is he testing me?

[Zero8]

im in the process of gaining trust with my grey aswell as learning not to fear his bites. what i started off doing was giving him a couple of monkey nuts (his favourite) then i went to giving him a peanut leading my fingers to go closer to his beak then half a peanut and now its quarter of a peanut i am now more calmer with him and he seems to accept it without trying to bite and his behaviour at times is when he goes for the peanut piece he stops sideways with his beak on my finger and stares at me for a few seconds then takes the peanut. so do you think he is testing me?

 

also what do you think should come next from the progress?

thanks

[Shelly Yokum]

I don't think he is testing you, as much as trying to see if he can trust you. Did you know that monkey nuts are not good for birds?

They easily mold and carry a fungus that can make your bird sick or worse. Main key is to just be patient. it takes time to earn a birds trust.

[DawL]

Where are you getting your peanuts? Are they for human consumption? Have you tried any other treat, like millet? That is a big hit in my house. Also, I agree with Shelly, it sounds to me like he is trying to see where your relationship stands. Just stay calm when he does this. If it were me, I would try and offer my hand for a step up, with my other hand holding the treat behind that one (where he can see it). Give him a chance to step up when you give the command, he may just do so because he wants the treat you have. Don't rush him into it, it may take several (maybe more) attempts. He will probably be apprehensive at first, but eventually he may surprise you.

[birdhouse]

It sounds like you're making some very good progress toward overcoming your fear of being bitten. So very good for you!

 

It also sounds like you may be fortunate that your fid is maybe more easy going than some. A lot, actually. lol Parrots need to be able to explore you w/their mouth to be certain that they can trust you. Most of the time, your fid will remain afraid of you to some degree if you won't allow it. Most of the time, that means that they're much more likely to bite.

 

You can be absolutely certain that your guy knows you're afraid. But so far he seems to be willing to work this out w/you. He seems to have figured out that it's ok to mouth you as long as you've got food in your hand. So he's using it to start getting to know you. This is where you're lucky. Most of them simply withdraw or get angry. Lots of greys won't continue to make the first advances.

 

So the next step seems to be about you're getting comfortable w/that beak. lol How comfortable would you be if I suggested you start to feed him peas, diced carrot or kernels of corn? Anything so small that he has to make contact to take it directly from between your fingers...?

 

Once you're really comfortable w/that you might start to rub the top of his his beak. Lots of fids enjoy this. Their response is often to reach around & "grab" (hold, mouth) your finger. So you'll want to feel relatively able to handle that w/o flinching or yanking your hand away.

 

My other suggestion is to read as much as you can about body language. It really is the most important tool when it comes to communicating w/your fid. Generally, the more a parront understands their fid's body language, the more confident they are around them. The more confident the parront, the more at ease the fid. So there's generally less miscommunication that can lead to so many behavior problems such as biting.

 

Please let us know if you need any other suggestions. Or if you just want to share how things are going; good or bad. But like I said, so far, it sounds pretty good. It really does sound like you two are heading in the right direction. :cool:

[zandralouw]

Hi there.. I cannot say if he testing you, what I can say, is that my Charlie is doing the same... so it might just be something that they do. Charlie is 5 years now and I bought him about 4 weeks ago... I am also learning to earn his trust, and I know that it can be frustrating cause they are so adorable that you just want so squeeze them.. I am quite eager to go to the next step and the next step and the next step... but what I have learned is to be patient and he will trust you when he is ready.

 

Good Luck

Zandra