Taming and touching

[Boy about town]

Hi there, I've had my first Parrot Cosmo, a Senegal parrot, for 5 days now. He was hand reared but he's not quite as tame I would expect. I've got him stepping up no bother but I'm having problems getting him used to being touched. He does peck but not hard, Only a warning nibble. Usually when I try to touch him he walks away or just sits very still but often he uses the trick of grabbing my finger and stepping up onto it. I offer him a treat when he does let me touch him but he doesn't always want one. It's only been 5 days but I'm a little worried that I'm not making much progress and might miss a critical period of him being young and flexible. Can anybody help?

Sean and Cosmo

[Michael]

I wouldn't push the touching so soon. Build trust. Establish a routine. Get him used to being on and around you safely. You want a good reserve of positive experiences before you (temporarily) push some negative ones.

[Boy about town]

Thank you for the advice. I'll just get him used to me for a while and hold off on the touching. You read so many different things online and then you begin to panic and push the bird to hard. I'll just stick to his pace from now on.

Thanks again.