I let Hardy decide how and when he wants to be handled. Because of his missing foot, he can't really step up and perch like a normal parrot. He has to step into the flat of my palm. So, I say "Hardy wanna come out?" and lay my hand flat on the bottom of his cage, approx. one foot away from him. If he is interested, he'll say "Hardy come out!" and will rush over and jump into my palm.
If he says nothing, and won't approach my hand, I leave him alone. I've learned that if he is happy and excited to come out, he'll rush right over on the first request. And I never get bit when he wants to come out. If I keep asking, he gets annoyed and will rush over and bite - but his body language is obvious (fanned tail, dropped wing, crazy eyes).
Sometimes he will not want to come out of his cage for two or three weeks. I respect his decision and leave him alone. Now, he's not really "alone". Our tv is in the bird room, so he sees us sitting and watching tv every night, and the other birds are there too. He just stays in his home, and growls at us through the side of the cage. I have found that, when he's hormonal, he will often be willing to come out first thing in the morning. But by sunset, forget it. He's NOT a night owl. He's happy to just sit on his piece of driftwood and watch us.
