My baby doesn't play or perch and flies to my head

[Pebbles]

I have an 8 week old green cheek named Pebbles. She hates being in her cage and comes out as soon as the door is opened. She flips out when I reach into her cage. Once she is out she doesn't "play" and wants to climb up me and be around my face. I do not want her on my head and/or shoulders. She hand cuddles and loves to snuggle. If I try to put her on her perch or play gym (to teach her to step up and down) she immediately flies to my head. I tried using a wooden spoon to keep her from climbing my arm but she hates it and becomes very aggressive. I want to start teaching her but she is obsessed with my head and won't sit perched anywhere else. Her wings are clipped but it doesn't stop her from "flying" across the room to my head. I try to duck but she is persistent and I'm worried about her falling and getting hurt. She's just a baby and maybe I'm asking too much when she just wants to be close to me ALL the TIME and close to my face but I want her to learn that it isn't ok. Suggestions?

[pennyandrocky]

sorry to tell you but you got the wrong bird. are known as Velcro birds the ones I know my own included always want to be on people's shoulder or head.

[CSLFiero]

I can't advise you EXACLTLY what to do, but since the little thingie seems to really like being close to you (I've never met a GCC that didn't want to be picked up), you can use closeness with you as a sort of reward for good behavior. I'd say if it were me, I'd put the bird down and leave to room whenever undesirable perching is going on.

If the birdie starts to make a "pay attention to meee" ruckus, you know you've found a good motivator.

[Pebbles]

Thanks so much! This is my first green cheek so if this is normal, I can just keep moving her down back to my hand. She doesn't ever want to play or sit long enough to learn any tricks or practice stepping up and down because she flies right to me and climbs to my head. It's a great idea to put her on a perch and leave the room if she throws a fit about it and then when she does something good to cuddle her as a reward. She won't eat treats from my hand so I never know how to reward her for stepping up or using the potty on cue. It's great to get advice since I'm new to this.

[CSLFiero]

Me too, I'm having the same problem with my jardine and have a lot to learn. it wants to sit right on my head! Which is why I can't say exactly what to do cause if I knew I'd tell you. have fun !

[pennyandrocky]

potty training is easier if they have full flight. it took me about a week to get mine to not go on me. if he went on me I just gently pushed him off my shoulder and it being his favorite place to sit he learned going on me meant losing his favorite perch. I put out whicker baskets with handles he just starting going in the baskets lined with a plastic bowl and paper.

[Pebbles]

I get pooped on all the time! I put her on her perch right after and tell her no. I dont know if thats right or not. Also, i tell her to go potty when i see that she is about to.

[marie83]

Pennyandrocky is right green cheeks are clingy birds but they can be taught a degree of independence. The key is making other things exciting, with Ollie foraging worked well , trick training and playing games. We would hide treats in the toys on his playtree, at first we made them easy to find and put them everywhere, then we started putting less and less in and making them harder to get into. It got to the point that Ollie always spend ages looking for food even when we only put the odd treat in every few days. We also played another game (also foraging) called the bottle cap game, you should find the video if you do a search. Basically we lay out a load of bottle tops and hide treats under certain ones, Ollie goes round flipping them all over but if we leave them there I can guarantee he will keep going back on his own to check if he has missed any. Different sized caps slot in one another making it harder.

As for the landing on your head that will take time to teach her to land elsewhere, to start off with you need to teach a reliable step up and distract her from going on your head in the first place. Once you have a reliable step up you'll be able to let her land on your head and feel confident you can get her straight off again. After that you can start teaching her your preferred landing place.

Honestly I would say just deal with the poop, I know people do have potty trained birds but I feel it is unfair and possibly even harmful, they are not like cats and dogs who can go hours without going to the loo, birds go every 10-30 minutes on average. Even in humans holding on to waste can have a bad effect, constipation, water infections etc. With a bird there will always be accidents any way.


**EDIT** - link for game mentioned above viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10111

[Pajarita]

I agree, potty training is not good for birds, their metabolism is too high and they should not be holding it. Personally, I think that if you cannot deal with the poop, you should not have a bird.

[Pebbles]

Yea, when she is in her cage or on her perch she goes whenever she wants but when im playing with her id like her to go to her perch or cage to go instead of on me. Im not asking her to hold it, just to go in the appropriate place. I agree holding it isn't good for her.