Nipping my hand! And is he a he?

Faye · Regular Member Joined: Aug 05, 2008 Posts: 24

My Kakariki Rhubarb is friendly towards me and will happily sit on my head when I walk about and will sit on my hand eating sunflowers seeds (not too many),but when the sunflower seeds have gone he looks for more and has nipped my hand twice and it hurt, he drew blood but I didn't freak out! I told him sternly that it was naughty and he went back to his cage.
He never attacks me and isn't territorial over his cage he lets me mess about in it because he knows i'm usually giving him a pot of fresh veggies when I put my hand in, or giving him a new toy.
Am I right in thinking he is just investigating as I haven't had him long and he is still exploring his surroundings including me!
If this is the case how should I behave when he bites me or something else he shouldn't (like a wire). Should I just use a specific word or is it more tone of voice related rather than the actual word?

I'm not sure of his age although the lady at the pet shop assured me he was only young but I got the feeling she didn't really know.
Also he has pied markings but his wings still have blue feathers, I always thought pied had yellow or white feathers on the wings where the blue ones are? What kind of pied is he? He has pied feet too and his eyes have the red ring around them, not sure if this helps
Thanks
Faye.
Ps he has a little bald ring around one of his eyes that can be seen in the picture but i'm not overly worried as he has started growing feathers back and he isn't scratching it. But i'm keeping an eye on it.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

The eye..dont just leave it,. Ivermectin run a site seach for more info

Behavour, yes act like a kakariki, low voice and growl in a manner for him to take notice, even a relaitory tap with your finger, on the beak is effective, not hard enough for him to hurt, but look back in suprise...

let him become posessive of his cage, his place, terority, place of safety, and feeding...makes life easier getting him back when u need to.

And he is a he

Faye · Regular Member Joined: Aug 05, 2008 Posts: 24

Ok thanks for the advice, i'll treat him for mites ASAP, and i'm glad I'm right and he is a he!