Hi guys. ..
So I have a male veiled, roughly 8 months old, Picasso. We've had him since he was about 3 months old. He's never been handled. The first cage we had him in was a homemade tubular cage, and with the lights on the top/lid it made it very difficult to access him (the bottom was removable for cleaning). He's always been very chill, only ever showed aggression once when moving him to his new enclosure. He's been in the new enclosure for about 2 months now and seems happy as a clam. I always do the feeding, and usually leave the door open while misting/feeding, even when I walk away to grab something, and he's never come toward the door. I spend quite a bit of time with him, just watching him and talking to him (even though I know he can't hear me). I've even started slowly getting him used to me reaching into his cage, holding my hand near him for a few minutes. He looks at it side-eyed but has never hissed/bit/puffed up, nor has he attempted to step onto my hand. He's also never shown interest in leaving his cage.
The last week or so, when I open his cage and begin the feeding/misting routine, he'll randomly "charge" at me. He doesn't seem to be aggressive, no color change, no hissing, etc. He'll be on the complete opposite side of the cage and just randomly run toward me. But as I've never handled him and he's never done this before, it spooked me for sure, so I just gently closed the door before he could escape. This has happened about 4 times now. Once the door shuts, sometimes he will drop his jaw (no hissing), and sometimes he will just stand on his hind legs and just stare at the door.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar or know what he might be doing? It doesn't seem to be an aggressive behavior, and he doesn't seem to mind much when I reach into his cage to feed or mist, so long as I don't get too incredibly close to him. He'll just watch me calmly. In fact, he used to come toward me in his old cage in order for me to mist him directly. As much as I'd love to hold him, I've been hesitant to reach out for him when he comes toward me. I don't want to hold him if that's not what he's after. Any advice would be much appreciated!
So I have a male veiled, roughly 8 months old, Picasso. We've had him since he was about 3 months old. He's never been handled. The first cage we had him in was a homemade tubular cage, and with the lights on the top/lid it made it very difficult to access him (the bottom was removable for cleaning). He's always been very chill, only ever showed aggression once when moving him to his new enclosure. He's been in the new enclosure for about 2 months now and seems happy as a clam. I always do the feeding, and usually leave the door open while misting/feeding, even when I walk away to grab something, and he's never come toward the door. I spend quite a bit of time with him, just watching him and talking to him (even though I know he can't hear me). I've even started slowly getting him used to me reaching into his cage, holding my hand near him for a few minutes. He looks at it side-eyed but has never hissed/bit/puffed up, nor has he attempted to step onto my hand. He's also never shown interest in leaving his cage.
The last week or so, when I open his cage and begin the feeding/misting routine, he'll randomly "charge" at me. He doesn't seem to be aggressive, no color change, no hissing, etc. He'll be on the complete opposite side of the cage and just randomly run toward me. But as I've never handled him and he's never done this before, it spooked me for sure, so I just gently closed the door before he could escape. This has happened about 4 times now. Once the door shuts, sometimes he will drop his jaw (no hissing), and sometimes he will just stand on his hind legs and just stare at the door.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar or know what he might be doing? It doesn't seem to be an aggressive behavior, and he doesn't seem to mind much when I reach into his cage to feed or mist, so long as I don't get too incredibly close to him. He'll just watch me calmly. In fact, he used to come toward me in his old cage in order for me to mist him directly. As much as I'd love to hold him, I've been hesitant to reach out for him when he comes toward me. I don't want to hold him if that's not what he's after. Any advice would be much appreciated!
