i only pet her head when she asks. she wont tolerate elsewhere lol and even then, she tries to feed my hand after so i stop petting her after she does that.
the clutches havent been large, the first all broke so she kept laying to replace them. that was a total of 6 before she stopped for a week. then she laid again, first 3 broke and the last 4 were good. she sat on the last 4 for over 30 days. she had cracked them and they went bad so we removed them, and now a week later she is trying again. seems her preferred number is 4 to sit on. problem is, she really likes laying them off perches unless she has a nest.
so it's not really a monster amount like some birds, i am just hoping it stops. but i think she's going for round 3. unless, this is just a true double clutch since the very first clutch actually broke.... we shall see.
she only recently started letting us pet her, and ironically, its only been when she is hormonal. she steps up only out of the cage, and she looooooves talking to us. we "argue" with her, but she always gets the last word lol. shes very interactive, just independent at the same time.
she was handraised from day 1 but not socialized. it made a difficult mix. a bird who was not taught how to step up, or how to interact positively with humans, but was not afraid of humans. we tamed her. now, she hangs out with us, she interacts all the time with us, and she is a joyful happy little bird with a very strong beak lol she took a year and a half to learn to step up consistently. and only now, at 2 years old, in the last few months has she actually ASKED us to pet her. we could pet her occasionally before, but she had never put her head down for us to pet her. so it's major progress. but its all on her terms. she doesnt tolerate anywhere else touched but her head, and she even sat in my hand and let me get her pin feathers a few weeks ago.
some days her cage aggression and hormones are just too much for me and i just step back and ask my husband to put her food and water inside her cage, since her bites dont bother him (he has thicker skin than i do). he lets her out and puts her back. she has gotten better some days with the cage aggression, but when she has her "nest" (cage corner, whatever she chose at the time, etc) all gloves are off and you better move fast before she goes in for the kill.
i think what my main points are here... sometimes i get frustrated with the hormones. mostly because i worry and fuss too much about her.
i am extremely leery on hormonal treatments like lupron and implants. i dont trust them well enough, as i personally have had problems with nearly every hormone treatment there is. to me, it's just too risky. this implant is way too new in the bird world, and implants in people cause problems too. i just don't trust it.
a thought, this article says afternoon fasting as a hormone deterrent for some species...
HORMONES: The Downside of the Good Life - Phoenix Landing Blog ? Phoenix Landing Blog
thoughts?
