Farlie
Rollerblading along the road
As mentioned elsewhere, Farlie hates hands. He's scared to death of them. 
I was fortunate enough to be able to take him home Monday afternoon at which time he spent all of the rest of the day examining his new home (cage) and its place in my apartment. Surprisingly enough he doesn't know what stress is. The ride home in the car was a piece of cake to him as he sat on his perch and looked all around to what was going on and never flinched a feather. As I opened his travel cage he slowly climbed into his new home with no trouble at all.
But, as I approached him to feel him out, BINGO... No Hands, Daddy!!!
I suppose this was caused by his upbringing. As a baby he had to be grabbed to get him out of the cage then held to be fed then grabbed again to be put back in the cage and possibly crabbed again to be put on a shoulder etc., etc. I left him be till Tuesday.
My cage is arched on top and there is a door in the arch. When opened it lays parallel to the floor and he can play there and does. He likes kisses and lovin' with my face BUT no hands. He loves to put his beak between my lips while I talk and sing to him. He likes to sit on my shoulder and preen me, my hair, my ears, my mustache and beard. He's about the most loving bird I've ever had. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything but hands. New stuff I put in his cage he'll creep up on to check out but keep those hands away. Oh, and he doesn't bite either! He'll grab my eye lid and stick out his tongue to test/taste it. He'll grab my lips and do the same and my ear but he wont bite. He's very very gentle with that beak of his.
OK, while he was playing on this door, I left my fingers tips on the door to see if 'we' could stand it. He didn't like it at all BUT very slowly crept up to each finger and 'grabbed' them while sticking out his tongue to check 'em out. I almost screamed and jumped for joy when this happened. THAT was Tuesday's progress.
Wednesday, today, 'we' learned to step up. By George, he did it! It was nothing more then stepping up then jumping off but he did it!!!
This is one smart bird. I'm so very thankful I was able to obtain a loving, kind and gentle creature as this Sun Conure is.
I love you, Farlie.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take him home Monday afternoon at which time he spent all of the rest of the day examining his new home (cage) and its place in my apartment. Surprisingly enough he doesn't know what stress is. The ride home in the car was a piece of cake to him as he sat on his perch and looked all around to what was going on and never flinched a feather. As I opened his travel cage he slowly climbed into his new home with no trouble at all.
But, as I approached him to feel him out, BINGO... No Hands, Daddy!!!
My cage is arched on top and there is a door in the arch. When opened it lays parallel to the floor and he can play there and does. He likes kisses and lovin' with my face BUT no hands. He loves to put his beak between my lips while I talk and sing to him. He likes to sit on my shoulder and preen me, my hair, my ears, my mustache and beard. He's about the most loving bird I've ever had. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything but hands. New stuff I put in his cage he'll creep up on to check out but keep those hands away. Oh, and he doesn't bite either! He'll grab my eye lid and stick out his tongue to test/taste it. He'll grab my lips and do the same and my ear but he wont bite. He's very very gentle with that beak of his.
OK, while he was playing on this door, I left my fingers tips on the door to see if 'we' could stand it. He didn't like it at all BUT very slowly crept up to each finger and 'grabbed' them while sticking out his tongue to check 'em out. I almost screamed and jumped for joy when this happened. THAT was Tuesday's progress.
Wednesday, today, 'we' learned to step up. By George, he did it! It was nothing more then stepping up then jumping off but he did it!!!
This is one smart bird. I'm so very thankful I was able to obtain a loving, kind and gentle creature as this Sun Conure is.
I love you, Farlie.
It was amazing. Tomorrow we'll try some more 'step-up' exercises and maybe another beak squeeze and head scratch or two. 
He has let go with the right foot and literally rolled over on his back to play with them upside down, too. 
I still love him so. 
I really don't know what to call it but he bobbed and strutted and pecked my fingers and knuckles. 
I tried my darnest not to laugh at him although it was the funniest thing I think I ever saw. I think I giggled a little and told him what a good bird he was. 
All the yellow parts of his toys are torn up. I went to the pet shop today and bought him a mini yellow tennis shoe ($2.99) and gave it to him to play/tear up. He attacked it like it was the enemy! 
He jumped on it, bit it and threw it over the side. When I picked it up and placed it back on his play door he attacked my finger with a bite, OUCH. 
So, I left him alone with that mean ol' shoe and the 'mean' streak in him.
WOW! Talk about delicate feathers. It's funny how he wasn't completely sure about all that and watched me like a hawk while keeping his eye on me (thumb) the whole time. 
:super:
Rain
