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The attributes listed in this thread are the experiences of each individual and your experiences may differ with your individual bird.
This is based on my experience with my now 2 year old Cape parrot, or Grey headed parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus)
The Good -
When a Cape decides it wants to cuddle, it's one of the cutest things and I find you can really "feel the love" - it does give you a great feeling. As well, if you are one of those people who love to see toys being destroyed, since it means you have a happy and busy bird (and I'm one of those), then, from my experience, I get pretty happy since Léa does destroy a lot of wooden toys. She can also be pretty independent at times and plays on her own quietly. So far, "noise" has been a bad with Léa, or rather the lack of very loud noise. She doesn't really scream, she mostly does all types of beeps and whistle and some talking. I find it quite hilarious that when she masters a word, she says it using a voice that resembles mine but when she practices (which is generally when we aren't around but I can hear her through the door if I'm close to the birds' room) it's a low mumble.
The Bad -
The power of that beak. While I put the destruction of the toys in the "the good", that powerful beak can turn as a bad. I'm lucky that Léa keeps her destruction (so far) to things destined to be destroyed by her. However, the most costly thing she went after was her cage. While it was always my intention to upgrade her to a Stainless Steel cage, I was forced to do it earlier than planned since she was stripping the finish of her powder coated cage.
The Ugly -
I went through a bout of what could be considered "ugly", by some, over the past few months. I think she started her "terrible twos" a little early, although that now that she is actually two, things are slowly going back to how they were. Like with any baby parrot, eventually they grow into their own and will test you and their boundaries, which is why I am reluctant to put this in "ugly", as it is to be expected by any parrot owner. However, their reputation of "Gentle Giants" might convince people that they will always be "perfect", and that is not necessarily the case.
I have gone through Léa's "testing" phase over the past few months. It started with her, from one day to the next, seeing me as "bad" (and thinking back, I really can't think of anything that I would have done to make her flip) and would refuse flat out to step up and would fly/run away from me (but would be fine with my SO), which did cause lots of hurt feelings (for me). However, she would then flip around again and come only to me for her cuddle time, until she deemed she had enough and would flip back to not listening. This is also the time where she would test what was approved and not approved to destroy.
Currently, she's back at seeing me as "good", although her recent thing is to sometimes try and bite your thumb (my SO or myself). While these generally don't piece the skin, it's a lot of pressure and can hurt. However, we are working on rewarding nice "uneventful" step ups (with praise and rewards) and ignoring the biting, which is working slowly but surely. My SO is good at dramatizing everything and did reinforce the bites (which she did with him prior to me (as she would just flat out refuse to step onto my hand)) by being over dramatic with his reaction to the bite. He has since seen that staying "neutral" has helped to get her to bite her less, as she's not getting the reaction. So really, I had to work with Léa and my SO
This is based on my experience with my now 2 year old Cape parrot, or Grey headed parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus)
The Good -
When a Cape decides it wants to cuddle, it's one of the cutest things and I find you can really "feel the love" - it does give you a great feeling. As well, if you are one of those people who love to see toys being destroyed, since it means you have a happy and busy bird (and I'm one of those), then, from my experience, I get pretty happy since Léa does destroy a lot of wooden toys. She can also be pretty independent at times and plays on her own quietly. So far, "noise" has been a bad with Léa, or rather the lack of very loud noise. She doesn't really scream, she mostly does all types of beeps and whistle and some talking. I find it quite hilarious that when she masters a word, she says it using a voice that resembles mine but when she practices (which is generally when we aren't around but I can hear her through the door if I'm close to the birds' room) it's a low mumble.
The Bad -
The power of that beak. While I put the destruction of the toys in the "the good", that powerful beak can turn as a bad. I'm lucky that Léa keeps her destruction (so far) to things destined to be destroyed by her. However, the most costly thing she went after was her cage. While it was always my intention to upgrade her to a Stainless Steel cage, I was forced to do it earlier than planned since she was stripping the finish of her powder coated cage.
The Ugly -
I went through a bout of what could be considered "ugly", by some, over the past few months. I think she started her "terrible twos" a little early, although that now that she is actually two, things are slowly going back to how they were. Like with any baby parrot, eventually they grow into their own and will test you and their boundaries, which is why I am reluctant to put this in "ugly", as it is to be expected by any parrot owner. However, their reputation of "Gentle Giants" might convince people that they will always be "perfect", and that is not necessarily the case.
I have gone through Léa's "testing" phase over the past few months. It started with her, from one day to the next, seeing me as "bad" (and thinking back, I really can't think of anything that I would have done to make her flip) and would refuse flat out to step up and would fly/run away from me (but would be fine with my SO), which did cause lots of hurt feelings (for me). However, she would then flip around again and come only to me for her cuddle time, until she deemed she had enough and would flip back to not listening. This is also the time where she would test what was approved and not approved to destroy.
Currently, she's back at seeing me as "good", although her recent thing is to sometimes try and bite your thumb (my SO or myself). While these generally don't piece the skin, it's a lot of pressure and can hurt. However, we are working on rewarding nice "uneventful" step ups (with praise and rewards) and ignoring the biting, which is working slowly but surely. My SO is good at dramatizing everything and did reinforce the bites (which she did with him prior to me (as she would just flat out refuse to step onto my hand)) by being over dramatic with his reaction to the bite. He has since seen that staying "neutral" has helped to get her to bite her less, as she's not getting the reaction. So really, I had to work with Léa and my SO
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