Please HELP, Tiki doesn't trust me now

[GreenWing]

I put some nail polish on my fingernails a few days ago for a special occasion, and my Senegal Parrot, Tiki, freaked out. She wouldn't let me handle her at all and flew away when I would put my hand out for her to step-up. I took the nail polish off as soon as I could, and she is still acting afraid of me. She backs away from me when I offer her my hands.

I have read that parrots can get phobic, but what can I do to have her trust me again? She calls for me when I leave the room and she lets me feed her, but when I approach her and offer my hands she acts scared. Normally, Tiki wants to cuddle all the time. Now she doesn't want to be held or handled from me. She did eat from my hand last night but then acts all weird again. I feel so terrible about this; I was her favorite person but now she is preferring my spouse (who rarely handles her).

[liz]

Just keep going. She will get over it. Calm down she can feel how you feel.

[Michael]

Retaming. Just follow the taming/training steps that developed trust in the first place over again. I have to do these with my parrots from time to time but it comes back very quickly when they realize what's going on.

[GreenWing]

Just keep going. She will get over it. Calm down she can feel how you feel.

I am calm, just concerned. I've read about phobias, I just didn't think Tiki would freak out over orange nail polish (maybe she just doesn't like the color, hah). Tiki is my first parrot so I'm still learning. The other bird I owned was a pigeon, and well, pigeons are very different... they're not as sensitive as parrots.

I'm already noticing a difference... she said "Hi" to me earlier. Like you said, it's just taking time! I WILL say that I'm never going to wear nail polish again, sigh

Retaming. Just follow the taming/training steps that developed trust in the first place over again. I have to do these with my parrots from time to time but it comes back very quickly when they realize what's going on.

Thanks for that, Michael. I really appreciate this; great info.

[Kirsten]

Do you think she's freaking out about the color or the smell? I actually had the problem with Skittles that he tried to eat nail polish off my nails when they started cracking.

Have you tried taking off the nail polish since and seen if Tiki reacts any differently?

[liz]

I had a little dog that used to try to pick the red stuff off my toenails.

Myrtle just pulls curlers out.

[cml]

Last week, my wife painted her nails green, and after that Leroy refused to be anywhere near her. Now the paint is gone, its all back to normal again!

[Sharyl]

I have just run into the same problem! My Senegal, Eli, is just over a year old. Last year I put on some nail polish and he went nuts! So I took it off almost immediately. Then the next day he seemed to have forgotten about it and all was right with the world. So I tried it again on Monday, thinking he's older now and not so afraid. Nope. He went nuts again and acted just like your parrot did. So I took it off again, almost immediately. Then he would stare at my fingers, as if he was getting ready to run should I reach out to him. I was on the floor last night where we play with toys. I wanted to play catch with him but he wouldn't. He wouldn't even take his favorite treat from my fingers. But this morning he let me scratch his neck. But then like you said, he seemed to have remembered about my finger nails and then was done with me. We are so bonded, he and I. I live alone and I am his mama. I read the advice about staying calm and he will get over it. I surely hope so because this is killing me. He is my heart!

[Eric&Rebecca]

I think the reason for it is birds see colours much more vibrantly than we do so any orange is light bright highlighter orange. So imagine if its bright to you its like GLOW in the dark to them :p

Also certain birds, for a reason I don't rightly know, have phobias of certain colours. For example, Edmund our cockatiel won't go near anything purple coloured and George is afraid of blueberries.

I think the trick is to keep calm and follow retaming instructions...

[macbrush]

Not just colour really, last year I shaved off my beard, my grey bite me and shouted "go away", he recognised me alright, just didn't like me with no beard. I put him on training diet a few days, had him feed off my hands in the duration and everything came back to normal. Now he doesn't care whether I've shaved my beard or not.