The Pionus Diaries: The Max & Yoshi Story

[jh81]

So, Me and Max had a little talk late last night.

I was allready in bed, and i set the camera to alert me to movement. Good thing because something scared Max. He went nuts in the cage and in the process almost nocked Yoshi off her perch! So i went downstairs, gently talking while i turned on the light.

I told Max its okay to be scared, i understand. And i think he understood. He quickly went to his perch, fluffed his feathers and went to sleep again, and so did i.

I’m not sure what to make of his behavior towards Yoshi. He seems to want to protect her, but he also bites her when she wants food. I gently coached him off the cage while i allowed Yoshi to eat. They both react well to taking food from my hands so they are not too scared. They dont like to be scritched or handled, but thats okay

Max did the Pionus strud when i placed a perch on the top doors of the cage. It allows them to climb up and sit “free”. It was funny to see, tail fanned and head fluffed, i tried making a picture of it but ofcourse i was too late! The last image still shows his tail a bit fanned.

When i had dinner i chopped some of the veggies for them, but they are unsure what to make of it. They tasted some carrot i offered them by hand, but everything in the foodbowl is still untouched. I guess i have my work cut out.

They spend the afternoon flapping their wings. Yoshi flew off.. or rather, she fell to the floor and is no good flying, she doesnt reach hight. Max seems to be able to fly, he did one round through the room and then nicely landed back on the cage.

Max also likes music. I havent heard them make much noise, some mumbling and some soft wistling, untill i played Celine Dion. Beeing a HUUUUGE fan the music was a bit loud and Max seems to enjoy the noise. He gave his own concert. LOVE IT! Almost as good as Celine herself!

i have added a swing and two small wooded toys. They dont know what to make of it, but Max allready tried the swing once! And as i write this, i think i hear some beakgrinding, do Pionusses do this too? Or am i imagining things?

Well, its 21:05 ad i am tired, time to go to bed and do some more reading on Pi life in secrecy.

 

[sunnysmom]

Reading this makes my heart happy.

 

[Zara]

Sounds like they are settling in well
Good night

 

[Khizz]

Aaahhhh such cuties!

 

[hrafn]

This just makes my heart sing! I'm so happy for them and for you!

 

[jh81]

Drako (my Beagle) and i fell asleep after diner, its amazing how quiet they are. I think they will do well i just have to make a plan.

I cant expect them to eat healthy, play with toys, sit on my hands all in a day’s work, so i guess my first problem to work on is yoshi‘s looks. She is pretty but she doesnt know this yet. I will have to teach her do a little makeup, a bit of preening, get her feathers in good shape, be sexy for the dude! Then also slowly change their diet. When this is all done, only then can we start working with the hands and the toys.

 

[tka]

Yep, Pis beak grind. Leia usually does this when we are having our quiet time together before she goes to bed. She sits on my shoulder, fluffs up with a foot tucked up, and beak grinds as she dozes.

Pis can be stubborn with food. They need time to think about new things. Keep offering fresh food, maybe in different forms. Some like bigger pieces that they can pick up, some prefer smaller pieces, some like chop and mash. Try different textures too. Leia doesn't like things that make her beak sticky so things like mashed sweet potato are tricky to get into her. We've just had a six day long stand-off about whether yellow pepper is an acceptable food or not Just keep offering the food, preferably when they are hungry.

It sounds like they are settling in well!

 

[jh81]

Good thing im slightly autistic then ;-) im gonna buy a spray bottle tomorrow and see how they react to that. I think it will be good for Yoshi’s feathers to get some TLC

 

[Begone]

From your description of them and also a little bit quessing I think Max is hand feed and has grown up with people.
Yoshi is parrot raised and has been a breeder. Her male probably died.
Max is to young for breeding, earliest breeder male I heard of was 5 years old.
He is now in puberty and that's why I suggest you to separate them.
A male should never be angry or bite his female, it's always the opposite.
In a bonded pair relationship the female is the one in charge.
For that reason I don't think he knows how to behave.
I'm not even sure they are bonded.
Separate ASAP so she can eat and let her head feathers grow back.
You can let them spend outside time together, but that cage is way to small for them both when he is aggressive and hormonal.

I will have to teach her do a little makeup, a bit of preening, get her feathers in good shape, be sexy for the dude!

At the moment Max is probably controlling her and she is to afraid to take care of herself. I have seen this before.
Maxis are normally really good to take care of their feathers.

For night. Use some Blu LED night lamps, (I have 3) and no lights from outside.
Don't cover their cages.

Max did the Pionus strud when i placed a perch on the top doors of the cage.

That is a "watch out for attacks", so be careful.
Eloy could attack if I came to near or trying to take pics of him.

 

[tka]

I should add, pionuses need time to think about all new things. It took Leia about a month before she was willing to step up on my hand, and she was watching me constantly for that entire month. She'd sit next to me on a stand on my desk and just observe, working out whether I was an acceptable flockmate or not. It was honestly a little unnerving to have that level of scrutiny! I was terribly worried that she'd never want to be friends with me, but after about three weeks she decided it was okay to sit on my knee, then okay for me to scratch her head, then finally okay to step up.

In the meantime I taught her to target a chopstick in exchange for an almond so could at least get her back in her cage at bedtime.

Now she's like a feathery rash I shower with her, wash up with her on my shoulder, fold laundry with her on me and she flies to my shoulder whenever I'm doing something she's like to be involved in (like wrapping presents, marking essays, filing paperwork, anything really). She's pretty confident and curious for a Pi and always likes investigating new toys when I show them to her out of the cage. You just need to be a bit more sensitive and give them time to observe and make up their minds about something. They don't like to be hurried or rushed.

Don't expect your new companions to immediately want to step up, want scritches or want to interact with you. Just keep offering treats (sliced almonds are Leia's favourite) and be calm and steady around them.

 

[Begone]

Now she's like a feathery rash

and she flies to my shoulder whenever I'm doing something she's like to be involved in

She's pretty confident and curious for a Pi and always likes investigating new toys when I show them to her out of the cage.

Do you know why?
You made her that way.

That's why I always say that if you give them time in the beginning and let them decide when it's time for interaction, you will never regret it.
Trust must be build, and you can't rush that.

 

[jh81]

@Eloy & @tka good tips!

i have a Xiaomi that can change color, i can ask Siri to lower the ambient and change the color when its sleeptime. I dont really like covering up cages. They cant see out and i cant see in!i want them to live in a light, spacious ad warm place. Not some dark barn cage.

The cage is too small, period. Unfortunatly it is the only one i have at the moment, so it will have to do they are most of the time out and about so i’m not too worried. The cage they where in when i got them wasnt much larger (see earlier pics in different thread), but they also had no toys, no descent light, no nothing they really should have had maybe all this attributed to the male’s behaviour? In the meantime, i will make sure she has time to eat at least twice a day i havent seen any agressive behaviour from Max today, but i will keep an eye on them ofcourse

as for the tameness, im not too worried about that yet. Im perfectly fine with them not wanted to sit on my shoulder or not wanting to be touched. We will at least get to the point where they will step up, just in case i need to get them to the cage or anything. Anything else is a plus

i do notice they like to watch a lot yes, especially when im eating. I offered them both some paprika which they seem to like, though only a few nibbles. But its a start

they actually had 2 eggs last year, one was infertile and one produced a young. I am not sure what happened to the young but i suppose it was sold off for the money Since im not a breeder, im also not worried about that either. I ant them to be happy and healthy. I’ll work my own @$$ off for the money

 

[tka]

Do you know why?
You made her that way.

That's why I always say that if you give them time in the beginning and let them decide when it's time for interaction, you will never regret it.
Trust must be build, and you can't rush that.

Thank you - that means so much to me I know that there are mistakes I've made with Leia, but nurturing her confidence and inquisitiveness has not been one of them.

 

[Begone]

they actually had 2 eggs last year, one was infertile and one produced a young.

Impossible. He is to young to breed.
Like I said, I think her male died and then they just put a new male in her cage.
Stupid people. If they had knew better they should bought a new male at same age or at least a male that was grown up.
Like I said, I would never cage them together.
If I didn't have a spare cage I would let the female be out on a playstand and secure the area with some curtains.

i have a Xiaomi that can change color,

I recently bought a new mobile.
My second Xiaomi. I don't think I ever will buy another brand.
If you still haven't had one, don't be afraid because you can never have a better one for that money.
Okay that was really OT..

 

[jh81]

well, thats what they told me anyway. But like i said, im not interested in the whole breeding stuff

You have to convince me a little here, the two of them have been sitting close together for the better part of the day, and there is no agression between them..

OFFTOPIC:
I’m an Apple Consultant.. ofcourse there will NEVER be an Android phone in my house

 

[Begone]

OFFTOPIC:
I’m an Apple Consultant.. ofcourse there will NEVER be an Android phone in my house

I'm so sorry!
But wouldn't it be funny if you worked for Apple but had a Android? Or brave?

We have a new member on our local Xiaomi group on FB.
He was a iPhone lover before but he said that getting his new Xiaomi was the best thing he ever had done.
The best part with Xiaomi is that everything is free. Like themes, apps, pics, music e.t.c

 

[zoo mom]

It sounds like things are going well so far.

 

[jh81]

I'm so sorry!
But wouldn't it be funny if you worked for Apple but had a Android? Or brave?

We have a new member on our local Xiaomi group on FB.
He was a iPhone lover before but he said that getting his new Xiaomi was the best thing he ever had done.
The best part with Xiaomi is that everything is free. Like themes, apps, pics, music e.t.c

I used to have Android... a Samsung Galaxy S2, then it got stolen and i was forced to use an iPhone.. and i never looked back Now everything i Apple! Macbook, ipad, iphone, watch, appletv... the integration is just wonderful!

that said, im not into the whole apple is better then android discussions, i lways tell people to get what they like best. For me thats Apple. Untill ofcourse i am rich, then everyone will use the devices i build! Then its done with Apple and Google! All hail Jan!

i’m still amazed at how few Pionusses there are in NL, and how little people know! Ofcourse, i only have them a few days yet, but they seem the perfect birds for small houses! No screeching, Max only ups the volume when we’re singing. They like to climb around and explore the cage and the toys. They had a small piece of apple which they both ate up! They wont touch the carrot though.. ahh well! I have them on a diet of seed. Slowly mixing in the pellets. Would it be too optimistic to think they be on pellets mostly, a month for now?

 

[Begone]

Would it be too optimistic to think they be on pellets mostly, a month for now?

No.
In my house I'm only feeding chops. So from day 1 that is what they gets.
Two of mine comes from a only seed diet. So I just added some seeds in their chop so they didn't starve.
Once a week I made chops.
Not adding fresh veggies, fruit and sprouted seed, but everything else I have in small bags fresh for 4 days and the rest I freeze for busy days.
I change the chop every 3 or 4 hrs.
I have both pellets and seed in my chop. If they don't eat the pellets I grind it.

i’m still amazed at how few Pionusses there are in NL, and how little people know!

They are difficult to breed, they are not that colorful, and they don't talk. (More than some words)
People don't breed when they not are popular.
It's the same all over the world besides from that little country Denmark that have several breeders of almost any Pionus. (No Dusky from what I know)
Danish people have find out that the Pionus parrot is one of the best apartment bird.
Eloy and Eliy is from Denmark.

I think they are perfect.
They can be whatever you want if you just take it slow in the beginning.
You can create a strong bond with them but they still are very independent and can play on their own.

 

[Dartman]

Well talking kinda depends on the individual. Lurch actually talked a lot and kept picking up new words. Sometimes he was very clear, most times he sounded like a drunken pirate. Nerd spoke wild Pionus and never uttered a word but he knew his name, had a name for me, and I think what his wild flock name was. We understood each other perfectly and I spoke Pionus back. Dobby loves whistles and noises, and says DOBBY, DOBBY GOOD BOY, HELLO etc. He mostly though lives to whistle and loves the I whistle and you whistle it back game. Don't count on them taking, they aren't known for it, but some do. I never cared as long as they were happy but it's a cool bonus if it happens.