puffs and rubbing

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puffs and rubbing

why does my parrot puffs up and starts rubbing himself against my hands? he only does it with me and not the rest of the family? does he think i am his mother?

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puffs and rubbing

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Jan 18, 2012

Nice
by: Eva

I don't think I'd want to discourage this behavior. I think he's doing it because he regards you as his 'special' person. Sometimes its nice to be special :-)

Jul 17, 2011

Same
by: BebeQuakerLover

My bird does the same, And He puffs up and rubs on my shoulder or my hand?

Jul 16, 2011

puffs and rubbing
by: Linda

Tracie has said all that needs to be said, and I'll just jump in here and add a thought or two.

How do human children learn about correct, acceptible behaviors unless we TEACH them? How do human children learn limits without us as parents setting them? We also don't allow our dogs to run around all over the house pooping, peeing and tearing up everything in sight because we must set limits for good behaviors.

Your bird is no different and will remain the rough equivalent of a 4-5 year old human child all its life. You are the one to set limits for your bird, you are the one to teach it how to be a good birdy citizen. You are the parent in this case. This does not mean losing temper, yelling, screaming, hitting or any of that. What happens when we lose our tempers with our birds, animals or children is they tune us out and behaviors get worse. It takes a willingness to meet your child or pet halfway and start establishing some limits on what bird can and cannot do. If you don't do this now, your bird will be totally out of control once an older adult, and this is why parrots get moved around so much. People fail to train their birds as they should and then once out of control, they say, "I need to get rid of this troublesome bird because he/she is SO bad". When a good bird, ready to learn, goes bad, it is not the bird's fault, and it IS the human's fault for not teaching it manners and good behaviors over bad. This kind of failure means the difference between a happy parrot, dog, cat, child and an unhappy, dangerous one. Parents make the out of control children released on the world, and bird parents also make incorrigible birds as well. Think on these things and get professional help if needed, just get busy learning to train your bird so it is a happy, well adjusted member of your family. This takes lots of work and commitment.

Linda

Jul 15, 2011

Stop unwanted bird behavior
by: Tracie

To discourage the bird from doing this, you should first try saying something in a calm but firm voice, like nooooo, and then put the bird back in the cage or do something that the bird doesn't like. Wait a minute and pick the bird back up, and as soon as the bird starts to rub on you, just repeat the same actions.

The bird won't hate you, because you are still the sweet person he/she loves. Don't act mean or aggressive, just treat the bird like you would a 1 year old that doesn't understand that it can't play with something that will hurt it. Once the bird associates the rubbing with being put back in the cage, then it should stop doing this to you. It might rub it's perches etc., but at least it won't associate you with the place to do this.

We have some training articles on our Parrot Training page if you wish to learn more about replacing an unwanted behavior with a desired behavior.

Jul 15, 2011

stopping him!!!
by: Anonymous

How can i stop him from doing that without him hating me?

Jul 15, 2011

Bird stimulating itself
by: Tracie

Your bird is stimulating itself. You should discourage this behavior.

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