What to do to stop Louie from going for the shoulder

[Guest jules420_91]

Hi everyone Louie is settling in very well. He seems very happy with us. He chats away says hi, hello & Louie when he feels like it. He is eating very well. He absolutely loves grated carrot & apple. The only issue we are having with him is keeping him off of our shoulders. He is getting very good at step up but regardless if we are holding is foot or not he makes a fly, dive or fall for the shoulder. She keep taking him off right away & saying "no shoulder" but he just doesn't want to give up. Our vet & breeder told us to keep him off of our shoulders & train him to sit happily on our hand or arm instead. Boy oh boy that is easier said than done. If anyone has any tips, tricks or advice please share. We don't like stressing him out but at the same time we want him to learn the rules. Aside from the shoulder fascination he is an absolute joy.

 

Julie, Greg, Pat, Tarzie & Louie

[Butttaxi]

I actually feel your pain I have the same problem with Rorschach... he is ok to sit on Davids arm but he HAS to be on my shoulder. WHen I get him to step up he will sit there for a second and you can feel him leaning to move up and then makes a run for it. I wish I could help, I hope someone else could add some options because It could help me too lol

[judygram]

The only way to keep them off your shoulder is to keep them from climbing up there in the first place, when he starts going for the shoulder put your other hand out to stop him, he will probably go over on that arm and continue for the shoulder but keep it up, you will have to do it hundreds of times but he will finally get the message he is not allowed there. If he flies to your head then put your arm up to divert him away so he cannot land there, after being swatted away a few times he will stop that too.

I do allow my grey to sit on my shoulder but only for short periods of time, she comes down when asked and doesn't bother my ears and face but some greys have a different personality that they want to bite or nibble what is close to them so they have to be denied shoulder priviledges, they have to be earned as it is not a given right.

If he is a young grey then he will more than likely want to be moving around a lot, its when they get mature they settle down and sit for longer periods of time and are content to just be nearby their flock members.

[Butttaxi]

I do try to stop Rorschach with my hand, the little bugger does hop over and now that he is more confident with flying he will fly up to my shoulder. I have been step up training again with me and he is getting better but still have a long way to go. Now when he sits with me I will sit him beside me on the couch and hand him a toy. This will keep him off my shoulder for a while until he gets curious and starts venturing over to one of the cats then I have to put him on his playstation or in his cage.

[Shelly Yokum]

If you have it on your hand or finger, simply hard the arm away from you, and bend your arm so that he would have to go down it. Birds want to be at the highest point and will not go down your arm. Hold your arm out so that can't grab onto clothing to climb up.

[munch]

Good luck! I gave up on that. First we heard that a bird on your shoulder is battling for control and such so in the beginning we were adamant about not letting her on our shoulders. But then we got to know her and read other opinions that a bird wants to be on the highest perch, she wants to be with us as a member of the flock, plain and simple reasons that were more true to her behavior. So she sits on my shoulder my when I first come home from work and cuddles with me (9 months and still cuddling!), i clean up a little, she hangs on my shoulders, and then i prepare her dinner- she watches and then off my shoulder when the food is placed in her cage. She had her shoulder time and i'm not forcing her off either, it's a mutual decision and she doesn't feel slighted by my kicking her off. She gets her shoulder time and the rest of the evening she is content with talking to me form her playstand.

[judygram]

Some greys can be allowed shoulder time and others cannot, if your grey is constantly going for the ears or any part of the face then you cannot allow them to shoulder sit for it is hard to observe their body language in that position but my Josey doesn't do that and she comes down when asked so she gets that priviledge.

[Butttaxi]

Exactly, it's not that I mind having Rorschach on my shoulder if he is being good but he likes to nip at my face and ears when the mood strikes and you really have no idea when it's coming. You can clearly tell it's a dominance thing with him because he does not do this to David and he has started flying to peoples heads and shoulders as they visit knowing they are afraid of him. My problem is I have to learn to take back the control and it is not going to be easy.

[Ray P]

Shoulder sitting is an agreement between bird and human and your bird should know the rules of good behavior.

Both my grey and zon are very good on the shoulder and you have to be comfortable with them there and to know that when you say step up they will.

Judygram gave you good advice and if you don`t want them on your shoulder just keep doing the blockade to your shoulder with a no.

[Dave007]

This is for people who have adolscent greys who sho a particular habit concernibg shoulders. As far as the grey goes, it's not a bad habit, it's a grey habit that some greys have and others don't. For those greys that do, no matter how sweet, kind, loveable, cute and adorable your grey is right now, if he gets the idea that he can go on your shoulder, I guarantee you that in the future, he will give you an absolutely free-of-charge lobe piercing for your next set of new earrings that you buy. If you wear a chain on your neck, they're able to snap and break it without even trying hard. They love shiny jewelry. This goes for your husband too because as far as ear lobes go, there is no sexual preference. They love skin ( neck, face, cheeks, ears and clothing). Another reason for not doing the shoulder thing is that if you use some sort of hair grooming item in your hair, they will get to it because they love to preen hair. If they do get to that cosmetic, they will swallow it and that's a no no. Another thing about the shoulder is that when it comes time that you don't want him there, they will give you a struggle when you try to catch him. They'll race over to the other shoulder and they might bite if you persist. They like heights. The way to prevent this is by completely stopping the bird from going up there. Not just part time, full time. When they're up on the shoulder and eventually see that you're annoyed and decide to take him off, they'll develop a habit of going from one shoulder to the other and they'll do it across the back of the shoulders. They can get away with this because they can see you but you can't see them.Many people start having a problem with birds being on the shoulder but it's only part time. Then it becomes full time and because people haven't done anything about it in the past it's more difficult now that the bird is more agile and very quick. Eventually, there's gonna be serious measures to get the bird off and that's when the biting of the hand an arm and fingers start. The bird is obstinent, doesn't wanna come off and will avoid being taken off. It's simply a trait of the grey that's finally coming out. It's a trait that wasn't there when the bird was very young and cuddly. Some people have absolutely no trouble with birds on the shoulders( that's their personality) but others have different personalities and it's extremely hard to train a bird to not like very attractive alluring things. A person who is new to owning a grey has no chance of teaching a grey to not do that.

[munch]

We did experience everythng Dave spoke about- Took used to go for the ears, but we were firm that it was not allowed and she does not do that anymore. She tried to run across our back to "hide" when it was to get off, but again, time to get down was time to get down. Now she listens. The thing I need to do is always is take off my earrings because that was one we could not teach her was off limits. Shiny=Gotta Have It so no more shiny, attractive stuff.

 

Of course Dave has been right about everything so we will probably have to repeat this training when she hits her adolescent years!

[Guest jules420_91]

Thank you Dave & everyone else for your replies. There are so many differing opinions when it comes to life with parrots sometimes it is difficult to know what the right thing for your own bird is. My son is the only one who wears an earring in the house. I know Louie is still a baby & we don't know what kind of an adult Grey he will be. I have had people say "he is a baby, if he feels safe on your shoulder, let him on your shoulder". Personally I don't want to give him the opportunity to bite any of us on the face/eye/neck/ear. Perhaps over time if he is as calm & gentle as he is now we will try the shoulder thing for a treat. Sometimes I feel like I am walking on a tight rope lol. I don't want to make any mistakes that will harm our relationship with our birds but at the same time I realize we need to set boundaries so they learn acceptable behaviour. Both of our birds bring so much joy into our lives.

 

Thanks again,

Julie, Greg, Pat, Tarzie & Louie

[Inky]

This is Newbie Inky. i went to Margate (on the English coast and two /two and half hour drive from London) to visit some baby greys. I just wanted to spend some time with one before mine arrives. Anyway, I was horrified at how the pet shop was treating them and raising them. They had told me the greys were 14 weeks but I could see that they were obviously older and so they eventually admitted that the Greys were 21 weeks. They had not been trained at all to step up, they were aggressive, their feathers looked dull and their eyes were so sad. They had been taken away from the mother as eggs and they had been clipped after 7 weeks. I then realised that I would never buy a parrot from these people. They also stated that they only fed their Greys seeds and not pellets nor much fruit. I was so upset I was tempted to buy the parrot just to give it a better life. Then I remembered the advice that I have been given on this forum, that it would be better for me to get a well adjusted baby.

 

Anyway, the reason I have posted this story here is not just to vent (thank you for letting me do so) but also because I noticed that since I was in a wheelchair the Greys were going for my head or shoulders. I could not get any of them to step up onto my hand. I therefore wonder if my CAG will try to dominate and perhaps will not listen to me because I will be lower down than my bird when I am in my wheelchair and the CAG is in his cage. Also the perches that I have seen are higher than me when sat in my wheelchair. Any advice anyone?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Inky

[Butttaxi]

Inky this is pretty much how Rorschach is, I am pretty short and I think this is part of the reason why he wants on my head/shoulder. I only see him do this with other people who are short like my friend who Rorschach has a crush on and little kids if over he will now fly to their heads. I can't really offer advice since I have this problem with my own fid but since this post has been created I have not let Rorschach perch on my shoulder at all and as soon as he tries I stop him or take him off. He still likes to perch on my head after a bath to preen which I am ok with because he isn't at my face and he just sits there preening.

[NikB]

When we got Echo he was used to sitting on shoulders but we were not used to this. We allowed it to begin with but then the ear nipping started - trying to be the dominant one. So we always made sure that if he flew to us we made our hands the highest point for him to land and immediately praised and treated with a seed or bit of nut. If he went to climb up to the shoulder we would say "no" in a firm but calm voice, either block him and get him to step up (followed by praise and treat) or if that didn't work put him back to his cage or stand and walked away. With consistency he soon got the message and now he never goes to our shoulders.

 

Greys love the attention so he didn't like being ignored. He did love all the praise and of course a little treat!

[Shelly Yokum]

Inky, A bird is going to go the highest point possible. It does NOT matter if your short or tall or even in a wheel chair. I have not seen a bird yet that won't at least try to get to my shoulder, it is just a bird thing. You don't have to put the perches up so high that you can't comfortably reach them, but if they are high and you go to the cage to get the bird out, it will come to you as you open the cage door. Birds adjust to you, just as you adjust to the bird. Some takes longer than others, but since you are getting one from a baby, it should be easy. Birds are smart little critters, it will recognize your handicap and understand.

I really think, that you are worried to much about your disables, just remember if there is a will, there is a way.

 

Yes, pet shops suck, they have no attachment to the pets, just a dollar sign.

[Inky]

Thanks Shelly. I guess that given I am newly disabled it's something that I can't help think about and I think that anyone who used to walk and now can't would feel the same. I'm just really trying to make sure that a Grey is for me and I'd rather ask these questions now than when I have finalised my purchase. I have been reading some of the replies that people have received before about height and whether it affects a Grey's behaviour and found a really useful article that basically supports your advice - Grey's do not link dominance with height.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. By the way I rang the pet shop to give them feed back and they absolutely did not care that I felt the birds were not being loved enough. As you say 'no attachment to the pets, just a [pound] sign.

[Guest jules420_91]

Inky Louie loves to sit on the highest perch on his play gym but still wants lovin' while he is up there. He is only 16 weeks old today but we have not noticed any aggression issues with allowing him on our shoulders or perching up high. I too have a permanent disability I am fortunate I am not in a wheelchair as of yet. I have no issue keeping up with Tarzie (WF Amazon) & Louie. They bring so much joy to my life. We just adore our baby Grey & as long as you are physically able to clean the cage or have someone to do it for you I see no reason why a Grey wouldn't be a good choice for you. Louie is an eating machine which also means he is a pooping machine. He is very affectionate, intelligent & entertaining I just don't know what I would do without him.

 

Julie, Greg, Tarzie & Louie.