Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Chat about general parrot care and parrot owner lifestyle. Bird psychology, activities, trimming, clipping, breeding etc.

Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby janetafloat » Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:20 am

Hi all - In the general scheme of things this isn't a terrible problem but thought it would be worth getting some of your oh so clever and knowledgeable input :D

My tiel is rapidly turning into a velcro bird, but more than that, he wants to be on my head all the time which I find really irritating. If I had wanted a bird hat I would have got one! However many times I gently return him to my shoulder 2 seconds later he's back on my head. His flying is getting better and better too, which is awesome, but he's mastered the trick of pretty much hovering to avoid the hand that I offer him as he's descending on my head and get on my head by hook or by crook.

Any suggestions....other than wearing a spiked cap.... :P
User avatar
janetafloat
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 474
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby Pricey_boy » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:20 pm

You could were a hat with a small toy or object that he's scared of and he may stop eventually
Pricey_boy
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 347
Number of Birds Owned: 8
Types of Birds Owned: 3 galah cockatoos
Grey and white weiro
Long billed corella
mutation scaly breasted lorikeet
rainbow lorikeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby Wayne361 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:41 pm

Do you do any training with your bird? If not start training and he/she will be focused on that and not as much you. Read Micheals blog for training tips. This way you are able to interact with bird and still have the distance. Will also strengthen your bond without the "velcro" scenario.

Wayne
Wayne361
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 220
Location: Oshawa, Ontario
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby friend2parrots » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:52 am

Wayne361 wrote:Do you do any training with your bird? If not start training and he/she will be focused on that and not as much you. Read Micheals blog for training tips. This way you are able to interact with bird and still have the distance. Will also strengthen your bond without the "velcro" scenario.


+1

training REALLY helps with velcro issues. i've been dealing with velcro issues for the past three and a half months, since the post-spookout Ringo transformed from aggresssive to super-clingy.
whats REALLY helped me is practicing flight recall exercises with him. I place him down, tell him to wait, and gradually increased the distance between himself and me. then I recall him with the the "come" command. i now recall him across the widest continuous width of my house. we have been doing this almost every single day first thing in the morning when he's hungry (and hence wants treats) for at least half and hour but also during the day when i see him getting agitated, worked up or too clingy. it really helps settle him down. ive actually noticed that for the past two weeks or so, he's starting to be comfortable roaming around the room on his own, just out of curiosity, playing with toys on his own, etc, without trying to be velcro again for full 15-20 min sometimes. i'm really excited about this! hoping his independence will improve further, so i'm going to continue doing the flight recalls.

i think flight exercises, as well as anything else you want to train your Cockatiel to do, will, as wayne said above, really help him get his mind off being on you! :greycockatiel: :)
Ringo - Green Cheek Conure
Toby - Bourke Parakeet
friend2parrots
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 491
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: green cheek conure
bourke parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby janetafloat » Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:13 pm

Thank you for your comments & suggestions. I am training him though - we usually do a short session twice a day including flight recall, target training & a trick we're working on. He was doing really well with the flight recall but for the past few days he's flying to me as soon as I walk away. I return him to his training perch without any comment and only reward the cued recall but I'm having to return him maybe 6 times before I can get a cued recall in. The head thing is driving me nuts....both times I had him out of his cage today I had to return him because he was insisting on being on my head. Like the recall, the behaviour seems to rapidly accelerating. For the past few days he would be constantly flying to my head & I would put my hand up for him to step up & transfer him to my shoulder but today he would just fly up as soon as I put my hand up and hover over me until I removed my hand and then land on my head again. He was OK while we were doing the target & trick training but went back to the on the head obsession as soon as we finished. He has a play gym he used to be happy to hang out on for a while but he won't stay on it at all any more. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong or what's going on but it's really affecting our relationship! :violin:
That sounds daft but you know what I mean hopefully.
He does seem to be a bit grumpy too.
Otherwise he's in beautiful condition, eating & sleeping OK as far as I can tell. He's about 5 going on 6
months old.
User avatar
janetafloat
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 474
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby marie83 » Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:30 pm

Ollie used to have a thing for sitting on my head too. It eventually stopped with perserverance, if he wouldn't step up then I would gently tip him off onto the sofa. I would also try to prevent it by putting my hands on my head before he got onto my head. I decided for me that he is allowed to land on my head but he has to step onto my hand straight away and come off.
User avatar
marie83
Cockatoo
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3565
Location: Midlands, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Yellow sided Green Cheek Conure
Pineapple Green Cheek Conure
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:35 pm

Our Edmund has an attachment to heads... We stopped this and rather quickly when he started sitting on my head and having 'happy time'. It really is a case of being persistent- it's taken 3 months to get Eddie to stop doing it and even now he has his moments with it.

Positive reinforcement worked for us. Using fruit or seeds or treats when he sits on our shoulders. Scratching will also help. Tiel's are very stubborn!- you just have to be more patient that they are.
User avatar
Eric&Rebecca
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 886
Location: London, England
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel
Cockatiel
Spectacled Parrotlet
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby janetafloat » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:30 am

He's been better about it today and has actually landed on my shoulder a couple of times, and been okay with being transferred to my shoulder when he's landed on my head. He's also been happy to play on top of his cage and sit at his window perch entertaining himself for quite a while. I guess he was just having a funny five minutes....that lasted a couple of days....that's birds for you! ;)
User avatar
janetafloat
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 474
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby friend2parrots » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:22 pm

janetafloat wrote: I guess he was just having a funny five minutes....that lasted a couple of days....that's birds for you! ;)


this made me laugh . its totally true. and very well put! :D
Ringo - Green Cheek Conure
Toby - Bourke Parakeet
friend2parrots
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 491
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: green cheek conure
bourke parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Velcro tiel wants to be on my head all the time

Postby Eric&Rebecca » Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:43 pm

Cockatiels do have funny five minutes! Also tiel's for some reason like to be there if they want to... you know... have some fun time. I know several people who have said that their tiel's have a wierd obsession with being on heads and this has lead to some rather embarassing experiences... It's good he's flying to your shoulder. It seems he is getting the message :-)
User avatar
Eric&Rebecca
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 886
Location: London, England
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel
Cockatiel
Spectacled Parrotlet
Flight: Yes

Next

Return to General Parrot Care

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store