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Adopted two year old white cap, looking for bonding strategies

Aidsky

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Hello! I’m new to these forums. My family owned love birds, cockatiels and parakeets growing up, I always wanted a bird of my own and I adopted this sweet white cap pionus last week. He was extremely bonded to one person in his previous home, he’s about two years old. I’ll give him as much time as he needs to warm up, I guess what I’m looking for here is advice on how to form a bond with my new little buddy. He gladly takes almonds from me, has plenty of confidence, but shows clear signs of aggression when I’m near him without treats. I know a week is a very very short amount of time, i just want to make sure I’m doing everything right.
 

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jh81

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Hes so pretty :)

first, go slow! Dont force them, just take things one day at a time. Leave him be for a while. Allow him to settle in first. He’ll let you know when hes ready to be picked up and cuddled ;-)

practise target training. And “step up” etc.
 

sunnysmom

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He's very handsome. As jh81 said, just go slow. Try to move at his pace. Some birds settle in faster than others. I don't know if you know anything about his prior routine, but if you do, try keeping things the same until he is more comfortable- same food, same bedtime, covered/uncovered, etc. And just spend time sitting with him and talking to him. I find often new birds find your presence comforting even if they don't want you directly interacting with them yet.
 

Aidsky

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I feel horrible because he has a vet appointment tomorrow and it’s completely going to disrupt any trust I’ve built. He’s never been to a vet in his past home, and I noticed a few sneezes so I set up an appointment, hopefully he can forgive me!
 

Aidsky

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He's very handsome. As jh81 said, just go slow. Try to move at his pace. Some birds settle in faster than others. I don't know if you know anything about his prior routine, but if you do, try keeping things the same until he is more comfortable- same food, same bedtime, covered/uncovered, etc. And just spend time sitting with him and talking to him. I find often new birds find your presence comforting even if they don't want you directly interacting with them yet.
I know he also loved the cockatiels his last owner had, so I’ve had YouTube videos up for him to watch of cockatiels in the mean time! He loves it! I will go as slow as he needs :)
 

Nostromo

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@Aidsky Congrats on your little buddy! Don't stress too much about the vet. He's brand new, so everything probably seems like chaos to him; I'd suggest just be quick and calm as possible. If you feel settled in your decision then he'll cope better. One technique one of my avian vets used was to turn off the lights and wrap the parrot in a towel. That way they don't see it coming. Gotta be quick & know what you're doing for that though! A good avian vet will know how to handle him in a way that isn't traumatizing. We adopted our 10 year old BH Pi two and a half years ago. She took several months to really settle in. The thing that made the biggest difference is following her lead and making her a part of our daily life. In my experience, Pi like to observe more than jump in and get directly involved. So if he has a comfortable perch with food and water where he can watch you go about your day, that'll be a great foundation for him eventually deciding he'd like to accompany you for parts of it!

Sleep is another important thing. A bird who sleeps well is just a happier soul. Our parrot improved considerably in grouchiness when we started covering her cage at 6pm until morning.
 

tka

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The thing about Pionus is that they like to watch and observe you before deciding whether you're worth getting to know. Interact with him but on his terms - and he's making his terms pretty clear. Continue offering almonds but don't try to push him into anything else. He may want to be next to you but not actually touch. In the early days, my girl was happy to hang out on a stand right next to me but didn't trust me enough to step up - she just wanted to see what I was doing and be involved in her own way. Whatever you do, don't push - Pis don't like being rushed.

You can also try hands-off training like teaching him to target a chopstick. This will both help you both find a way of communicatng with each other and also give you a way of moving him without having to touch him.
 

jh81

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I have a rescue Pionus, he came from a very bad situation. Have him for 5 months now, and just now he doesnt mind me getting close. Not too close, but a few inches i can aproach :) he also likes to take threats from a bowl i can hold, but not from my hands just yet.

and thats okay :) in the morning, i open up the cage and then he can sit on top all day.. just watching things. I will talk to him, and i will play with the other Pionus (see picture) and Turo can watch all that, and slowly warm up to me :)
 
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