Paquita and Rajah: A Love Story ?

[Wolf]

This is a continuation of Paquita's story and of Rajah's story. You can read the first part of Paquita's story here viewtopic.php?f=25&t=12606 and the beginning of Rajah's story here viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14000 .

I have been trying to get Paquita and Rajah to accept each other since his arrival here on the 4th of August, well actually I started the introductions on the 4th, it was the following day when I first allowed them to be together for about an hour. I did it this way to avoid any fighting and so it would end on a positive note. Today, the 15th of August, they have been together all day since 9 am and it is now 5 pm. There have been a few very minor spats, but that is to be expected and they have gotten along the rest of the time with Rajah feeding Keeta as often as she would allow him to do so. Since it is nearly dinnertime, I will consider it a success if they make it through dinnertime without any major squabbles and am going to try to leave them together for their first night as well.

[liz]

I have always waited until one invited the other back to his cage.

[Wolf]

I understand this, Liz, but we have vastly different setups with our birds. However, when they are in separate cages, which were placed next to each other, she is always hanging out near to Rajah and he to her. When I move their cages so that I can align the doors, she is right there to welcome him into her cage. After a few times of that, I just started putting her in his cage as it was a lot less work in setting the cages up and replacing them.
Rajah has been a real sweetheart about this whole thing and he feeds her as much as she will accept from him, he takes it when she nips at him and just accepts it as a matter of course. They have had a few very minor tiffs but nothing of any real consequence. Keeta has even reached over to preen Rajah's head.
I have been placing them together every day and watching them very closely for any indication that they were incompatable. Today was a milestone as it is their first full day together and they are doing wonderfully together. They are now settling in for the night and have not had any major problems at all.
Keeta is a bit demanding of Rajah and she will go over to him and nip him and he will feed her and if it is not enough she will start nipping him more, so off he goes to get food and water and then he comes back and evades several of her nips until he can get in to feed her some more.
All Rajah wants is to please her and be allowed to perch next to her. Keeta's biggest problem is that she has spent 10 years as a single bird and although everything about her body language says that she wants him right there with her, she doesn't quite know how to deal with it. So while he is all relaxed, she is a bit nervous, but she moves to stay near to him even though she is nervous.

[Wolf]

Well the birds are all busy eating breakfast and all is well. Last night was the first night that Rajah got to spend the night with his love, Paquita. We will see how everything goes after they have had time to enjoy breakfast as we all know how things can go after the first night. But it looks good so far.

[Pajarita]

What wonderful, WONDERFUL news! It's usually easy for little ones to accept one another (they always seem so very eager for another one of their own's company) but I have to say that I am greatly impressed at the speed this relationship progressed! Keeta will calm down. She is a bit too eager and excited after so many years of been on her own - plus, the plet hens (same as the lovies hens) are dominant and, at her age and been alone all her life, she most likely thinks of herself as the Empress of the Universe and him nothing but a lowly minion put on this earth to please her And, let's not forget that we are at the tail end of the breeding season so she is 'ripe' for love But, and although I've said it before, I'll say it again, it's also because he is an ex-breeder (they know exactly what to do while the pet ones might take a while to 'catch on').

[Wolf]

She is most definitely the one in charge of this relationship. It is now noon and she is being a little aggressive with him and he just accepts this without returning the aggression. He manages to turn about half of her lunges into a feeding session and then walks away when he gets tired of it. There has been no major conflicts since I put them together yesterday, just the occasional snit on Keeta's part.
I would not be trying this so soon, but they were getting along so well for shorter periods of time and I am right where I can see them the whole time so that I can interfere if it is needed. I don't think that my interference is going to be required, but I am keeping a close eye on them.

[Wolf]

It is 6:46 pm and the birds have been given their dinners. Rajah and Keeta are both on their sleeping perches, where they will remain for the night as long as they are not disturbed. They are doing fantastic with each other. Rajah is very attentive of Keeta and keeps trying to please her and he tries so hard while she pecks and bites at him. She doesn't do it for very long and it looks to me that mostly it is half heartedly. In any case she doesn't hurt him, and he patiently waits her out and then moves on in and feeds her. This is amazing to watch and this is only their second full day together and tonight is their second night.

[Pajarita]

It IS amazing to watch, isn't it? I am always amazed at the huge range of emotions they show and the sheer subtlety of some of their interactions when they are paired up. I mean, you can easily 'see' what they are thinking, planning, hoping for, etc... And don't even get me started on the unequivocal and endless devotion of the males for their mates! Amazing! And there are people who think they have no feelings... HA!

[Wolf]

Well it is 10:48 am on the 17th and they are doing great together. Rajah is starting to chatter for her when se comes out to see me as she does every morning. Keeta and I talk and play together for about an hour on most mornings, we still play together even on those days that I can't do the full hour because Keeta looks forward to it so much. It really is amazing how much she wants to spend time with me and this is just as apparent with her having Rajah with her. In some way even more as sometimes she seems to be saying, that she needs a break from him, get her out of there for a while. And this with her being the dominant one in their new relationship.

[Pajarita]

I have found the same to be true, Wolf. I don't know why people insist that birds bonded to other birds cannot have a bond with people, I've never found this to be strictly true. They might not need people as much but they certainly love and enjoy them, and it's such a relief for a keeper to know that his/her bird is getting the type of love that nature meant for them to get that, in my opinion, this alone makes up for any 'reduction' in the love they show us.