Not so friendly Derbyan

[Wolf]

It may not be important at all, but then again it may become important as time goes on. There may be a 2 or 4 digit date stamped on the band that would tell us the year that he was hatched.

[Pajarita]

No, the beak starts to change color at around 8 months of age and, although they don't get their 'final' coloring until sexual maturity, the males do show a blue head, chest and abdomen after juvenile molt so I would say you have a female and not a male, my dear.

[Derbyan_Frank]

The band reads "AAP TX 14 1064." I tried looking up who AAP is but didn't have any luck. I've made a vet appointment for Frank/Frankie for Monday and I will get the DNA test done in addition to getting his/her foot looked at. Someone had a rough landing and favored a foot for a few hours. The bird seems completely fine now but I'd rather not risk it.

In other news, adding more toys to the cage as well as providing some fun foraging toys has resulted in significantly fewer attempts to climb onto my arm and chew. The bird still tries from time to time but doesn't fuss to much if I make it step up and hand it one of the foraging toys. As for snuggles, I like to rub the bird's beak while holding it. I've tried the training mentioned in Michael's book to get it used to being touched on the back with limited success. Target training is continuing and lasts maybe 5-10 minutes at a time, once a day.

[Pajarita]

Actually, the back is an erogenous zone for them so it's not a place that should be touched. But I don't think you need a DNA, these birds are dimorphic.

[liz]

Actually, the back is an erogenous zone for them so it's not a place that should be touched. But I don't think you need a DNA, these birds are dimorphic.

dimorphic?

[Wolf]

Another 50 cent word that simply means that the male and female look different so you can tell them apart just by looking at them.

[Pajarita]

Correct. Actually, the correct term would be 'sexually dimorphic' - the opposite of it is 'sexually monomorphic' as in when you cannot tell the difference.

[liz]

Correct. Actually, the correct term would be 'sexually dimorphic' - the opposite of it is 'sexually monomorphic' as in when you cannot tell the difference.

Your making my brain hurt.