Is this a good idea?

My alex loves/hates my phone. I'm not really sure which emotion it is, but every time it's out he heads straight for it and wants to chew on it. I've tried training him not to but I've resorted to keeping it out of sight from him.

Today I was too tired to keep him away so I let him put his beak on it, yanking the phone around so he could never get a hold of it. While I was doing this, he let me pet him with my hands (usually I can only use my face/nose/mouth/feet to touch him). In fact, he let me place my whole hand around him, lift up his wings, and flip him upside down where he stayed that way playing with the phone.

I would slowly take the phone away, and he would get annoyed with my hand being on him/above his eye level, to which I would reintroduce the phone. I repeated this, making the intervals longer where he didn't have the phone. I did this to the point where I had him on his back snuggling for 2-3 minutes without the phone.

I'd like to think if I keep this up he'll want to do this more often without the phone, but I don't know if I'm going about this the right way. He's not very motivated in trick training, he'll always want food but doesn't care to try for it. The phone is one of the few things I actually see him get excited about, the other things being his reflection, me waking up, and my computer keyboard. Eventually I would love to use the phone as motivation for harness training (I've had disastrous results in the past).

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

He loves the phone and your key board because you do. Try buying a babies phone and you play with it like its the most wonderful thing in the world. When he wants a turn let him, but you keep playing with it from time to time. The only way for me to talk on the phone is to give my TAG his phone so we "talk" at the same time.

Oh, I guess I wasn't clear, I'm not trying to get him to leave the phone alone, rather I'm trying to get him used to having hands touch him.

Yeah agreed, youre the dominant one so the bird thinks that whatever you have is gonna be the best thing.

Shellys idea is solid, buy a cheap little toy phone or something, maybe the kind that comes with candy inside (they still make those? haha) and let him mess around with it after he sees you with it for a while.

I think its the "attention" you show the phone rather than the phone

My birds get really upset with keyboards - same thing.

Mind you, those phones have the perfect crunchiness..

Please don't put the word "dominance" in your vocabulary in regards to birds... it will cause more harm than good.

A reward can be *anything* the bird enjoys! It doesn't have to be treats, it can be physical attention, off hands attention, verbal praise, an item, a toy, going places, etc! Treats are just easiest, but it's better to have a variety of rewards rather than one or two... that just might get boring after a while! If you aren't concerned about your phone potentially getting destroyed, then by all means, go for it! And perhaps, in time, phase out the phone completely and find something just as rewarding as the phone, if not more so!

Bert doesn't like hands and is the same, I can touch him with my lips or he sits anywhere on me happy as Larry as long as there are no fingers involved, he's been like that since I brought him home (I bought him from a pet shop so I assumed maybe he didn't appreciate people sticking fingers in his cage).
But I figured out he doesn't mind me touching and patting him as long as he is busy chewing something he is fascinated with! Bert loves my phone too (he really loves chewing anything he knows he shouldn't)
Silly thing is that, I know he loves being scratched so when ever I can trick him in to patting, he loves it! He fluffs up and falls asleep!
So I would go with whatever works for you, if you can use his curiosity to your advantage then go for it!
Bert is exactly the same with training, if he has to try for a delicious treat then it's too hard. He will literally stretch himself as far as he can (sometimes falling over in the process) before taking a step or two to get a treat!

Mchal said:

Bert doesn't like hands and is the same, I can touch him with my lips or he sits anywhere on me happy as Larry as long as there are no fingers involved, he's been like that since I brought him home (I bought him from a pet shop so I assumed maybe he didn't appreciate people sticking fingers in his cage).
But I figured out he doesn't mind me touching and patting him as long as he is busy chewing something he is fascinated with! Bert loves my phone too (he really loves chewing anything he knows he shouldn't)
Silly thing is that, I know he loves being scratched so when ever I can trick him in to patting, he loves it! He fluffs up and falls asleep!
So I would go with whatever works for you, if you can use his curiosity to your advantage then go for it!
Bert is exactly the same with training, if he has to try for a delicious treat then it's too hard. He will literally stretch himself as far as he can (sometimes falling over in the process) before taking a step or two to get a treat!

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I'm working with a similar bird, although she did not come from a pet store. She loves scritches, but is otherwise hands off. Does not like hands/arms and will bite/avoid them, loves food but will avoid stepping onto a hand/arm to receive said food, her cage is her security blanket and she doesn't like to leave it, or if she does, not for long. Getting her away from her cage is not easy on her own terms, unless you can convince her that a shoulder is a nice place to sit (for a short time).

I think someone tried to set her up as a breeder, but she clearly enjoys being around humans, even if she has an aversion to hands. She has only tried to fly off her cage once, and if she had her flights, I am sure she would have flown from it more often. As it is, she plummets to the ground, not having enough feathers to actually fly.

I feel that her being clipped is hindering her ability to warm up to people. It has taken away her choice and she becomes frustrated because she can't fly. I haven't had her very long, so progress is minimal at this point, and I hope she molts sooner rather than later.

About birds being hand-shy... A few years ago, my kids and I used to breed mice. It all started with a couple of rescues from an unspeakable petshop and this original pair was incredibly timid and very hand-shy. We discovered that mice will do *anything* for peanut butter and so I cured their nervousness very easily by sitting near the cage with my hand inside and a smear of peanut butter on each finger. It took, like, five minutes for the mice to come and taste and then ever after that, I could easily coax them onto my hand for cuddles.

I reckon the same might work for birdies. For example, my Beaks like honey as well as peanut butter (I found that out when they sneakily shared my sandwiches one day). Now, if I go to the pantry, they clamour for a taste of peanut butter or honey. (BTW, If I get the Vegemite, there's no interest shown whatsoever!) You could start by teaching the bird to lick honey from you finger through the cage. Then, graduate to putting your hand in the cage with honey (or PB). Wait for birdy to investigate and see what he does. Once birdy makes the connection between hands and nice stuff, he should be easier to handle. Theoretically.

Keep us posted, won't you? I'm so enjoying sharing all our birdy questions and learning clever solutions!

Well, I've made a little progress on the harness training.

What a clever boy Looks like he is having fun chewing

I actually find this a good idea, if merged with the ones above. I mean, nothing can harm your fid if you get him toys, and consider this a toy! But the only harm that can be caused is for you, in case your phone got ripped or anything. That's why you should consider getting a toy phone with similar feature, and again, consider it a toy like the ones you put in the cage.
You found your parrot's favourite toy, now I'll have to find mine's !