Hello from Canada

[flyingsowm]

Hi everyone!
Very happy to be here. One day I plan on getting Michael's book. So I have a sweet 4 year old blue headed pionus named Indigo who loves scritches. We recently adopted Storm, a 7 year old Dusky Pionus. She is shy but comes out and stays with me for nutriberries! She loves veggies and pellets and will come out for veggies in her treat dish but she is a bit crazy over it and I am scared of being bitten. It has only been a week.

We have Jellybean, a 8 month old shy parrotlet upstairs in a room with two budgies, one of them was found at a park and one came to us with a deformed wing.

Recently, Tookie, a 4 year old male blue parrotlet joined our flock. He is a cuddlebug and loves scritches. He can be incredibly loud and aggressive around his favourite toys which are no longer in the cage. He has other toys he loves and is much more loving with us without his toy. He cannot be with the other parrotlet because he bites badly and draws blood. Any help with getting Tookie to love pockets and cuddling and to be quieter would be appreciated as well as getting Storm to be happier out of cage. All birds are clipped as we have giant windows and young kids who are always opening doors. Thanks!

[Wolf]

Well the clipping of the wings of your birds as some sort of safety measure is an illusion at best and spells and escaped or dead bird at the other end of the spectrum. Kids opening and closing doors means that a clipped bird can not move fast enough to escape injury or death if a child closes or opens a door at the wrong time. They have a much better chance of surviving this type of disaster if they can fly. Clipping will also not prevent a bird from escaping through an open window, it just means that they have no means to escape from a predator if they do escape to the outside.
Flight is so important to a birds wellbeing that it is connected to every major system in its body from respiration to cognitive functions such as problem solving and intelligence. Please rethink you position on wing clipping, I am not against clipping a birds wings if there is a valid medical reason for it.
You have only had Storm for a week so she is still trying to adjust to her new environment and is scared, which is made worse as she is clipped and knows that she is handicapped by this. The rehoming of a bird is always a difficult time for them if they were bonded to the previous owner as they first have to go through a mourning process before they can bond to a new person. Their mate bond is such that it is rarely just switched from one bird to another, this usually only occurs upon the death of their mate. Then you need to recognize that they are in a totally new environment without the support and security of their flock and to a parrot this is a very dangerous position to be in as it could easily mean their death at the teeth of a predator. Spend lots of time with her reassuring her and talking to her to get her acclimated to your presence as well as the sound of your voice. A little bribery in the form of treats are also helpful, I don't have a treat bowl, all of my bird receive their treats directly from my fingers.
I have a pair of parrotlets a 4 year old tourquoise male who is a retired breeder and a 10 year old female. I have not had the male for any length of time meaning less than a month so he is not handleable at this time. I have had Keeta the female for just over a year and she has just recently started to take an interest in my shirt pocket when she is out. So I don't think that I can be much help with yours at this time.

[flyingsowm]

Hi Wolf! If they are flighted they could land on each other's cages and lose a toe. The girls are awesome with the parrots and are very careful with the doors. It is a very orderly, happy house without kids running around and slamming doors (running is for outside only here). I do love the idea of flight. Storm has always been clipped but Tookie (parrotlet) was flighted. I will consider clipping/vs not clipping, especially for the pis.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum! Needless to say, I agree with Wolf 100% on the clipping issue and I am afraid that, in this forum, you are not going to find anybody who agrees with the practice. The truth is that, thankfully, it's rapidly becoming old-fashioned as more and more people realize that depriving a bird of flight is like keeping a dog tied to a pole. They can live that way, they will eat and drink and even wag their tails but it's not safe or kind to them.

Now, as to Tookie's aggression, is this against the other plet or against people when he is with the other plet? Because this 'detail' makes a big difference. Also, are they both males? If so, any particular reason why you got two males instead of one of the opposite gender of the one you already had? You say that he loves scritches and is a cuddlebug so what aggression, exactly, are you trying to work out? Or is all you want for him to like going into pockets? I'm a bit confused by your statements and request because they seem to be contradic as you can see

As to Storm, she sounds like a wonderful bird to me and, taking into consideration that she has been with you for, literally, just days, I don't think that anything needs to be done except allow her to take her time and proceed at her own pace toward her feeling comfortable in her new home and with her new humans without any demands or expectations. Just give her time.

Now, a word of caution, you can't feed nutriberries AND pellets. It's too much protein and vitamins for them. With birds, less is more. Also, although you did not specify if this is the case, you can't free-feed high protein food.

[flyingsowm]

Hi Pajarita
If you go back and reread the messages carefully (including the on I posted the training forum) you will see that they do not contradict. The parrotlets are cuddly an fine with people on their own. With each other, Tookie becomes very aggressive with people. The second male was adopted in the hopes that they would be friendly with people an each other. This may still happen with supervised playtime together.

I m going very slowly with Storm. There is no rushing or pushing to step up involved. I am just excited and wanted to share. I think Wolf's tips were on the spot! Storm loves lots of veggies and fruits and loves to come bout on the stans for them. Nutriberries are a treat only (3 per day).

[Pajarita]

For a medium size bird, 3 nutriberries is more than just a treat, it's a meal. Try using half an almond.

Tookie is been defensive of the little one. Perfectly normal and something that will, in time, disappear with patience and frequent handling of both.

[flyingsowm]

I meant 3 nutiberries total in in a day. I am going with the familiar treats to him but almonds are a good suggestion and I will try them next.

I am not sure if that aggression would have I disappeared. Tookie was jumping to people and biting and drawing blood. Jellybean looked overwhelmed. We will do supervise playtime and see how it goes.

[Wolf]

Tookie, being an adult would either have nothing to do with Jellybean or will sort of adopt him and defend him just as if he were his own offspring, or at least this is my opinion. An adult parrotlet would not allow strangers to approach within a certain distance from its babies and its nest and they are totally fearless in this regard.
Considering the size of a nutriberry 3 of them in a day is a whole meal for a Grey. My Grey loves almonds and pistachios, I get at least four treats from one almond for her.

[flyingsowm]

Thanks Wolf. I wilk cut the berries in half. Storm is a Dusky pionus not a grey but you are still right. Here is Tookie cuddling with me just now.

[Pajarita]

Pies are smaller than grays so the portion is even bigger for them. And nutriberries are not only a problem because they are made of seeds (high protein) but also because they have vitamins and minerals in them and if you are already free-feeding pellets, the extra supplements can do more harm than good.