Hi all
I have a young white-capped pionus (about 18 months old) whom I have had for six months. He is generally very sweet and laid back. My concern however is that his favorite way of playing with his toys is to attack them quite aggressively. He has interacted with all his toys this way since I have had him and it does seem to be done in the spirit of play rather than aggression. When he tries to play with me he treats me the same way as his toys. There is a difference between this play fighting (his feathers are not ruffled and he seems excited rather than angry and doesn't actually bite but rather 'boxes' me with his beak) vs when he is in a mood and warns me off with fluffed feathers (and a nip if I don't heed his warning).
I obviously don't want to encourage this type of play in case it does escalate into aggression as he gets older. My question is how to I discourage this behavior? Currently I ignore this behavior and offer him a head scratch which he loves. Also how do I play with him in a more appropriate manner?
I have a young white-capped pionus (about 18 months old) whom I have had for six months. He is generally very sweet and laid back. My concern however is that his favorite way of playing with his toys is to attack them quite aggressively. He has interacted with all his toys this way since I have had him and it does seem to be done in the spirit of play rather than aggression. When he tries to play with me he treats me the same way as his toys. There is a difference between this play fighting (his feathers are not ruffled and he seems excited rather than angry and doesn't actually bite but rather 'boxes' me with his beak) vs when he is in a mood and warns me off with fluffed feathers (and a nip if I don't heed his warning).
I obviously don't want to encourage this type of play in case it does escalate into aggression as he gets older. My question is how to I discourage this behavior? Currently I ignore this behavior and offer him a head scratch which he loves. Also how do I play with him in a more appropriate manner?