now about 5, can he relearn? He says "Hello" like a parrot, but then whispers "so pretty, so geoooorgeous" in a totally different voice. He's learning "kiss" and "scratch" sorta.
- His eyes don't pin as much as other Alexandrines, is that because he is older? I know behavior triggers it, but even when he's triggered, it's just not as drastic as other alexandrines I've owned and know. Age?
- He sees me as his "Mum" and listens to me, but has recently tried mating behaviour with my partner (female) and is getting increasingly anxious when she leaves the room. Unless my son is in the room, in which case...obviously he only has eyes for him!
He also seems to always be in a mating behaviour period...constantly.His horrible cobra dance, flashing eyes, heart wings.....he must be so tired ha ha. He also does this thing where he sticks his tongue out the side of his beak and wiggles it, is that an Alexandrine thing? I can't find any mention of it. It's his cue for "give me a kiss".
- He is very sweet around other birds, he's a huge sook and was trying to make friends with our conures, but conures are cliquey and don't like the giant avocado with the huge beak. He watches over them and lets me know if they are in danger (according to him). So he sees them as his flock, and looks after them but they bite him. We don't let them mix obviously, their cages are just in the same room.
- I think he is lonely and would like to find him a friend. I've googled for a few species-appropriate friends for Alexandrines and obviously, Ringnecks come up, but in my experience, they are PROFOUNDLY loud. Derbyns and Plum heads etc are a bit rarer where I am. He's had "playdates" with a green fronted Amazon who he liked but she did not like him. He loves other birds.
- We are all in lockdown at the moment so he has a lot of engagement but as that ends, we will be out of the house more. I don't want his anxiety to increase, or his insanity.
- He ignores all toys and only bites his perch because he has no forward-thinking skills. He only bites the things he literally needs to rely on, BUT if his cage doesn't have toys and decoration he gets sad. But he will not play with them - ever. They look brand new after 8 months.
- He had his wings clipped by the previous owner all his life but can fly now (which is amazing since the neural pathways for flight were never developed in the critical stage, he's so smart). He flies around the room a lot and is always improving his aim and landing skills.
So - is another male Alex the right choice? I can't get him his preference of a human male to live in his cage, ha ha
. Will another Alex make him noiser?There is so little info on Alexandrines with various combinations of other bird companions. I understand beak size/general size issues but what happens with other species? Eclectus, Hahns Macaw etc. I'm just reluctant to have another ringneck because of the horrifying noise and my lack of skills and time to train it away.
Please explain my crazy bird and what friend he needs to make him happy.
