Stop my senegal from getting on my shoulder

[mercedes98]

I recently brought home my new baby Senegal. He has been home with me for 3 days. When I hold him he constantly insists on trying to get on my shoulder. I know that I shouldn't let him on my shoulder until he understands that I am the boss and he is well trained. I try to distract him but he has tunnel vision and is only focused on trying to get on my shoulder.

[Pajarita]

LOL - Parrots don't recognize 'bosses', they don't belong to that type of society so they don't understand the concept. In the wild, they are all equal and, as far as they are concerned, they are our equals, too. I allow all my parrots on my shoulder, never did understand why people say you shouldn't.

[Wayne361]

I know every bird is different but this is what I have done. I dont offer any stimulus that would reinforce the shoulder as a positive experience i.e. I dont scratch, talk, etc. Basically he is ignored while on my shoulder. He knows he has to climb down for me to give him head scratches/attention etc. So if he wants attention he knows he isnt getting any while on my shoulder. This accounts for probably 95 percent of the time he is with me.....thus he isnt gravitated to my shoulder most of the time. He will climb up if he is tired or just wants to chill which is fine with me.
Even though my bird is well socialized I am always aware that he is a wild pet and prone to occasionaly outbursts, so I do not EVER face him while he is on shoulder.....I need my eyes for a few more years yet
Conversly when I want to get him off my shoulder (when he is already on) he will step up on command almost 100 percent of the time. I have gotten to this level of success by making each time he does step-up off my shoulder a rewarding experience for the bird...i.e. a head scratch, start of some training, beak rub etc. He knows a positive is going to come out of stepping up EVERY time....he might not know exactly what the reward is....but he knows he is going to be rewarded.
On another note you might want to keep him occupied doing other things, i.e. training, playing, etc so he "forgets going on shoulder".....with less shoulder time and other rewarding activities it stands to reason that his shoulder obsession should diminish over time.....

Hope this helps (or some parts of it),

Wayne

[mercedes98]

Thanks these are good ideas.

[spiral71]

LOL - Parrots don't recognize 'bosses', they don't belong to that type of society so they don't understand the concept. In the wild, they are all equal and, as far as they are concerned, they are our equals, too. I allow all my parrots on my shoulder, never did understand why people say you shouldn't.

i don't think its its the being on the shoulder thats a problem initself but more that if they are frightened or hormonal they can bite the nearest thing namely your face or ears, or you could forgeth they are on your shoulder accidently so that they might escape.

my ringneck bites my ears in i don't distract her when shes on my shoulder by moving around she likes to climb on my shoulder after and during bathing for some reason so i use he bowl with water in to distract her form biting my ears, which she is drawn to because they are red.

[marie83]

LOL - Parrots don't recognize 'bosses', they don't belong to that type of society so they don't understand the concept. In the wild, they are all equal and, as far as they are concerned, they are our equals, too. I allow all my parrots on my shoulder, never did understand why people say you shouldn't.

i don't think its its the being on the shoulder thats a problem initself but more that if they are frightened or hormonal they can bite the nearest thing namely your face or ears, or you could forgeth they are on your shoulder accidently so that they might escape.

.

Agree with this, Ollie once nailed me right under my eye- it didn't bother me too much but it was a lesson learned let me tell you but a bite to the face destroys trust much faster than a bite on the hand.
Yes parrots shouldn't bite but we all know they can and they do and when you can't see them properly you will probably miss the warning signs when trying to remove them from your shoulder.

Also there's the issue of removing a parrot from a shoulder when it really doesn't want to be removed, they quickly learn to hide round the back of your neck so you can't get them. Inexperienced parrot keepers don't always know how to deal with this, you can't read the parrots body language etc so are more at risk of getting bitten as said above or it turns in to a game where every time the parrot see's a hand it runs to the other side of the neck.


I do shoulder my birds but only after I can reliably step them up and know their personality.

[spiral71]

that makes sense Marie, i genrally remove my parroT form my shoulder whever possible but as i only have the use of one hand, it can be tricky recently she bit me fist on one ear then the other straight afterwards.

I think she some how got over exited from bathing as shed ncked the water out of her bowl while thowing herself in it and i could not replace the water fast enough. So she bit me out of fustration to make me put water in her bowl faster.

Or do you think it was just beaking as she did not break the skin. i did quite well i did not make any noise or panic and then she let go and went back to her bath.

[Dave & Karen]

I think as long as the bird is calm, and in a situation where he can't get startled easily it's safe to shoulder your bird.
Now saying that, I have been bitten in the ear too either when the bird got too excited or when the hormones take over.
Baby birds are usually just curious and want to see what this thing hanging off the side of your head is and will grab it but not bite down, this is normal and can be allowed as long as the bird is being gentle. Now if you have a parrotlet with a razor sharp beak, they can cut your ear sometimes without you even knowing it...
I've had our parrotlet on my shoulder nibbling on my ear, not really painful, but just a little on the uncomfortable side so I got him off my shoulder to find his face and beak covered with blood.. mine to be exact
The bigger birds do tend to be a lot more gentle and their bigger beaks are generally not That sharp so they're easier to trust, they will do more damage tho if they bite down like if they get startled or something, they may not break the skin but it's still a painful pinch. If they were to bite your ear in anger or an agressive state like a hormonal rage, they can tear a chunk of ear out with a good bite. But for the most part, The bigger birds won't bite you that bad unless you do something to them like try to force them off, then it's your finger that usually takes the hit.

The easiest way to get a bird off your shoulder when they outright refuse is to take your shirt off, they'll be holding onto the shirt, just grab your shirt so your hands are out of the way and so your bird doesn't get crushed etc, they'll be a bit confused so they'll be too distracted to bite... I've had to get my sun conure off me that way once or twice and he's way too busy trying to hold onto my shirt or he's already flew off so he has no time to bite.... and for the girls in here, if you need some privacy to get your shirt off, just leave him up there til you can walk into another room etc...

[liz]

Rambo and Myrtle are both shoulder birds. The only problem with Myrtle on my shoulder is that she uses my ear as a handle. When I've had enough I just brush her off. Rambo doesn't fly so I just put him down and let him walk home.

Myrtle just lands on my shoulder when she wants too. Rambo says "pick me up". (I still don't understand how they learned to use I and me.

[spiral71]

yeah that i amn me phase is impressive i am going to give by bird a bath now fingers crossed she doesnt get my ears again.