Shoulder birds

[danmcq]

Hi Shanlung,

 

Thanks for posting the link with great information.

 

It's always a pleasure when you post! :laugh:

 

Your website is very unique with obvious love, attention and detail to every facet of it that you have pored heart and soul in to.

 

Visit us more often :laugh:

[danmcq]

With Dayo here climbing all over us yesterday, one spot he visited was the shoulder on both my wife and I.

 

Not for long grant you, because you must keep him from playing with the funny fleshy appendages sticking temptingly out. He really likes the Bling-Bling (earrings) of which my Wife found out in short order :ohmy:

 

Thankfully due to Talons :laugh: first hand expert experience, my wife quickly got control of the situation and removed Dayo back down to her arm.

 

Dayo would mainly explore gently nibbling hair, cheeks and neck, but he grabbed my ear pretty good once in which I had to use a finger on each side of his beak and pry it open while saying no-no-no in a calm voice.

 

As, you know, I think the risk is great, but yesterday I did enjoy walking around with him perched on my shoulder while he stood guard for the Dobies :woohoo:

 

But, I am VERY conscious of going slow and making sure he does not lose balance.....my ear or other facial appendage is not a perch to be grabbed full force to save himself :woohoo: That, is my worst fear..... :ohmy:

[judygram]

You make a very good point there Dan, when you walk or move around he is going to grab whatever is handy, the ear perhaps, to not lose his balance. Especially at a young age this is more likely to happen, but Josey is more confident now and if she feels like she needs to grab onto something she tends to grab onto my shirt to steady herself or pull herself back up on my shoulder. Mind you, she does not spend hours a day there like my sun conure does, its more like for maybe 30 minutes a day. But yes it only takes a second for them to bite but so far so good and I don't wear earrings at home anyway. They do love the bling so I avoid it.

 

But the more time you spend with Dayo, you will get a feel for his temperment and disposition and you can make a decision whether or not to allow him on your shoulder, but if you are not comfortable with it then Dayo may pick up on that and it may be the best to keep him off. You will know your bird better than anyone else, so you make the call. No one, including me, will criticize you for whatever decision you make regarding shouldering.

[Guest Lidia]

Dan,

Try wearing something that he can easily grip, nothing tight. A soft teeshirt or sweatshirt. Joshua, if I am moving, grabs a bundle of material in one foot for extra grip. If he is secure on your shoulder, he won't need your ear.

:kiss:

[danmcq]

Thanks Judy and Lidia for your informative and helpful replies.

 

I did have a T-Shirt on, but Dayo is just to young with very limited balance at this point as Judy pointed out.

 

Maybe I'll put a little saddle on my shoulder for Dayo to ride

 

Yeeeee Haaaaaw !! Gidee up walking tree!! :woohoo:

[judygram]

If you do get a saddle for Dayo, be sure to post a pic of that, I would roll around on the floor laughing at that, what an image in my mind right now.:woohoo: :laugh: :woohoo:

 

When I am at home I wear old t-shirts for obvious reasons, they like to chew on them to, so they will get to looking ratty after a while.

[danmcq]

Judy - Glad I finally got to return the Laugh!

 

IF, I figure out how build one or purchase a mini saddle, I will definitely post the picture.

 

I was telling Kim earlier, in place of the saddle horn, will be a mini perch for him to hang on to with his Beak.

 

The T-Shirt for Dayo is a must, I have one already that he claimed by chewing a few holes and of course relieving himself :ohmy: which is normal :laugh:

[judygram]

Got any more laughs, of course I can give you a laugh, just check out the thread, Submit a photo, and you can have a good one, I just posted my pic there.:pinch:

 

I have quite a few that are evident of having birds in the house, I'm sure your collection will grow also.:dry:

[danmcq]

Your Pic is Great!

 

Yes, guess I better go buy a 5 pack of cheap t-shirts :laugh:

[judygram]

I didn't need to buy a bunch of T-shirts, I already have drawers full of them, thats the only thing I wear when I am home, of course with pants, shorts and such, you know what I mean.:lol: :ohmy: :laugh:

[danmcq]

Judy - Your Drawers are full of T-Shirts?

 

LOL - Yes I know what you meant, thanks for the morning laugh again :woohoo:

[Guest Lidia]

I too have an entire collection of clothes I wear at home that have gradually been reduced to rubble by Joshua. All my 'house' teeshirts have holes bitten in them, trousers and pyjamas likewise. Things that I cannot wear around the house are:

 

Anything I want to be able to wear in public.

Anything with buttons.

Anything with zips.

Anything with toggles.

Anything with pockets.

Anything with decorations.

Anything with beads.

Jewellery.

Anything red (apparently like a red rag to a parrot).

 

Joshua, like all the rest of the birds on this forum, is a chewer by nature. He is an unstoppable chewing force. This morning, when my back was turned, he tried to chew his way into my sewing machine via its wooden cover.

 

:whistle:

[danmcq]

Thanks Lidia -

 

Looks like I need to purchase some more clothes to wear around Dayo.....most of my clothes have one or more of the above listed Items :laugh:

[judygram]

I'm telling you Dan, T-shirts fit the bill, cheap, easy to wash, no decorations and when they are not fit for wearing, they make great rags, you can't beat that.

 

Thanks Lidia for the list of not wearables, everyone paste this up for future reference.:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Guest Lidia]

Oh, gosh, I forgot, a second pair of glasses to wear at home. I have a good pair and a chewed up pair that Joshua likes to dangle off (by his feet).

It's actually quite impressive how he does this, he lunges forward from my shoulder, grabs the specs with one foot and dangles.

[judygram]

Lidia I would think if you are wearing the glasses at the time he does that aren't you worried his talons may end up in your eye, I know I would. I have to take my reading glasses off if I have Josey on my shoulder, she wants to chew them up.

 

Lidia, why don't you get someone to take a picture of him hanging off your glasses sometime, that would be funny to see, could be a future contest winner.:woohoo:

[tatee]

So this TAG just adopted us yesterday and I have NEVER owned a bird. I am researching frantically but this kinda scares me. She is SUPER gentle, so far, but LOVES our shoulders. How do I make her stop?

[danmcq]

You can stop her from climbing up your Arm for example, by simply holding her on your hand held horizontal with your arm bent at the elbow at a 90 degree angle. Which means she would need to climb down your forearm to get towards your shoulder. They will normally only walk along your arm if it is flat towards your shoulder.

 

Also, if your arm is flat and she starts to walk towards your shoulder, simply place your other hand to block her path to your shoulder.

 

As gentle as this Grey seems, you are probably not in danger, but should just use common sense and be cautious when she is on your shoulder.

 

She sure sounds like a will behaved and gentle Girl to be interacting with you and your family the way you have described!

 

Others here will also chime in with there great advise and opinions :-)

[Guest Lidia]

judygram wrote:

Lidia I would think if you are wearing the glasses at the time he does that aren't you worried his talons may end up in your eye,

 

Yes, I am wearing the glasses when he does it, and no, he seems to know what he's doing. He grips them at the arm, not in front of my face. His object is to make me pick him up with the glasses while he dangles from them.

 

I would LOVE to get it on film (and a couple of other things), but his party tricks stop when the camera comes out.

 

He does, for example, the most splendid dismount from the shower rail every morning and I have tried and tried to get him to do it on camera, to no avail. I will keep trying.

{Feel-good-00020114}

[tatee]

I really do not want to sound cocky, but I think, with your advise, I have stopped her from the shoulder sitting. She will not even try anymore, after just less than a day of "teaching" her. She has gotten up there since then, but will come right down when I tell her to. I just worry that since I have little kids and they all hold her as much as I do, that something could happen to them. I think consistancy between caregivers is a must with kids so apply it to the bird, right?

 

Thank you so much for the advise, I will update my "about me" in the profile if anyone is interested in our "unique" situation.

 

Lisa

[danmcq]

Hi Lisa,

 

Thanks for the update on your new adopted ;-) TAG.

 

That is one bright fellow you have there to learn so quickly that shoulders are not acceptable to you.

 

You are absolutely right, consistency is the key.

[judygram]

Lisa, please do post in the thread, "about me", we would love to hear your unique story.

 

You may be right about the shoulder sitting in your situation with young kids, she could get startled and bite one of them bad enough to leave a scar and I know you don't want that.

[danmcq]

Well, two weeks into Dayo being home and he is a very polite shoulder sitter. :-)

 

He gently nibbles the ear, preens the hair and tries to help my new stubby neck hairs blossom into feathers by trying to pull the sheath off. ;-)

 

I have noticed though, that I must take him down purposefully every so often and make him stay on my Arm. He was getting to where he would get right in the middle of my back when I tried to get him down.

 

To solve this after a couple of tries at getting him off and him running to the far side from my hand. I finally just started dumping him when he did this.

 

What I mean by dumping is, if he runs from my hand, I bend over until he just falls or flies off my neck. Mind you, I do this at a speed that he does not have time to GRAB my shirt or fleshly appendage to stay where he is. :woohoo:

 

After just a couple of times doing this, when I put my hand up to get him down, he either lowers his head for a neck scratch (hoping to prolong his stay) or simply steps up.

 

Just thought I would pass on what works for me and Dayo with this issue of him wanting to stay up on the shoulder. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/08/18 15:18

[lovemyGreys]

Dayo sounds cheeky like mine Dan going to the middle of the back & they know they are out of reach !

As long as birds step up off the shoulder when asked i don't see a problem, they love to ride around & watch the world go by

My only problem is i have 3 & they all want to ride & i only have two shoulders, so one usually ends up on my head :laugh:

[Tari]

Glad you found something that works with your bird. With mine I have to take my shirt off. So I just dont let Que up there anymore.