AthenaDreaming
Moving in
Hi all!
First time bird owner of a two-month-old Bourke's parakeet here. In the week we've had him so far, our little Bourke, Castle, has a very healthy appetite. We were able to teach him step up already, bring him out of the cage on our fingers without a problem, and are able to pet him a bit (he's not the biggest fan of petting, but tolerates some; he'd rather just sit on our hand or shoulder and spend quiet time with us). He loves baths, and he likes a variety of things to eat--his seed mix, pellet berry balls, ZuPreem fruit blend. And he happily sings little songs during the day (or sometimes fusses at birds he hears outside, ha ha). He puts himself to bed around 9-10pm like a little gentleman.
However, there are a couple things he does that just baffle me! I'd love some insight so we can be better bird parents to him.
First: He ONLY eats out of one of his food dishes. He has this one perch he really likes, and next to it is a food dish. He will only take food out of that particular dish and no others. We don't get it! His cage has slots for four food dishes, so we'd initially been putting one thing in each (so pellets in one, seeds in one, veggies in one and so on). Well- he will only eat out of the food dish that sits next to his favorite perch. Doesn't matter what's in there; he'll eat anything so long as it's in that one dish. Is there any way to make him realize he has multiple dishes so he'll actually get all his foods without me having to switch out what's in the one dish all the time?
Second: He sometimes does this thing we don't understand where he's in his cage, hops to the bottom floor and runs back and forth along the bottom of the cage like a madman. It's maybe twice a day that he does this, but we don't get what it's about at all. Just burning off some excess energy? Something he spots out the living room windows exciting him?
Third: After sitting on our hand/shoulder for a while, he seems to get bored and decides to fly to the floor to run around, where he eventually scares himself (so we gently, slowly scoop him up). What's going through his little birdie brain?
Last: He does this really funny thing sometimes where he'll be perched on our fingers, looking at us, and he starts bobbing his head all around. What does it mean? Is he trying to be playful? Or is it something else?
Thank you so much in advance for any insights
First time bird owner of a two-month-old Bourke's parakeet here. In the week we've had him so far, our little Bourke, Castle, has a very healthy appetite. We were able to teach him step up already, bring him out of the cage on our fingers without a problem, and are able to pet him a bit (he's not the biggest fan of petting, but tolerates some; he'd rather just sit on our hand or shoulder and spend quiet time with us). He loves baths, and he likes a variety of things to eat--his seed mix, pellet berry balls, ZuPreem fruit blend. And he happily sings little songs during the day (or sometimes fusses at birds he hears outside, ha ha). He puts himself to bed around 9-10pm like a little gentleman.
However, there are a couple things he does that just baffle me! I'd love some insight so we can be better bird parents to him.
First: He ONLY eats out of one of his food dishes. He has this one perch he really likes, and next to it is a food dish. He will only take food out of that particular dish and no others. We don't get it! His cage has slots for four food dishes, so we'd initially been putting one thing in each (so pellets in one, seeds in one, veggies in one and so on). Well- he will only eat out of the food dish that sits next to his favorite perch. Doesn't matter what's in there; he'll eat anything so long as it's in that one dish. Is there any way to make him realize he has multiple dishes so he'll actually get all his foods without me having to switch out what's in the one dish all the time?
Second: He sometimes does this thing we don't understand where he's in his cage, hops to the bottom floor and runs back and forth along the bottom of the cage like a madman. It's maybe twice a day that he does this, but we don't get what it's about at all. Just burning off some excess energy? Something he spots out the living room windows exciting him?
Third: After sitting on our hand/shoulder for a while, he seems to get bored and decides to fly to the floor to run around, where he eventually scares himself (so we gently, slowly scoop him up). What's going through his little birdie brain?
Last: He does this really funny thing sometimes where he'll be perched on our fingers, looking at us, and he starts bobbing his head all around. What does it mean? Is he trying to be playful? Or is it something else?
Thank you so much in advance for any insights
