Starting a new thread here, since I have some questions related the the "how do you tell what an ekkie is thinking" thread, but didn't want to hijack it.
How do you know when your ekkie is about to bite? Forrest has never bitten anyone, or even tried to, at least as far as I can tell. He growls and pins his eyes, but he does it in play (I was really glad that you posted in the other thread that some ekkies growl when they play, Marie) and I'm not sure if I could tell the difference b/n ferocious play, and being seriously about to bite.
I'm confident that when he growls and lunges now it's because he wants to play -- "I'm going to get that bird" is one of his favorite games, and he will often stretch and lean way over from his wingdow seat or a playstand and growl at me to get me to start playing it with him. Even when he gets really torqued up while we're playing, he never bites --- sometimes he'll put his beak on my fingers, but it is so incredibly gentle that it's obvious that he's in play mode, no matter how fierce he looks.
Will he stop playing like this as he matures, so that when he's grown up the growling will really mean cut it out? I know no one has a crystal ball, but any predictions or examples of similar behaviors with your own birds would be welcomed. I don't want to miss signals of aggression and put the poor guy in a position where he feels he really has to chomp me to get his point across.
Best,
Lisa
& Forrest
& Kiwi , DNA female
How do you know when your ekkie is about to bite? Forrest has never bitten anyone, or even tried to, at least as far as I can tell. He growls and pins his eyes, but he does it in play (I was really glad that you posted in the other thread that some ekkies growl when they play, Marie) and I'm not sure if I could tell the difference b/n ferocious play, and being seriously about to bite.
I'm confident that when he growls and lunges now it's because he wants to play -- "I'm going to get that bird" is one of his favorite games, and he will often stretch and lean way over from his wingdow seat or a playstand and growl at me to get me to start playing it with him. Even when he gets really torqued up while we're playing, he never bites --- sometimes he'll put his beak on my fingers, but it is so incredibly gentle that it's obvious that he's in play mode, no matter how fierce he looks.
Will he stop playing like this as he matures, so that when he's grown up the growling will really mean cut it out? I know no one has a crystal ball, but any predictions or examples of similar behaviors with your own birds would be welcomed. I don't want to miss signals of aggression and put the poor guy in a position where he feels he really has to chomp me to get his point across.
Best,
Lisa
& Forrest
& Kiwi , DNA female