Truman to Parrot Store & Owners Don't Know How to Hold Bird

[Michael]

Today I took Truman to the bird store for the first time. I wanted him to get used to traveling in his carrier and the store in a stress free environment so that by the time I need to take him there to get his nails cut, he won't be phobic of it and the positive experiences will at least balance the negative ones. I bought a 25lb bag of Roudybush Pellets for about $55 vs 10 small bags at $14 each ($140 for same amount). Now I gotta figure out how to fit all of that in my freezer!

There was a couple there with a Senegal and African Grey so I asked how they get along and they suggested similar kinds of issues as I had with Kili and Truman. Except with persistent taming I've been able to rule these problems out while their Senegal continues abusing the Grey. Just as they were leaving I sent my brother after them to give them my parrot card and it turned out they had seen my 20 parrot tricks video but didn't recognize me at the store. Perhaps they'll check out my training blog articles and see how I reduced tension between Kili and Truman.

Finally there was a lady trying to handle some African Greys who was completely clueless. She kept sticking her hand in at it and it was nipping. Now this was a very tame African Grey baby so this lady must have been really abrupt in order to piss it off. I'd seen her petting other Greys at the store wrong. Clearly she didn't know what she was doing as she was running her hands down their backs like a dog (scary to think she actually owns one, I assume she does because she was buying supplies). Every time the Grey would nip at her she would start scolding it and telling it not to do that. I had Truman out on one hand so I just reached to the African Grey baby and put a finger under its toe and started lifting and it stepped right onto my hand without a single nip or complaint. So you know what the woman says!? "It must be a female." I hadn't the slightest idea where she got that from as these parrots are not sexually dimorphic until she continued and said, "it must be a female so it only like men." I was just shocked at what an awful owner she is. She just blames the bird for everything. She didn't have the guts to fess up that she just doesn't know how to handle them so she just blames the bird no matter what. No wonder so many birds get blamed and then rehomed. I didn't even bother trying to teach her because she has the wrong attitude. If she were interested in what SHE could do to make the parrot more comfortable, I could tell her all about my sites and the article/video I have for picking up a tame parrot, but I can't help everyone, especially if they refuse to take responsibility and help themselves.

I must say Truman did quite well at the store and did not fly off once. I was worried about him flying off because he's not recall trained well enough and there's a lot to bump into. But he stayed on me and was really friendly toward everyone. I was much relieved I brought a walnut shell with me because that kept him busy and less likely hood of flying away for the hell of it. So it was a productive outing where Truman got to experience being elsewhere, I bought a lot of parrot food, and I got to observe mistakes other parrot owners make.

[TheNzJessie]

thats interesting about the lady, urgh i hate people like that, who think they know everything so if something goes wrong its all the birds fault because shes just PERFECT....its good the outing went good with truman. i got my aviator flight harness only after 4 days of purchasing it and Jango comes to the store with me. a lot of people ask to hold him or pat him. i usually say that they can touch the blue part of his head very gently (even thou Jango wants to wrestle and play rough) it puts a smile on the kids face. im always happy to let them if Jango is in the mood and they ask first. Jango loves the attention from everyone he looks forward to it. if he didn't i would let anyone touch him but considering hes multi colored its easy to say to someone you can touch him on the blue part of his head because he likes that.

[a.susz]

you have to take into consideration that not everyone is as level headed as you would think they are. working at a bird store now, i see this alot. people poke and prod ask hey can i hold this bird now can i hold this one and this one??! by the end of the day, most birds are tired of being held and ready for their nightly snacks and to start getting settled for the night, and to hold one of those birds 9 out of 10 times means a bite, but that warrants the reply(every time) oh your birds are mean. lol!

but then you get those few people who really care and understand bird body language who can just step up to a macaw and invite them for a scratch and spend a good half hour giving the bird some great one on one attention. i love those days.

[Kim S]

Its not just the people who step into a birdshop. More often than not the owner sets the people up for trouble.
A couple of years ago we were shopping around for a parrot (not knowing what we wanted or what it would mean) and we stepped into this petstore specialized in parrots. The woman told me that if I would like to have a nice pet bird I would have to look at one of these. She walked me up to a corner of the room where three cages with young african greys were located (all looking perfectly fine btw). She opened one of the cage doors, told me to go and have a scratch while she would help some other customers.
So there I was. No knowledge of parrots whatsoever. No experience. No guidance. Just me and a cage full of CAG's. So, silly me, I stuck my hand in the cage and started petting the first parrot in sight. Luckily that was one who wanted to be scratched and had walked up to the cagedoors. That parrot showed me more about how to handle and scratch a parrot than the owner of the store did.

[a.susz]

i ALWAYS tell people which bird will bite, who can be handled(the babies) etc. and 9 times out of 10 those few arrogant people will try to handle the ones who only like employees, or are just plain mean and they get bit. it is quite funny though, putting their-selves on a pedestal thinking "oh i can handle ANY bird" then the bite happens and they are pretty embarrassed. not that its the highlight of my days...

[Java]

Not for nothing, but I run my hands down Java's back constantly when petting her. she loves it. I don't see anything wrong with that except that maybe since this bird did not know this lady, probably was not the best thing to do right then in the store.

Why is running our hands down their backs bad or somehow wrong? I go from head all the way down to her tail, she loves it.

[HyperD]

My sennie allows me to stroke her back, she is not particularly fond of it but she allows it.


The only thing I can think of is their wings are delicate and essential for their survival in the wild so they have evolved to not like them being messed with...

[Azure Hanyo]

Not for nothing, but I run my hands down Java's back constantly when petting her. she loves it. I don't see anything wrong with that except that maybe since this bird did not know this lady, probably was not the best thing to do right then in the store.

Why is running our hands down their backs bad or somehow wrong? I go from head all the way down to her tail, she loves it.

Touching a bird's back can be considered a "mating" behavior and make your bird think of you "in that way"... But really, if the birds is a one-person bird and bonded to you so well anyway, it doesn't matter. Just feel flattered that she lets you!