My human scares the crap out of me!

[Sauly]

Update: this morning Tequila stepped up on his hand held perch from night cage to day cage. He took an enormous birdie dump on the floor on his way. Nice! After his breakfast, he stepped up on the perch and excepted some kisses on his back as I took him over to his window setup. I think I got this! Slow wins the race....

Sauly
Canada

 

[Sauly]

Last night, Tequila accepted a neck and head scratch for the first time in three weeks. When I stopped I brought my face to his and he rubbed his face on my cheek. He then walked over to the side of the perch Where my hand Was and rested his body against my hand. My wife just looked at me with a funny look and shook her head. The little rascal melted my heart!

Sauly

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[Sauly]

Update....Tequila and I have had a setback. I am getting frustrated with his behavior and I know he senses this and is making things worse. He is cowering again! We had been making great progress as you can see in this thread. I picked him up the other day and he let out a shreek and realized he was in my hands and the just laid there and looked at me all dejected. After I put him down then it all started again. I was too impatient and thought the problem was fixed. I should never have picked him up! Back to basics again. It's like the little guy dropped our bond like it was nothing! I would never have gotten a Conure if I knew they could turn on a dime....not impressed!

sauly

p.s. No bites at all ???

 

[roxynoodle]

My Nanday can be weird about hands, too, and I don't know why. She's been with me 13 years and I've never hurt her. One day she steps up on my hand or finger like nothing and another day she acts like she's afraid of them. She will always step up onto my arm though. And I can only pet her with my face. She will happily rub faces with me and always wants kisses but has never let me pet her head/face with my fingers. I can touch other parts of her like her beak, breast, feet, tail, but not her head.

Conures ARE moody and change moods constantly and quickly. It's who she is I guess.

Oh, and she will fly over and land on my finger. So no idea what she thinks as far as hands go. We just take things "each moment" because the next moment might be different

 

[Wayne361]

I know it is easy to get discouraged but, as you stated, just try to go back to basics. My hunch is it wont take as long to progress to the point you were before the setback. Just dont push too fast. Over time setbacks should be either non-existant or more mild in nature. Just keep going....you will be rewarded over time.

Wayne

 

[LindaD]

Hi - Also keep in mind that parrots are not domesticated animals. They are wild animals. Any bond that they make with us should be considered a gift, IMO. It is not gonna be like a dog, or even a cat.

One thing that makes me cringe is this talk of face-rubbing. One could lose an eye that way! or a nose...

But I do understand your emotions at being rejected. I've had birds for years but when I acquired a Moustache baby this year, I was all upset when she didn't come out of the carrier all lovey-dovey. She had been very-well socialized at the breeders and I know this breeder well. I had lots of pictures of her being handled and cuddled by the breeder and her family. What was wrong with ME? I felt SO rejected!

Then I got over myself and realized that it's a baby, it's a species new to me, and it is in a new place, all things that freak birds out. Although I did research this species before buying her, there are very few of them in my geographic location and so I had never actually interacted with one before. In talking with the breeder and other owners of Moustaches I have learned that they can be pissy little birds from time to time, especially the females

So I took a step back, started over with her, and all is well - though she is never going to be a touchy-feely bird like my Pionus. That's OK with me. She is entitled to be herself, even if that is irritable and moody! At least she is dependably irritable and moody! I have started calling her Princess Cranky Pants when she gets like this! Can't wait to go thru the first rage of hormones with her! Ha!

We must be attentive to the condition and behaviors of our birds at all times for our safety as well as theirs. Learning to read each birds' body language, etc, is an important part of parronting. When she's cranky I interact with a whole different set of my own behaviors, keeping us both safe and happy.

BTW, I think a GCC is a great first bird, loving and playful. This group of bird lovers is terrific - I love this forum and I have learned so much.

Go slow and good luck!

 

[Sauly]

Excellent input thanks

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[JAM]

Red our Red Lory is being up and down about being handled, one minute my hand is a humping item, then it's a wrestle hand, sometimes it's okay to step up onto then other days it's a big scary monster that needs to be fled away from or attacked with absolute vigour. He's hormonal.....I am trying to read his body language but it's just hope and pray my hand doesn't end up as prey. ​LOL