Hey y'all~
So I recently got a beautiful 2 year old male Bronze Winged Pionus from an owner who decided he wasn't able to spend enough time with the little guy. I have stupid amounts of free time, so it seemed like a good fit. He came with the name "Finley", and so Finley he shall remain. Pictures will come in a bit.
Finley has a very strange personality. For one thing, he's a bit clumsy any time movement is involved. If he's on his cage or something else where he can climb about normally, he's just fine. However, while standing on my hand, he'll often either lose his balance and have to flap about wildly, or randomly decide he wants to be elsewhere and try to fly off (luckily I have a soft carpet). I find that if he's anywhere near his cage, I have to keep my body between him and it or he'll try to fly over to it, and just crash into something. I think his wings might be clipped slightly too short, and that his need for his cage is related to being new to the environment. Still, it strikes me as a bit... worth asking about?
Now the other thing is how he spends his time. I have no idea what he does when I'm not home, but I suspect that it's basically nap time. When I am around, if I'm not actively handling him but I'm in the office with his cage, I always leave his door open. Usually he'll immediately climb out and stand on top of his cage, just at the front, watching me or preening himself. He'll occasionally head back into his cage, either to poop or to get himself a quick pellet. What I have never seen him do is try to chew on things or play with his toys. He's got a whole bunch of different toys available to him, including a plastic bell/mirror toy, a big rope... thing, some wood with a bell, a boing, and a rope swing thing. The only one I've ever seen him show any interest in is the rope swing, which once in a while he'll attempt to navigate. Normally he'll only use it because it's set up to be used as a passage between two perches. I'm honestly kinda concerned that he's spending no time either playing or chewing... even on his cuttlebone. It's very odd.
On the subject of chewing, I dunno what I'm doing wrong but he's just not interested in veggies. He ate a little bit of carrot the other day, but for the most part he just ignores the veggie dish. I've tried broccoli, lettuce, carrot, grape, blackberry, etc... he just ignores it. The only thing he's eating is Zupreem pellets.
I think his dining issues may be somewhat related to his beak. The attached picture kinda shows it, but his beak is a bit of a mess. That's a large part of why I have the cuttlebone in there. It looks like he's had a bit of a calcium deficiency, or hasn't had enough sunlight to process it. Am I right, and is this likely to be related?
Finally, there's one last thing: Stepping up. When I first got him, he had no problem stepping up. Now, if he's on a perch, he really doesn't want to step up and will back away as best as he can. If he's on the floor or something, then he'll step up instantly. It's very strange. The only pattern I've found so far is that he always wants to be at the highest point possible.
Any wisdom for me? He's also scheduled for a vet check this week.
So I recently got a beautiful 2 year old male Bronze Winged Pionus from an owner who decided he wasn't able to spend enough time with the little guy. I have stupid amounts of free time, so it seemed like a good fit. He came with the name "Finley", and so Finley he shall remain. Pictures will come in a bit.
Finley has a very strange personality. For one thing, he's a bit clumsy any time movement is involved. If he's on his cage or something else where he can climb about normally, he's just fine. However, while standing on my hand, he'll often either lose his balance and have to flap about wildly, or randomly decide he wants to be elsewhere and try to fly off (luckily I have a soft carpet). I find that if he's anywhere near his cage, I have to keep my body between him and it or he'll try to fly over to it, and just crash into something. I think his wings might be clipped slightly too short, and that his need for his cage is related to being new to the environment. Still, it strikes me as a bit... worth asking about?
Now the other thing is how he spends his time. I have no idea what he does when I'm not home, but I suspect that it's basically nap time. When I am around, if I'm not actively handling him but I'm in the office with his cage, I always leave his door open. Usually he'll immediately climb out and stand on top of his cage, just at the front, watching me or preening himself. He'll occasionally head back into his cage, either to poop or to get himself a quick pellet. What I have never seen him do is try to chew on things or play with his toys. He's got a whole bunch of different toys available to him, including a plastic bell/mirror toy, a big rope... thing, some wood with a bell, a boing, and a rope swing thing. The only one I've ever seen him show any interest in is the rope swing, which once in a while he'll attempt to navigate. Normally he'll only use it because it's set up to be used as a passage between two perches. I'm honestly kinda concerned that he's spending no time either playing or chewing... even on his cuttlebone. It's very odd.
On the subject of chewing, I dunno what I'm doing wrong but he's just not interested in veggies. He ate a little bit of carrot the other day, but for the most part he just ignores the veggie dish. I've tried broccoli, lettuce, carrot, grape, blackberry, etc... he just ignores it. The only thing he's eating is Zupreem pellets.
I think his dining issues may be somewhat related to his beak. The attached picture kinda shows it, but his beak is a bit of a mess. That's a large part of why I have the cuttlebone in there. It looks like he's had a bit of a calcium deficiency, or hasn't had enough sunlight to process it. Am I right, and is this likely to be related?
Finally, there's one last thing: Stepping up. When I first got him, he had no problem stepping up. Now, if he's on a perch, he really doesn't want to step up and will back away as best as he can. If he's on the floor or something, then he'll step up instantly. It's very strange. The only pattern I've found so far is that he always wants to be at the highest point possible.
Any wisdom for me? He's also scheduled for a vet check this week.