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The attributes listed in this thread are the experiences of each individual and your experiences may differ with your individual bird.
Sachi is my dna'd female white capped pionus parrot and the very first parrot that I ever allowed to perch on me. I met Sachi when she was 11 weeks old and she'll be 6 years old this May. I was pretty crazy about Sachi after meeting her and couldn't get her out of my mind all weekend. One moment I had never seriously considered being a parrot owner, the next moment I was googling everything about pionus parrots and spending $ on what I hadn't realized would be a lifetime commitment.
When it comes to people, I am her favourite person. When she meets new people she does not like them nor is she polite or friendly. She will raise her hackles high and scream at the top of her lungs. Even people who know nothing about parrot body language know that she is letting them know to stay away. For people that she is familiar with, she's tolerant of them as long as they don't insist on any acknowledgement from her. When new people come over Sachi is always locked in her cage because she is flighted and it would be hard to predict whether she'll be dangerous to our guests. Towards my Severe macaw Mabel, Sachi is HUGE bully and extremely antagonistic. She has days where she doesn't bother with Mabel however those days are equal to the days where she'll lunge at Mabel, knock her off perches, knock her off swings and gyms to the point that Mabel's literally dangling with one toe and scared that Sachi will attack. Sometimes Sachi will try to knock Mabel off my shoulder and actually succeeds. It doesn't seem to phase her that Mabel is about 2.5 times her size. Sachi has no qualms about making sure that Mabel knows she owns her.
Sachi can occasionally be quite territorial about her cage and will attack. When she doesn't like certain object she'll attack my hand for touching them. Her bites are extremely painful and I can only describe them as strong chomps. She bites to harm and then a second later she'll bend her head down for scritches. For the first 2.5 years of our life together Sach was always gentle and never bit me. I thought that was who she was and that was how she'd always be. Today I'm very mindful before I reach out to touch her because her bites have taught me well and once I required stitches. Then there's the matter of hormonal honking. It seems that Sachi does this a few times each month. Some months are worse than others and her sounds drive me nuts. I also feel very helpless during these times.
Besides all of the above, Sachi is truly a Dolly in many respects. She's loyal and completely trusting of me. She's gentle & QUIET 98% of the time. I can do everything from flipping her on her back, to towelling her to file her nails. She also very go with the flow, doesn't startle easily and adapts to change extremely well. She's very calm and steady and doesn't freak out when faced with new objects. Her favourite thing to do is to be with me, receive scritches and eat. She loves to eat.
As I write this I realize that Sachi seems to have two extremes and yes that may be right. My personal perspective is this, Sachi's crazies are truly just a fraction of the what she provides in terms of joy. Truth be told, none of it is hard for me to work with because I care enough about her to do just that.
I am looking forward to reading from other pionus parrot owners.
Sachi is my dna'd female white capped pionus parrot and the very first parrot that I ever allowed to perch on me. I met Sachi when she was 11 weeks old and she'll be 6 years old this May. I was pretty crazy about Sachi after meeting her and couldn't get her out of my mind all weekend. One moment I had never seriously considered being a parrot owner, the next moment I was googling everything about pionus parrots and spending $ on what I hadn't realized would be a lifetime commitment.
When it comes to people, I am her favourite person. When she meets new people she does not like them nor is she polite or friendly. She will raise her hackles high and scream at the top of her lungs. Even people who know nothing about parrot body language know that she is letting them know to stay away. For people that she is familiar with, she's tolerant of them as long as they don't insist on any acknowledgement from her. When new people come over Sachi is always locked in her cage because she is flighted and it would be hard to predict whether she'll be dangerous to our guests. Towards my Severe macaw Mabel, Sachi is HUGE bully and extremely antagonistic. She has days where she doesn't bother with Mabel however those days are equal to the days where she'll lunge at Mabel, knock her off perches, knock her off swings and gyms to the point that Mabel's literally dangling with one toe and scared that Sachi will attack. Sometimes Sachi will try to knock Mabel off my shoulder and actually succeeds. It doesn't seem to phase her that Mabel is about 2.5 times her size. Sachi has no qualms about making sure that Mabel knows she owns her.
Sachi can occasionally be quite territorial about her cage and will attack. When she doesn't like certain object she'll attack my hand for touching them. Her bites are extremely painful and I can only describe them as strong chomps. She bites to harm and then a second later she'll bend her head down for scritches. For the first 2.5 years of our life together Sach was always gentle and never bit me. I thought that was who she was and that was how she'd always be. Today I'm very mindful before I reach out to touch her because her bites have taught me well and once I required stitches. Then there's the matter of hormonal honking. It seems that Sachi does this a few times each month. Some months are worse than others and her sounds drive me nuts. I also feel very helpless during these times.
Besides all of the above, Sachi is truly a Dolly in many respects. She's loyal and completely trusting of me. She's gentle & QUIET 98% of the time. I can do everything from flipping her on her back, to towelling her to file her nails. She also very go with the flow, doesn't startle easily and adapts to change extremely well. She's very calm and steady and doesn't freak out when faced with new objects. Her favourite thing to do is to be with me, receive scritches and eat. She loves to eat.
As I write this I realize that Sachi seems to have two extremes and yes that may be right. My personal perspective is this, Sachi's crazies are truly just a fraction of the what she provides in terms of joy. Truth be told, none of it is hard for me to work with because I care enough about her to do just that.
I am looking forward to reading from other pionus parrot owners.
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