Socializing with little kids

[rjhammy]

Hello All:

 

I wanted to ask... how do you socialize your bird in reference to human contact with kids?

 

Ash is a very brave girl... she's very receptive to new objects, toys and people.

 

However... I don't have little kids and am not usually around them. The other day, I was getting the mail with Ash and a little boy about 10 years old asked politely if he could pet her. His parents are on the homeowner association board, so I kind of know them.

 

Although Ash is fairly receptive to people, I wasn't sure about kids. I'm not sure how to go about it. Any advice? I don't want Ash biting him. She's nice... but she's not always nice. And an unfamiliar hands reaching for her from nowhere is a big no-no. But I also didn't want to say "No, she bites" because I don't want him to get the wrong impression.

 

Yesterday... I armed myself with a grape (one of her faves) and thought he could give her a grape and watch her eat it instead of petting or holding her. She was too nervous to eat so he just stood there for a second and walked away.

 

Thoughts?

[chimaysmommy]

That's the same approach I've taken with our friends' kids...I'll allow them to give Chimay some sort of food treat but no petting or holding. I don't want to take the chance of Chimay biting them (even though he has yet to deliver a really good bite to date).

[dhorje]

It took me many months to get Koko to socialize with kids. But she would only socialize with them in the playground.

 

2 days ago while I was taking Koko out for a walk, a young kid came running to me wanting to pet Koko.

I warned him that Koko would bite. He didn't heed my warning and went to touch Koko's wing. Koko bit his thumb. It seemed to me Koko had given him a hard bite but the boy claimed it wasn't painful. I doubted that. I will be extra careful the next time not to allow kids to simply touch my Grey.

[Luvparrots]

I don't allow my young grandkids to pet my fids. So, of course, I wouldn't allow neighbor kids to do so either. There are a couple of neighbor teenagers, 14 and 17, who I allow to pet and feed my fids. They are very comfortable around my pets and are available in case of emergencies.

[danmcq]

As Parrot owners, we have a responsibility to our birds to ensure they feel safe and we have the responsibility to let strangers know that they can not pet or stick their hand up in our birds general area.

 

All people child or old are so driven to reach out and pet a dog or cat that they think if you have some other type of critter with you, the same petting is just normal. So thats their first action when they start to interact with our birds.

 

My opinion and policy with young children and strangers. Is to let them know up front that they are not to lift their hand towards my birds. This only results in one of two things, the bird becomes scared and either flies away or bites the threatening object.

 

Family and friends that our birds are used to have been granted some interaction privileges based upon the birds wishes, not the individuals. If my birds wish interaction, they will fly to that person or walk over to them. It is a flock atmosphere as you would see in the wild. Some birds are shunned, sometimes they play together and sometimes it's just a bad day and they want to be left alone.

 

I find it very interesting to sit back and observe these interactions and consider how flock based they are from the birds perspective.

 

One thing to always remember, new arrivals are never just openly welcomed into a Grey flock, if at all.

[kittykittykitty]

Dan is so right. We never leave Precious and Tiernin (my four year old gt gr daughter) alone together, but Precious will step up on command onto a perch for Tiernin. She talks to Precious. They will look at each other and interact that way. I have more trouble with adults who want to pet. I warn each time "She can bite and does." Usually that is enough. I really don't want people touching Precious beacuse I don't know when they washed their hands last. If it's family or friends I ask that they wash their hands first.

[judygram]

kittykittykitty wrote:

I really don't want people touching Precious beacuse I don't know when they washed their hands last. If it's family or friends I ask that they wash their hands first.

 

That is a very good point Howardine, we carry a lot of germs on our hands and you just never know, karma for that reminder.

 

 

Everyone should have hand santizer on hand.