Getting too attached?

[xyzconurelove]

I am a little worried that my 8 months old Merlie the green cheek conure might be turning into a one-person bird. He is a male (in case it matters).

I live alone but very occasionally have visitors. Before, he would go on other people even though for brief periods and would be interested and friendly in general (though a bit timid of course). Now recently I noticed that he doesn't go to anybody, if I manage to get him on someone he flies right back to me. He doesn't step up for anyone but me, he just runs away from their fingers, if they try more than once, he resorts to biting people's fingers. He doesn't let anyone give him scritches or touch him at all but I can literally just grab him or even give him nonstop kisses and he's totally fine.

I am flattered that he loves me and wants to be by my side at all times but I don't want this to be an issue when I leave him to friends to take care of him while I'm gone for vacation etc.? How can I make sure he is at least friendly and tolerating to other people?

 

[Lady Jane]

Did you socialize this bird? If not then you may want to do so. You are the only human in his life. You could always get another same species bird. Many of us have at least two. Birds are flock animals and you are his flock right now.

 

[Lady Jane]

Trained Parrot Blog - Socizliazing a Parrot to Visitors Please read and learn for the sake of your bird.

 

[xyzconurelove]

Did you socialize this bird? If not then you may want to do so. You are the only human in his life. You could always get another same species bird. Many of us have at least two. Birds are flock animals and you are his flock right now.

Thank you for the link Lady Jane - Maybe I was expecting too much friendliness to soon. I'll make sure to take it slow. Socializing is what I was trying to do with friends that visited before and he was certainly much more social at those times. I am somewhat of an introvert and really don't have people over for the most part so yes, I am usually his only flock mate.

 

[Lady Jane]

I can understand that you have a quiet household. I live alone also. I have a smaller cage I can carry and I take my birds to where people are outside when the weather is warmer than it is now. Living in a senior community there are always people sitting around and have nothing much to do. I am the only person who has birds in the communities here. Hopefully the article will help you get your bird used to being around other humans. Please keep us updated on your progress.

 

[Monica]

Not a fan of Michael....


That said, it may help to have visitors feed Merlie his favorite treats and even work on station training him. Once he's station trained, you could have Merlie sit on something else while *you* give him treats. This can help to associate good things with other people. If he knows any tricks, then other people could cue Merlie to do a trick and then reward him for it.

 

[xyzconurelove]

Not a fan of Michael....


That said, it may help to have visitors feed Merlie his favorite treats and even work on station training him. Once he's station trained, you could have Merlie sit on something else while *you* give him treats. This can help to associate good things with other people. If he knows any tricks, then other people could cue Merlie to do a trick and then reward him for it.

I target trained him actually so it's a great idea for other people to try it with him and shower him with treats. I will try that.

 

[webchirp]

I have a similar problem with some...I just don't have people visit. But I have several who have preferences such as female or male. They go out of their way to meet and greet their favorites. Others just don't want to be bothered. I find a cheekies curiosity after a certain time will override that shyness. But don't force things and I agree, let visitors give the favorite treats.

 

[MnGuy]

I'm in a similar spot. I live alone, and although I have plenty of friends, I don't actually entertain or have people over often. And when my friends are over, they're generally not super interested in interacting with my CAG, or, we're in and out very quickly on our way to something. When my family is staying over for long weekends, my CAG is out on her playstand, but no one is interested in interacting with her.

I have a brother-in-law who's really interested, and have had a visitor here or there who wants to engage. I let them engage as much as they want, and the easiest thing is to let them feed her treats from a bowl, and if they're brave, their fingers. Only my brother-in-law has ventured into step-up territory.

Good luck.

 

[RosieR]

My Green Cheek was also beginning to act a bit like a one person bird so I have been inviting friends over specifically to socialize with my birds. It's working, and now he will even fly from me to other people for scritches and cuddles. He is around the same age as your bird. I am also going to order a flight suit so that I can take him out to meet new people.

 

[BirdManDan]

These might be helpful as well.

Socializing Parrot to Parrot, Parot to People, Parrot to other pets,
https://youtu.be/vXS_IeSFGSE

Conditioning Your Parrot to Allow Touch
Conditioning Your Parrot to Allow Touch | Macaw Training - YouTube

Desensitize your bird to new things
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7oSXpzi2YtI