pushing

[CSLFiero]

How does everyone feel about pushing to limit access to your face when a bird is shoulder? Not pushing off the shoulder of course. And no other input other than the push. too aggressive?

Loxley has gotten to the point that he really enjoys cuddling and mutually preening. On my fingers and even parts of my face I don't mind, I really think it's cute.. but as gentle as he is, it's not gentle enough around my sensitive eyes and lips. he even can get clumsy around my septim as well. It's frustrating because I don't want him to fear my shoulder or my hand. so far he hasn't held any grudges over the pushing when he's preening places I can't approve of. He still loves to get scratched, and shows his desire to be scratched by rubbing his beak on my face and squeeking. However when I push him, he growls/nips in his own frustration. then he waddles back up for another cuddle.

do you think Loxley will eventually get the point or should i try something else?

[Dave & Karen]

Typical behavior... They do love to be on your shoulder all the time and they do love to play with our faces... Does your bird know what No means yet? you can start telling him "no" when he starts to play with somewhere you don't want him to be. He'll catch on but it'll take some time and work.
First of all, I wouldn't recommend pushing your bird if you don't have to, but sometimes you need to move them but if you're calm and in control about it, they won't hold it against you. They might get mad at you and act like they're gonna bite, but in most cases it's just a show. There are exceptions to this, like if you got a 3 year old male amazon and it's breeding season or something like that... that's a different story tho...

I have a pierced nose and both the amazon and the sun conure love to play with my nose ring, but if I allow it too long, they will both start to get rough and pulling on it hard. Koolaid, our will grab it and shake his head back and forth violently and quickly, this doesn't really hurt me, but if he gets the ball on the ring, he can pull it off, then I gotta try to get it back from him because I'm afraid he might swallow it. I do let him play with the ring, but not try to pull the ball off, he can get really persistant about it and then I'll have to step him up or move him away from it and he does get pretty mad sometimes where he'll nip at my hand . He won't bite me hard, but his beak is razor sharp at the tip so what I do is try to move him before he goes after the nose ring. He'll usually fly off but come right back and this repeats a few times before he gives up and finds something else to plat with like my eyelids or my ear. He also likes to lick my face and will usually do this after I move him away a few times like his way of saying "I'm sorry and I'll behave now if you let me back on your shoulder".
Now Pebbles, our who is much bigger and a LOT stronger, but also far more gentle when grooming my face. She also gets a fixation on my nose ring and she'll chew on it then start to pull on it, that part doesn't really hurt, but when she gets really into playing with it, she'll try to wedge her beak into the ring and there's no room for her beak and my nose inside the ring anymore... this does hurt and it makes me feel like sneezing and my eyes will water up etc... She can also pull the ball off with ease so I have to move her, she'll growl and nip but she won't bite down, but at this point she also knows I'm done letting her play with my nose ring so she'll back off. Then lately she's been really good about leaving the nose ring alone, even when playing with my nose, but now she has a fixation on my earlobe. I used to wear gauges so the holes are still pretty good sized and she likes to put her beak into the hole and start chewing. I have to do the same thing by telling her "no" at first, but if she keeps going I need to get her away from it before she starts getting rough. I can usually distract her by petting her or reaching for her beak, she'll let go of my ear to nip at my finger so this is where I move her off my shoulder. I'll let her back up there after a minute or so and she'll usually be calmed down by this point or she'll find another part of my face to play with.

Neither one of them seem to take it personally if I have to move them and I never talk to them in an angry tone, but more of a playful tone when I'm trying to get them to move away from something I don't want them to play with. I also remain calm and make any moves with my hand deliberate but not in a way that will startle them. If one of them does accidentally hurt me, I'll sometimes say "no" a little quicker or louder and they'll fly off until I call them back.

Last night Pebbles was on me whil I was laying in the bed talking to my wife and she started chewing on my shirt sleeve, she can bite holes in my shirts so I usually wear older shirts when she's playing on me, but what happened was she was chewing on my shirt sleeve and she accidentally bit my arm really good, it lit me up and I jumped and said "Ouch!!" she flew back to her cage while I was checking myself, she didn't break the skin but it did leave a nasty bruise and it hurt like a really nasty pinch. After I saw I was ok, I called her back and said "it's ok" so she flew back to me, landed on me and just sat there while I pet her. Needless to say, she didn't try to chew on my shirt again the rest of the night.

the whole thing is that if you have a good bond with your bird and you need to push him away, you can do it as long as you're not being agressive with him, or if he does accidentally hurt you and you yell out, he'll most likely fly off, but come back when called, and it's important that you comfort him to let him know you're not mad at him and that you have no intention to "get even". They do know they hurt you and it was an accident so they will be afraid of you or what you might do, but if you got a strong bond with them, they'll most likely come back as to apologise. Of all the times I've been bitten by a bird that's bonded well with me, they all have returned to me after I called them back... and they were on their BEST behavior. Of course, I've only been bitten hard like this by Pebbles twice, both times she was playing with my shirt sleeve and got my arm accidentally, she knew it both times because either I flinched or yelled, and I'm sure she knew she had more than a little cloth in her mouth, she just flew off to her cage but came back to me as to say "I'm sorry" or to see if I was ok...
When she's mad at me for trying to move her or if she don't want to be picked up etc, she'll growl and grab my finger or hand with her beak and push it away, but she won't bite down. Sometimes she'll use her foot to grab my hand and push it away as well. I'll usually give her her space and come back when she's in a better mood, but if I need to put her in her cage like if I need to leave or head for work, I can go ahead and pick her up and put her in the cage... she won't be happy with me, but she won't bite me either... even tho she's acting like she would.

In conclusion, keep a strong bond with your bird and be his best buddy, but in those cases where you do need to move him, keep them situations as rare as possible and he'll forgive you. Just stay calm and in control but also be ready to comfort him after you did something he didn't want you to do or if he accidentally hurt you etc... Best thing to do is try to move him before he gets into a situation where he's growling or nipping at you. Distract them with a toy or treat if you can, and move them as a last resort. never act agressive toward your bird if you have to move himor nudge him away etc.

I hope I explained that in a way it's easily understood... and hopefully this all helps.

[cml]

I dont allow either parrot on my shoulder, for the simple reason that Stitch LOVES to nibble at my ear, and he isnt gentle at all. He knows this gets a reaction (as it bloody hurts ^^), and thus I dont want to encourage that behaviour and he isnt allowed on shoulders (and hasnt been for years, even if he will still try from time to time ). Same with heads, its a no go landing zone.

[spiral71]

I use a bowl of water for my parrot to bathe in to distract her although i try to discourage her from landing on my head or shoulders, and if she does i never look at her directly so as not to tempt her to lunge towards my eye. i wear a hat to cove my ears and a hooded jumper to cover up my neck if t think she maybe getting over ecited and more likely to try and beak my ears.

she doesnt break the skin and if i stay calm she lets go. johndune pery said on his you tube videos of his sunconure apolo never completely trust a bird and i agree with this, so i am very cautious with my

[CSLFiero]

x.x i think loxley might be feeling hormonal for the first time. If he isn't getting too friendly With my face he's playing very forcefully with his toys or crawling under the blankets to regurgitate for my feet. He loves feet, i think the roundness reminds him of eggs. He likes all manner of little balls and fluffs up and regurgitates around them.

[Dave & Karen]

Hahaha.. Yes.. they do that as well... It must this time of the year because my amazon is obsessed with the closet all the sudden, like going into the closet on the top racks behind all the blankets etc. She does growl and get mad if I try to take her out of the closet but she won't bite me... and I can't even pet her right now without her going chest down, tail up, wings popping, and making all kinds of over excited squawking noises... She usually just bows her head and fluffs up then almost falls asleep when I pet her, she does get over excited from time to time but calms back down when the affection stops, but the last few days I can't even act like I'm going to pet her without her getting all over excited... she even got that way this morning when I asked her for a kiss...
Then our sun conure is also humping my shoulder and my wife's hand etc a little more than usual as well as biting a bit harder than normal, he usually doesn't bite, but more likes to chew on my fingers etc, but he is chewing a lot harder... and he has a littel bit less patience with us etc...

And just to think we pretty much had to put up with all our birds acting this way all spring, then they get over it, then they get all hormonal again right before the cold weather comes in for the year... Luckily the rest of our birds are still pretty much normal this time of the year...

Just keep your bond strong with them and be careful how much affection you give them when they're hormonal, but try to avoid letting them get into those situations where you need to correct them by pushing or moving them, if you have to push or nudge them away from biting your ear, they'll most likely forgive you, but the best thing to do is try to prevent things from going so far that you have to do this. sometimes it's best to not let them on your shoulder etc when they're hormonal since they're a lot more likely to misbehave, so by not letting them up there it will prevent further corrections where you may have to push or move them. Once their hormones cool back down, then you can allow them a lot more freedom on you etc...

[lamborghini]

He won't bite me hard, but his beak is razor sharp at the tip so what I do is try to move him before he goes after the nose ring. He'll usually fly off but come right back and this repeats a few times before he gives up and finds something else to plat with like my eyelids or my ear.

He also likes to lick my face and will usually do this after I move him away a few times like his way of saying "I'm sorry and I'll behave now if you let me back on your shoulder".

I have a pierced nose and both the amazon and the sun conure love to play with my nose ring, but if I allow it too long, they will both start to get rough and pulling on it hard. Koolaid, our will grab it and shake his head back and forth violently and quickly, this doesn't really hurt me, but if he gets the ball on the ring, he can pull it off, then I gotta try to get it back from him because I'm afraid he might swallow it.

I do let him play with the ring, but not try to pull the ball off, he can get really persistant about it and then I'll have to step him up or move him away from it and he does get pretty mad sometimes where he'll nip at my hand .