Young Blueheaded Pionus

[20brio19]

After a 1.5year search my dream came true as I picked him up 2 weeks ago from a reputable breeder. Brio is about 10 weeks old(not DNA tested but we assume he's a male) handfed from birth, very tame and great with pretty much anybody who interacts with him.

Still weening about 2 times a day, I try not to "trigger" him(any time when he hears me boiling water in the kitchen he starts going crazy so I'm trying to avoid that) and only feed him when he's really making it clear, and I'm hoping he won't need it anymore soon. He's actively eating on his own too now.

I'm trying to get him to eat veggies and fruit as well and I do see some nibbles here and there, I think it's a good sign.

I started off with a small cage and now I slowly upgraded him to this, he sure loves climbing around although it's challenging for him sometimes. These Pionus parrots are so entertaining.

Did anybody else here get a young pionus and how was the road to adulthood? He's very young and still exhibits a lot of 'baby behavior', like that begging call when I get near him. He's so tame now and not attached to one person(just like I wanted) and very low volume for a parrot. Could this change after puberty, I mean from reading how people describe their Pi it seems like I got a bit lucky with this one I just hope he stays this amazing as long as we keep caring for it and give it daily attention.

 

[Terry57]

Hello and welcome to you and Brio! Your baby is beautiful, I don't think I have ever seen a baby that young before. My BHP was 18 months old when he joined our family, and is now 7 and a half. He can be quite loud (& has been that way since we got him), but thankfully he doesn't do it very often. He likes my husband and I equally, and is a wonderful little guy. He is also a really good talker.

That's a nice cage! If I may suggest adding more perches of different materials and sizes to his cage, the dowels can be hard on their feet.
My Talli also adores lots of toys! Our White capped Pi only likes to have a couple at a time in her cage, but for Talli the more the merrier.

I'm so happy you joined us and look forward to hearing more about Brio!

 

[20brio19]

Hello and welcome to you and Brio! Your baby is beautiful, I don't think I have ever seen a baby that young before. My BHP was 18 months old when he joined our family, and is now 7 and a half. He can be quite loud (& has been that way since we got him), but thankfully he doesn't do it very often. He likes my husband and I equally, and is a wonderful little guy. He is also a really good talker.

That's a nice cage! If I may suggest adding more perches of different materials and sizes to his cage, the dowels can be hard on their feet.
My Talli also adores lots of toys! Our White capped Pi only likes to have a couple at a time in her cage, but for Talli the more the merrier.

I'm so happy you joined us and look forward to hearing more about Brio!

Hi Terry, thanks for the kind words. Yes I am in the process of adding more perches of different sizes and materials, in the previous cage he seemed to like the plastic ones. Toys too, definitely. It seems easy to keep Brio active in there, I'm really glad he can do well on his own too.

Interesting that your Pionus is a talker btw. Was he able to from the beginning or was this something he picked up later when you got him? It's funny that is the first question everybody always asks me but I never even thought about it lol much, that would be really cool if he can learn some words. I love his vocalization so far though, it's very relaxing.

 

[texsize]

He is a beautiful boy.
And more toy's would be good.

You don't want so many toys he can't exercise his wings but enough for him to hang from two different ones and attack a third.

 

[20brio19]

There are so many different types of toys, since this is my first parrot I'm not sure what kind of toys I should buy. Any suggestions are welcome.

Brio having a good day:

 

[Terry57]

I'm so sorry I missed this stage with Talli, Brio is so adorable!

Talli didn't talk for several months after we got him, and he honestly works harder than any of our other birds when learning something new. He will start with something that sounds like gibberish and keep working on it until we can understand what he's saying. When he finally gets it clear he is so proud of himself and will say his new word then laugh and laugh. His vocabulary isn't huge, but he speaks clearly once he learns something.

His favourite toys are ones with Balsa wood. He also likes cardboard and thin slices of Pine wood. All birds like different things so I would just alternate many different toys with different materials until you can figure out which ones will be enjoyed

 

[20brio19]

I will be adding cardboard parts tommorow I'm sure he will like to tear that apart. This bird is so awesome.

I've been hanging small branches in his cage and he loves to play with them, he is starting destroy them lol. Keeps him busy for hours especially this one I just made for him:

 

[CutiePi]

Beautiful boy! So much pink on his forehead! We traveled to Oregon (from Boston!) for our BH, Darwin, in January 2018, when he was 5 months old--he actually hatched the day our beloved Gertie (22 yo Jardine's) died (through whose illness and death many on this forum provided so much support), which was an amazing coincidence.

It's taken me awhile to get back on this forum with any regularity, and my username is painful. In any case, Darwin has been a great companion--super playful, great eater, has learned a few words and phrases (even 'I love you'). He can be a screamer, which has been somewhat of a surprise, since Pionus are reputed to be "quiet" parrots (all relative, I know). That is getting better, but not with the prescribed technique of ignoring then rewarding after a period of silence (even after 20 seconds or so he still seems to associate the treat with the screaming and will shortly resume). He screams the most when he hears me in another area of the house (like in the morning). If I call back to him, using some of his favorite sounds and words in a normal voice, he usually quiets right down, and then I praise him. If I'm nearer to him, I will then come over and reward him both verbally and with a treat.

Darwin's cage is about the size of Brio's. We're in a small house, but I'm about to turn over a small room to be a playroom for him. It's easy to go crazy buying stuff, and I probably have too much. I have a wonderful grapevine hanging gym from a woman in California who, sadly, I just learned has died, so her business is closed. Swings, cotton ropes, sandblasted manzanita, wood, leather, fabric--Darwin loves it all. He's out of the cage a lot and is fully flighted, also because of our hyper mini poodle, with whom he coexists pretty well.

Anyway, I'm going on and on about my bird. Congratulations on your baby. Enjoy the specialness of your amazing companion!

Judy