This morning I uncovered his cage and he was hesitant to step up, he pulled back a little when my hand entered his cage but he did step up without me pushing on his chest. I let him sit on my hand for a few minutes and he kind of just sat there staring at me. After a few minutes of me talking to him, he dipped his head and did a slight head bob and let out that cute cooing whimper sound. If you know what I'm talking about... what does it mean? It wasn't the fast head bob "feed me" sound, it kind of sounded like a puppy whimper.
I continued talking to him and every once and a while he would slowly move his head down and ever so gently... bite the hell out of my finger! It wasn't an aggressive or defensive behavior, there was no lunging or eye pinning so am I correct in assuming that he is simply exploring the squishyness of my fingers? Throughout the day I learned that if he is leaning forward to give me a kiss... not to fall for it! He slowly leaned into my lip and bit down into it. He didn't let go until my skin snapped. Now I have a puffy bruised/bloody lip. I also learned that he is not a shoulder bird (yet). He took a nice big bite out of my ear as well. The funny thing is that he does it so slow and gentle, and yet so crushingly painful. He is the largest parrot I have owned so this feeling is new to me... I'm used to the quick pinching sensation of conures and lovebirds mostly.
Anyway, I only picked him up a few times throughout the day, and most of the time he sat on top of his cage either looking around or sleeping.
He doesn't seem uncomfortable, but just cautious about things. I assume he is just adjusting to the new environment?
I showed him a few toys, but he didn't seem interested in them yet. He lets me pet him and doesn't seemed stressed about it.
I'm just wondering what the next step is to help him bond with me and explore more. Should I continue what I did today? divide his time between being with me and being alone? Spend more time with him? less time?
Any comments or thoughts are appreciated
