petting and scratching.

[Ameer]

Hi friends once again. My koko is now 83 days old (almost 2.5months) one thing i notice is that he does not come to me for scratching on his head or back neck area. even when i am doing it, he would move away his neck. i mean he never enjoys it. is it something to do with his young age and would that change? my friend got his timneh grey named "buddy" to my place and he was 1.5years old. he would let my friend scratch him thoroughly with no resistance, but koko on the other hand would first, never come to me for scratching..nor would let me scratch him if i want to.
I would really want him to give him a good scratch once in a while coz all the pet bird videos i have seen, they usually do pet/scratch their pet birds. is this an age factor and will go away automatically? please advise.
thanks once again.

 

[Feather]

A lot of birds just don't like it.

My pionus, Rowan, has never been big on scritches either. We're good friends, but I only get the honor of petting him for a few seconds once every couple of months if he's feeling magnanimous.

 

[BertAllen]

He is pretty young and at that age not fully fledged IMO. Give him lots of time and love and he will come around.

 

[Shezbug]

Not all birds will enjoy being touched as they are all so individual. I have had birds over the years who never wanted to be touched and others who were a pain in the bottom as they always wanted to be touched or played with......each bird will choose what it wants and will happily accept- we just get to enjoy what they will give to us.

 

[KatelynDeanne]

Agree with what everyone here is saying. It will take time for your bird to love and trust you . Just think, that bird is so young, he was taken from his momma and now when he looks up he doesnt see his momma, he sees you. A big scary human. Even though you love him, he doesnt understand quite yet why hes in his situation. Its like adopting a child in one sense. You just have to be patient and let him come to you. Time. Trust me.

 

[Kodigirl210]

@Ameer - Another thing to consider is that you seem to have tried to have weaned too early a couple of times & have starved Koko. CAGs have super memories even as babies and he is sure to remember that the person who was supposed to replace his parent was not and anybody would be wary of someone like that, even as a person. Feed him formula abundantly. Let him run around without a flight suit & let him make happy memories so that he associates you with positive rather than negative things. Once there is a more positive association, you can try gently to engage him again when he shows that he’s ready by presenting himself or not flinching away. The “Golden Rule”may be old but they are words we can all live by. Treat him the way you’d want to be treated & give him the time he needs to form a happy bond with you.

 

[KatelynDeanne]

agree with Kodigirl210... you HAVE to let her assosciate you with a positive and happy environment and memories... when I brought Lucy home, anytime I would have to do something she wouldnt like (putting her in cage, not letting her get into things, taking her to the vet) etc... I would have my husband do it. I know you may not be able to do that in your situation but try to make the things you do with KoKo happy. Dont rush the flight suit or trying to pet him. Just simply let him enjoy your presence. They have VERY good sense of remembering things and you dont want KoKo to see you as a predator by trying to chase him around and pet you. You wouldnt let a stranger just come to you and pet you either... Just let Koko get used to you being there. I would maybe read KoKo a book or something. sing, dance, but dont try to rush the touching process.

 

[Ameer]

guys..ur piece of advices is so valuable. but i need to confess, when we take him out. me and my wife put a flight suit on him immediately. the reason is that he stays in the hall which us fully beige carpeted and sofas as well. and as soon as we take him out of the cage, we hold him and put a suit on him. he only struggles a TINY TINY big, but yes we have to hold him firmly. as soon as we put a suit, we leave him in the half where he goes around roaming for like 2-3hours. between those 3 hours. we go to him and play, or pet or scratch him or talk to him and the usual bonding stuff. we address him, he climbs the sofa, takes short flights etc. but ya, the flight suit putting process is a bit of a struggle in between. we do this atleast twice a day or if not, then once a day for sure. without flight suit, i just cannot take him out. i am really sorry guys.its just a condition i cannot overcome. any help on this..? we just cannot afford his loaded poo on the carpet or sofas.. i have a love bird and had budgies too. their poo is very small so it does not matter. but kokos is quite a big. so yes..thats the thing. please help!

 

[Ameer]

guys..ur piece of advices is so valuable. but i need to confess, when we take him out. me and my wife put a flight suit on him immediately. the reason is that he stays in the hall which us fully beige carpeted and sofas as well. and as soon as we take him out of the cage, we hold him and put a suit on him. he only struggles a TINY TINY big, but yes we have to hold him firmly. as soon as we put a suit, we leave him in the half where he goes around roaming for like 2-3hours. between those 3 hours. we go to him and play, or pet or scratch him or talk to him and the usual bonding stuff. we address him, he climbs the sofa, takes short flights etc. but ya, the flight suit putting process is a bit of a struggle in between. we do this atleast twice a day or if not, then once a day for sure. without flight suit, i just cannot take him out. i am really sorry guys.its just a condition i cannot overcome. any help on this..? we just cannot afford his loaded poo on the carpet or sofas.. i have a love bird and had budgies too. their poo is very small so it does not matter. but kokos is quite a big. so yes..thats the thing. please help!

 

[Ameer]

guys..ur piece of advices is so valuable. but i need to confess, when we take him out. me and my wife put a flight suit on him immediately. the reason is that he stays in the hall which us fully beige carpeted and sofas as well. and as soon as we take him out of the cage, we hold him and put a suit on him. he only struggles a TINY TINY big, but yes we have to hold him firmly. as soon as we put a suit, we leave him in the half where he goes around roaming for like 2-3hours. between those 3 hours. we go to him and play, or pet or scratch him or talk to him and the usual bonding stuff. we address him, he climbs the sofa, takes short flights etc. but ya, the flight suit putting process is a bit of a struggle in between. we do this atleast twice a day or if not, then once a day for sure. without flight suit, i just cannot take him out. i am really sorry guys.its just a condition i cannot overcome. any help on this..? we just cannot afford his loaded poo on the carpet or sofas.. i have a love bird and had budgies too. their poo is very small so it does not matter. but kokos is quite a big. so yes..thats the thing. please help!

 

[Ameer]

guys..ur piece of advices is so valuable. but i need to confess, when we take him out. me and my wife put a flight suit on him immediately. the reason is that he stays in the hall which us fully beige carpeted and sofas as well. and as soon as we take him out of the cage, we hold him and put a suit on him. he only struggles a TINY TINY big, but yes we have to hold him firmly. as soon as we put a suit, we leave him in the half where he goes around roaming for like 2-3hours. between those 3 hours. we go to him and play, or pet or scratch him or talk to him and the usual bonding stuff. we address him, he climbs the sofa, takes short flights etc. but ya, the flight suit putting process is a bit of a struggle in between. we do this atleast twice a day or if not, then once a day for sure. without flight suit, i just cannot take him out. i am really sorry guys.its just a condition i cannot overcome. any help on this..? we just cannot afford his loaded poo on the carpet or sofas.. i have a love bird and had budgies too. their poo is very small so it does not matter. but kokos is quite a big. so yes..thats the thing. please help.

 

[Shezbug]

Wow, I would not trust you either if you did that to me twice a day or even once a week. I do not mean to sound rude or horrible to you but I really feel for your bird after reading your last post about how you get the suit on him, it must be terrifying for him.

I cover my floor with old cardboard, sheets and towels and the same for any furniture that needs protecting as I have very light color furniture and carpet, this stops the poop getting on the carpet and ruining it but it also stops me from feeling the need to terrorize or make my bird miserable.

I read that the flight suits keep the poop up close to the bird so I do not think they sound like a friendly or safe thing for any bird. Can you just temporarily cover your carpet and furniture with old sheets when he is out and leave your bird to be a bird and feel the freedom and happiness he should be allowed to enjoy?

I am actually surprised he still wants to come out of the cage if you are doing the flight suit wrestle with him every time he leaves the cage. It honestly sounds to me like torture he is going through. Can you get rid of the carpet? Give him out of cage time in a room where you do not have to do horrible things to him to protect floors/furniture? Drop sheets work well and do not upset or stress out the bird. Can you just buy some of the products that are available to clean up parrot poop spots? Any other option available sounds much better to me than what is currently happening to him. How can he learn to trust you?

 

[KatelynDeanne]

Amir, your bird should not have a flight suit on him, especially at that young of an age period. Your worried about your floors, but why did you get a grey if you couldnt handle the poo? I go through a 12 pack of large paper towel rolls every 3 weeks cleaning up my birds poo because thats what birds do. Its not realistic to cover all of your flooring in paper so its just something you have to deal with if you want to ensure your bird can fly around and be happy in your home. He most certaintly shouldnt be in a cage all day just because he poos. Also, the flight suit just traps the poo up underneath the birds vent and will create a mess not on your floor, but on your birds cute little red butt and then what happens? You gonna bathe him and hold him down while trying to clean that off of him? And if that poo stays on his bottom he could get sick and then that will probably cost a lot more than paper towels. Im not trying to be mean but Amir you have had to of realized how much work goes into raising a bird like this and if you appreciate our advice and its so valuable , maybe you should actually use it. Please do not harm your bird by putting him through stress. Stress will cause plucking and other things that you just do not want to get into .

 

[Kodigirl210]

@Ameer - part of owning a larger bird/parrot is understanding that the bigger the bird the bigger potential for a mess. The same way that a tiny Yorkie dog is going to make a smaller mess than a Great Dane dog. At the same time there is one thing that you can do. YouTube has many videos on how to potty train birds. Yes there will be accidents but as @Shezbug suggested maybe there is an area you can cover with sheets or drop cloths so that when they happen it is not a big deal. If you have to do something to Koko that he doesn’t like then you will have a harder time overcoming that fear/anger to get to the trust/love you want. No one can ever learn to truly ride a bicycle if the training wheels don’t ever come off. Just like you can’t train Koko to potty where you want him to or love you the way you want him to if you always force him into a flight suit. His beak will also get bigger and stronger. His struggle may turn to biting if he really doesn’t want the suit on. So please check out YouTube so you all can have a happier family at home.

 

[Ameer]

Guys...seriously..thanks so much..i do realize what i am doing wrong here...i got the bird for it shear love and i am doing completely opposite. I will take ur advice of having sheets in some areas plus keeping some bird poo cleaners on carpets handy so if any mishaps happen, atleast i will have things to clean it up too. But yes, thanks once again as i did have this feeling that i am doing something wrong into forcing him to do something i want. Let me try getting him out of the cage for a couple of weeks without the suit and i will surely update you of his behaviour towards me. cheers guys.

 

[KatelynDeanne]

Thank You Amir!

 

[BertAllen]

I have read that trying to control a Gray with a flight suit or harness when they are very young will only make them reject it as they mature. They are meant to be used when you take your bird out for a walk and other fun things. If he struggles he will only learn to hate it.