The Pionus Diaries: The Max & Yoshi Story

[jh81]

And I love you for that just so you know.
Don't take my advices personal.

Ofcourse i take your advice personal, i know you mean well ;-)

do you think there should be new feathers growing already? They are only 2 weeks with me now..
i will convert one of my bedrooms into a birdroom hehe, the good side is that it only needs one side closed off (it has a sort of build in aviary) which is 2 meters long, one meter wide.

i can let her stay out, but in the evening, when i dim the light, they both enter the cage to sit together on the same perch. I can let the cage door open?

 

[Begone]

do you think there should be new feathers growing already?

Yes. When the whole feather is out you will see pinnies growing directly.

I can let the cage door open?

That will not solve anything, better to separate.
And if one of them get a night fright you don't want to have them out together.

Ofcourse i take your advice personal, i know you mean well ;-)

Of course I do but I meant that I wasn't doing it to be mean in any way.

 

[jh81]

Well, diseasewise all checked out okay. Max is a bit fatty and Yoshi is a bit underweight, so ive decided to, for the time beeing, get out the puppy bench and seperate them so Yoshi can have the best chance of getting better!

Max gets really excited when i get home.. he starts calling when he hears the front door and when i unlock his cage he gets all puffy and strudding. But so far he has not biten me yet.

So.. these birds have never been held by human hands.. these will be challenging times head

they are now on 50% seed and 50% pellets, but i dont think they eat the pellets.. maybe i should go ahead and go 100% pellets? Max likes bananas, Yoshi really doesnt want to eat any veggie or fruit

I am cleaning out my “junkroom” where i will build two small indoor aviarys for them in the future

 

[jh81]

OH MY! OH MY!! OH MY!!

Max just flew from the cage onto the couch where i am sitting.. looked me in the eye and flew back to his cage! I think he saw me typing about the indoor aviary.. he maybe trying to move my @$$ and speed up for f sake

 

[sunnysmom]

Well, diseasewise all checked out okay. Max is a bit fatty and Yoshi is a bit underweight, so ive decided to, for the time beeing, get out the puppy bench and seperate them so Yoshi can have the best chance of getting better!

Max gets really excited when i get home.. he starts calling when he hears the front door and when i unlock his cage he gets all puffy and strudding. But so far he has not biten me yet.

So.. these birds have never been held by human hands.. these will be challenging times head

they are now on 50% seed and 50% pellets, but i dont think they eat the pellets.. maybe i should go ahead and go 100% pellets? Max likes bananas, Yoshi really doesnt want to eat any veggie or fruit

I am cleaning out my “junkroom” where i will build two small indoor aviarys for them in the future

Maybe try some sprouted seeds? Or maybe offer pellets first thing in the morning when they're hungry and seeds later? I don't think you want to take away the food you know they're eating. And keep trying with the veggies. Also maybe try those first thing in the morning too?

I'm glad overall they're healthy!

 

[scrape]

OH MY! OH MY!! OH MY!!

Max just flew from the cage onto the couch where i am sitting.. looked me in the eye and flew back to his cage! I think he saw me typing about the indoor aviary.. he maybe trying to move my @$$ and speed up for f sake

That's Great!!! Go Max!!

 

[jh81]

Maybe try some sprouted seeds? Or maybe offer pellets first thing in the morning when they're hungry and seeds later? I don't think you want to take away the food you know they're eating. And keep trying with the veggies. Also maybe try those first thing in the morning too?

I'm glad overall they're healthy!

Well that worked at first they spend an hour looking at it.. wondering if it came to haunt them, but they ate most of it i still gave them some seed this afternoon, but we’ll try again tomorrow morning but then with some dried fruit mixed in!

 

[jh81]

Okay so, they are eating pellets (when i feed them in the morning anyways) and they get some seed in the afternoon. I got some probiotics to support their health, as well as some extra calcium and vitamins. Using pellets makes this a whole lot easier obviously.

next step is healthy veggies and fruits! Max ate some dried banana’s, Yoshi.. well she prefers to ignore whatever she doesnt know. She’s not the adventerous type i suppose.

remember how Pi’s are supposed to be the ”quiet” birds?
Well damn! they went flock calling last night all the way untill my ears popped

I gave them two good mistspray showers the past week. Max truely is a jewel to look at when the sun shines on his “boring” green feathers! They are little gem’s He allready comes close to me when im cleaning the foodbows or the cage. We have not begun the hole taming process yet, i feel that its a bonus, but not a goal ansich.

 

[tka]

I always laugh when people tell me that pionus are quiet apartment birds. Perhaps someone should tell the pionus that?

Pionus can be stubborn about new foods. Keep offering it, perhaps prepared in different ways - as a mash, finely chopped, in big chunks and so on.

 

[jh81]

Yeah, we’ll try different ways
considering that they had nothing but seeds and milked bread, im glad with any progress i can take

well overall they are quiet indeed, i think they just wanted to party a bit! And who am i to turn down a good party

 

[Dartman]

Make sure to eat it in front of them and they'll get curious and maybe want to try it. You can always try the tease them with food till they bite it and realize it's good like Lurch did...
They tend to really like apple slices, and food they can sneak up on and eat holes in thinking they are getting away with something. Dobby likes Tangerine slices and hot cereal, and any plants he can get his beak on.

 

[CheckeredTail]

Make sure to eat it in front of them and they'll get curious and maybe want to try it. You can always try the tease them with food till they bite it and realize it's good like Lurch did...
They tend to really like apple slices, and food they can sneak up on and eat holes in thinking they are getting away with something. Dobby likes Tangerine slices and hot cereal, and any plants he can get his beak on.

Yeah Toro is super uninterested in most fruits and such, but she LOVES leafy plant things, anything with leaves or stems she's nuts for. She loves kale, broccoli, chard and spinach and much more I would love to get her to eat some sweet potato and bananas though!

 

[jh81]

Well i have dried the bananas and now they both seem to try it! But Yoshi is sure to wait for Max to either be eaten by it, or enjoying it...

 

[jh81]

So.. Whenever Max is out of the cage he likes to follow me through the house, mostly he sits on the open doors, but sometimes he also lands on my shoulders
He usually “hangs out” with me for a few minutes before he flies back to his cage, chatting with me.. even though i have absolutely no clue yet what he means He does make a specific sound that i think communicates curiousity, so i guess ill explain him what im doing I think the almond bribery did it.. hes fond of them

Yoshi, not so much
she prefers sitting in her cage, eating pellets, chatting a bit with Max and thats it. Rarely do i get to see her excited about something

i know.. birds take things at their own time, and im fine with that but i did kinda hope she would come out of her “state” a bit more.. any advice? Or should i really give it more time

 

[Begone]

And now I'm more sure of what I first wrote is true.
They are not bonded, she has lost her male (she grievs) and he is hand feed and tame from the beginning.

Great that you did separate them, they do not belong together in the same cage.
And give her time.
Give her treats, often, but keep distance to her.

 

[Dartman]

Take the Lurch approach with her like Eloy says. Do cool stuff near her and eventually she'll decide your safe, a friend, and do cool stuff and provide treats and eventually scritches. At least neither is homicidal towards you like Lurch could be at first.

 

[jh81]

And now I'm more sure of what I first wrote is true.
They are not bonded, she has lost her male (she grievs) and he is hand feed and tame from the beginning.

Great that you did separate them, they do not belong together in the same cage.
And give her time.
Give her treats, often, but keep distance to her.

I’m not sure i think i know what you wrote that you are not sure about if its true?? Care to elaborate?
For the time beeing i am content with letting Yoshi sit and gain weight, fully feathered etc etc. But in time it would be nice if they could bond and share a cage etc

 

[Begone]

I don't think they ever will bond because Max is hand feed and imprinted? on humans.

And now I'm more sure of what I first wrote is true.

The 26 February I wrote this.

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.

They are not bonded and if Max is so interested in you it will always be very dangerous to cage them together. Better prepare to keep them apart.
I would never cage two not bonded parrot's together.
If they started to fight you will lose one of them.
As long as they are outside cage in a big area it's fine but to put them in a small place where they don't have a chance to get away is cruel to them.

 

[jh81]

I hear you @Eloy and i keep them apart for a while, because its also easier to see if Yoshi eats enough

during the day they are both free to leave the cage, but like i said, Yoshi usually does not.
and then today i had to open the front door for a talk, and then i came back to this.. can you explain it? ;-)

 

[jh81]

One can always walk the walk.. humptiedumptie camewalking up!