Nic_and_Andy
Meeting neighbors
Hi all. Let me first take a second to introduce myself in case you missed my intro on the welcome forum.
I just recently adopted a male red-belly parrot that is somewhere around 14 years old. His previous owner had him for about 12 years and then decided that she couldnt really give him the attention he needs anymore. Andy is my first bird and I have had him for 3 weeks. I have always been a bird lover and have been around birds a lot, but he is my first.
The first thing I would like to deal with is his mating behavior. He seems to have chosen me as his mate and performs mating behavior almost every time I hold him. Mostly he does it if I sit down, so I try to stand while I hold him to help avoid it but that doesnt always work. I have tried a couple things such as blowing a little puff of air in his face which helps for all of about 5 seconds. I also try switching hands with him which makes him stop briefly each time he switches hands. I have tried putting him on time-outs, but the difficulty is that it is VERY hard to get him to leave my hand when he isnt ready to. I dont want to just stop holding him for the time being, and I dont think that would be good for him either, but I am lost as to what to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try? Does anyone know how long this will continue for?