Let's talk about puberty

Snapdragon

Member
Dec 26, 2019
112
8
Everett, WA
Parrots
Tashi, almost-2-year-old female moustache parakeet, Indian subspecies (Psittacula alexandri fasciata)
My mustache parakeet has been far more active than usual for the past week. He's been racing across the tops of cages at a breakneck pace, abruptly flapping and squawking, and annoying the heck out of his poor female Indian ringneck neighbor even more than usual. I keep jokingly asking my coworker whether he snuck Tashi some caffeine!

Then this happened.

[ame="https://youtu.be/jpkGr_sJTCw"]https://youtu.be/jpkGr_sJTCw[/ame]

And I remembered laughing just a few days earlier as he somehow squeezed into his deep food dish and wriggled around in a ridiculous fashion. Sigh. Tashi is only about a year old, but I'm thinking puberty has begun. Plus he's molting, lucky bird.

Tashi is a bit less focused, a little more in-my-face about what he wants (eg he will fly over and rip walnuts out of my hand when I'm trying to work with other birds in the shop, haha!), and far more prone to lecturing me right in the ear for any perceived offense. However, for now he's as gentle as ever with me and is delighted whenever we spend time together.

Gah. Puberty. And it's going to get worse, isn't it. :eek: :18:
:59:

How did your bird act when puberty began, and what were the best strategies you found for handling it?
 

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