Day 25

Looking back on all of my previous posts, I have to say that from biting the heck out of my hand at the pet store and on the 2nd day at home, Pico has become a much better companion to me. And only after less than a month of daily "training". it was amazing, and i grew a lot from this as a bird lover and owner.

i see that Pico has great potential to be a friendly bird to family, friends and strangers. the big test is still to come - and that is to have our friends come over to our place to visit; on Pico's home turf. we will be getting visitors in july and september. we'll see how that goes.

what i have learned during this journey:

1) pico is moody and you have to respect that. some times he is just a preen-junky; he would bow his head and want a good preen for a good half an hour (or longer if your legs dont ache). other times he is just not in the mood to be touched. i never push him to allow me to scratch him on his body. its up to him and i want him to feel comfortable.

2) eye contact when handling and playing with pico is VERY important. it serves to be aware of what pico is doing and what he is planning to do (like lunge for a finger) and lets him know who is top bird - namely ME. if i pick him up on to the perch and i feel he might be feeling a little feisty and may want to gnaw on my hand thats holding the perch, i give him the evil eye. he would see it, stop and his whole body language would change and relax.

3) in the beginning and on a daily basis, just talking to pico helped immensely. i talked to him softly and animatedly (not monotone, and mostly using excited, high-pitched tone) using his name often for at least 15 minutes at a time. passive interactive "games" also helped - like the blinking game, stretching when he stretches, shaking of the body when he shakes out his feathers, etc. if he sees that you feel comfortable, he will feel comfortable. its small things, but it helps build the bond.

4) playing with pico and offering him his favorite treats are also powerful bond-makers.

5) having his favorite person in the room (my hubby) praise him when he steps up nicely on the perch in my hand and when i doing things with pico that normally he only allows my hubby to do with him makes pico more accepting of me. praises from favorite person works wonders.

i dont have pico where i want him exactly yet - i still dont feel comfortable having him step up onto my hand yet - but we have many years ahead of us to get both of us there.

i am summarizing here because i think i will stop with blog-writing from now on, unless i have a "first" about pico to tell. it just seems that my posts are becoming boring and redundant.

till next time!