How do you Cuddle your Grey?

[Big_Squishy]

I read all over that their greys love to cuddle. How exactly do you cuddle with your grey? how do you teach your grey to do that? I have seen birds that like to hang from their beaks, some that hang upside down, others that will lay on their backs in the crook of an arm. I know these things happen but how do you go about discovering what your bird will do without freaking them out or hurting yourself and them?? I would so love to be able to Cuddle with BoBo but am still not clear on what exactly everyone means by it?

 

JC

[siobha9]

Every grey is different really. I have one grey who will just about tolerate a head rub, if he is in the mood and only for as long as HE wants. Then I have another who will literally twist herself into knots to get rubbed. As you get to know Bobo you will recognise when he likes what you are doing, and when he'd rather you didnt! It wasnt really a case of teaching her to accept cuddles, but just experimenting and apologising when she obviously didnt like what I was doing. Its also a question of trust, nowadays, Liath trusts me to the point that she knows whatever I am doing will be nice 99.99% of the time, so she lets me try before she decides whether or not she likes it. But that was a LONG time coming. Maybe next year Oisin will let me cuddle him the same way (But I'm not going to hold my breath )

[lovemyGreys]

As Siobhan rightly said all greys react differently to physical contact.We all percieve "cuddles " differently, some greys may just enjoy a head scratch, others will allow you to stroke their wings, some like a little neck tickle, you will need to take it slow & see what your baby enjoys. A word of warning with slightly older birds,Long periods of cuddling and birdie back rubs can increase hormonal production and trigger sexually influenced behaviors. If your bird begins to make weird noises or contorts its body, it may have been sexually triggered. Put it on its perch or in the cage to “cool off.”

[judygram]

Siobhan and Tracy have just about said it all and each grey is different and after a while you will come to know what yours will allow and like by their actions and reactions, you'll learn their body language and when you understand that you have it made.

 

Josey likes neck scratches and she will allow me to touch her most anywhere and also she will sometimes let me get her body up against my neck for cuddles while I gently stroke her neck and back. I know when she gets older and sexually mature the back rubbing will be out, don't want her sexually frustrated, but for the time being there is no harm in it.

[Toni]

It may take time for the cuddling.Alcazar loves to cuddle for 20 minutes with neck scratches.I had him almost a year and he is now letting me pet his belly and under his wing and this has been going on like since May.Slowly rub on areas if he doesnt like it then try it like week later.

[Mel]

I must be lucky or just starting young enough. Our baby seems to love it all. I give head and neck scratches and pet along the wings. When I'm sitting I put him on my chest and he cuddles by my chest and neck. He is still awkward at stepping up but we are working on it. I allow him to be close to me chest for security when he is perched on my hand for balance. I do wonder though...do you just flip them over in your hand for a belly rub. It might be awkward for both of us but I'd love to try. Any advice how to go about that? I didn't realize back rubs could produce sexual frustrations in older birds. Though my macaw does act purely pleasured when cuddled at my neck for back rubs. What are signs of sexual frustrations? I was actually warned not to allow my macaw to tear up paper because it mimicked nesting/sexual behavior. Thanks.

[Raposa]

My Jenna does not like cuddling, except after a shower when she is wrapped up in a towel. Then she doesn't mind ~smiles~ but mostly she does not want to be physically messed with, she just wants to be near or on me all the time

[cdelatorrejr]

I've had my grey since 6 weeks, so I think this helps out but I believe it can be achieved with older greys also. My recipe was 1/2 part introduction and 1/2 part consistency. I've cuddled my grey in the crook of my neck early on. In fact, he wasn't too sure about this sentiment initially. I continued to practice this until he was accustomed to it. All the while, monitoring his stress level or mood. Now, when I come home from the office, I let him out of his cage, pick him up and he automatically nuzzles his head which is usually followed by me making a raspy, low hum showing contentment. Now I'm working on cradling him on his back in the palms of my hand. I started with him hanging upside down and me cupping him in my hands. I hope this helps and good luck!

[tabbytai]

My baby TAG, Dudley loves to cuddle but it only recently appeared! One day she just let me when I tried. Now she begs to have her head scratched. She'll put her head low and push it into your hand. So funny. Last night she snuggled up next to me on the couch with her head between me a pillow for about 20 minutes while I scratched her neck and petted her wings. I think the trick for us was patience. I tried, she said no, I tried again later. Now she thinks its great. I have only had her at my house for about a month but I have been working with her at the shop since may! Good luck.

[lovemyGreys]

Great stories everyone,make the most of the cuddles while their all still young, unfortunately some do grow out of the cuddly stage.

[jambo]

me and my partner brought a grey yesterday and he is already letting us touch his beak. we can stroke the back of his neck, his wings, and under his beak. the only thing he keeps doing is climbing up on our shoulder then onto our heads. do you no of anyway how to stop this. We don't mind him on our shoulder but not the head.

 

jambo n stacy

[Big_Squishy]

Our CAG is 6 months old, we have ad many changes since we bought him in May. I have always been told that it is better not to allow him on my sholder due to safety reasons. I to some extent agree with this however it seems to be where most birds want to be. BoBo will make every attempt to climb from my hand to my sholder that he can. I just offer the next hand and bring him back down. BoBo once on my sholder will try to get on my head as you describe here.

 

At this point the only reason BoBo is on my sholder is because he had a good enough grip with his beak and he was flapping his wings that for me to stop him in his effort could have hurt either him or me. Once he has settled I remove him from my sholder and place him in his cage or pertch. I wait about 10 to 15 minutes and then bring hime back out. BoBo seems to get the idea, if only for the best part of the rest of the day.

 

Another reason I believe our birds wish to get on our heads especially since they are so young is the instinct that the higher up they are the safer they feel.

 

I have more I will write about our expieriences with perches and BoBo being pertched up high and he new attitude towards us.

 

JC

[lovemyGreys]

If you reach up & offer your hand to your grey & at the same time repeat the command to "step up " to remove him from your head,im afraid they do tend to make a beeline for heads,just remove him every time he does it.

[judygram]

Josey used to try to get up on my head several times when I first brought her home and now she knows she does not go any higher than my shoulder. They do like getting to the highest point and unfortunately that is the top of our head. :blink: :laugh:

[nims]

Hi,

 

My CAG Indy likes to cuddle up in my lap in the evenings after dinner and before bed and she will happily sit there for hours!!! I have flipped her over and she has fallen her sleep on her back several times but she can bite if she is not in the mood!

 

I did not know older birds can be triggered and become sexually fustrated by the cuddling and back rubs. Thanks for the advice.

 

Nims

[lovemyGreys]

We aim to help Nims That's the great thing here we all learn from eachother.

[Ferduno]

Me and my partner bought our 18 week old grey last week and it loves everything rubs and cuddles etc. It likes to move up the arm and try to go onto the shoulder.

 

Repitition of the same commannds in a nice soft voice. putting your hand there as a block and patience and it should work. tapping and touching its beak with the associated command and will stop.

 

Ours will fly to our finger, but has strarted to try and land on my head. I am trying to stop this at the moment but haven't come up with any solutions just saying step down and put my finger across the breast and it always steps on. Would like to get it to stop flying to the head, especially when I am not looking at him, any Ideas guys and gals.

[wildmike556]

My 10 year old grey Rascal has become more and more cuddly over the past couple of months. She almost always loves head & neck scratches, but sometimes snuggle up to my neck when she's on my shoulder.

 

After I've given her some exercise by having her hold on to my finger and having her flap around the room she will often flip upside down on my finger so I can cradle her on her back, and she loves to have me scratch her neck. Sometimes she leans her head way back and closes her eyes, which makes me happy that she trusts me so much.

 

I have however heard the risks of getting a bird sexually confused with cuddling, and I'm always worried that I'm going to cuddle her too much. There have been a couple occasions where she has definitely been excited and she drops her wings and makes funny noises - I always either distract her or put her back in the cage for a while. However she usually only does this when I allow her to nibble on my ear a little bit... no idea why she likes that.

 

Normally when I cuddle her (and she doesn't object) she just acts very relaxed and content. Are there any signs other than what I described above that I should watch out for?

[lovemyGreys]

A lovely stroy Mike of an older grey who still enjoys her scratches & a cuddle She obviously trusts you to allow you to cradle her,sounds a very content lady you have there .Drooping of the wings & whimpering noises is definite one sign,also any type of nesting behaviour would indicate she is feeling hormonal.some greys will get moody, randomly aggressive, and just seems like they want nothing to do with you.You are doing the right by ignoring the behaviour.