allowing birds on your shoulder

[iraide8u]

I am not sure which forum to post this question on. So I appologize if you have seen this question on a different forum.

 

I hear different views about allowing your african grey on your shoulder. My sun conure sits on my shoulder all the time and loves it. Some people say the bird will dominate you. And some say they just love being closer to their human comapaion. Also how would you get him off your shoulder once you allow him to do so?

[danmcq]

Each Grey is different. Some can be trusted on the shoulder, some can't. My Grey is on our shoulders constantly.

 

Also, it has nothing to do with them becoming dominant. It has everything to do with trust and no biting up there. :-)

[judygram]

I have a sun conure that sits on my shoulder almost all of the time she is out of her cage and my grey sits there for short periods and she has always been allowed to shoulder sit because for one thing she will come down when I ask and she doesn't nip me or otherwise misbehave when there. As you get more familiar with your new grey and see more of the personality then you can make the choice to allow or not allow shoulder sitting as some just do not belong there.

[Dusty]

I am having the same thoughts about Dusty, as he is about 10 weeks old now he has become more confident in his footing and now tries to crawl up to my shoulder (although he cant really sit up on my shoulder by himself yet as he is still a bit unstable).

I have so far been gentle taking him off and bringing him to my chest again.

My Jardine parrot would always be on my shoulder, although he would give me a "manipulation" bite if I tried to take him off and he was still having fun with me. I dont think it was a sign of dominance at all, just a way to try and get his way.

[she]

I do allow Charlie on my shoulder but only when I am sure he is in a frame of mind to behave.As a general rule of thum I would say only let a grey on your shoulder if you can completely trust it.

[Luvparrots]

I don't allow my grey on my shoulder as she likes to nibble on my ear and that is a no no. I do let her sit on the back of my desk chair as she loves to preen my hair for me and that feels great!

[CheshireObi]

When Obi is in a sweeter mood and not being a butthead lol he likes to get up on my shoulder but then climbs straight up onto my head which is not ok with me, so normally when he does decide he wants to sit with me, he sits on the back of my chair or on his perch. Im not a huge fan of having him on my shoulder because he's very moody and I don't wanna be bitten badly.

[JillyBeanz]

I allow Harvey on my shoulder, but only because I can read his body language. I don't think for one minute that I can say "my Harvey wouldn't bite me" because of course he would. You have to be ultra confident of your bird's body language if you are going to allow it on your shoulder. They might be sweet at an early age and cuddle up, but that soon changes when they start asserting their authority. You have to start how you mean to go on though.

[Xtreme575]

Agreed with everyone above. I generally allow Paco onto my shoulder with some exceptions; never when he is on his harness, he'd take my arm off then, so I keep him perched on my hand; nor do I allow him on my shoulder while I'm cooking, I'm afraid he may hop somewhere he shouldn't... Also, I pay attention to dinner time, he eats at 8:30 on the dot, if I have him on my shoulder past then, I'm likely to face some aggression, he's hungy, I get crabby too!