Puck
New member
- Mar 8, 2015
- 802
- 4
Man I feel like I am starting way too many threads asking questions, LOL, but it has been a few years since I have had birds, and I find myself coming across so many questions!
So I have been thinking that when I move my hand to Sammy's head like I am going to give him scratches and he raises his head and opens his beak that he was about to bite so I would stop moving my hand forward and just hover so as not to enter his personal space against his will. However, he has learned to say "step up!" when he wants my attention or wants to play (because obviously those words mean "play time" rather than "climb on my hand," LOL!). So I was just trying to hover my hand in the air to get him used to it near his head (he has been letting me cup his body with my hands for treats, something he wouldn't let me do at all before) and he grabs my finger lightly in his beaks and holds it--lightly--then begins to tongue it. I lightly pull and he releases, and as I start to take my hand away he says "step up!!!" like he was playing a game. So I am wondering... am I confusing his body language? Mistaking him wanting to play with my hand for aggression? It just seemed really strange to me. I saw him get REALLY aggressive when some idiot working at the Petsmart decided to shove his hand in Sammy's face without warning when he was already freaked out about his first ever trip to the store, and it didn't look like he looks when I put my hand near his head. So now I am wondering if what I was thinking of as the "about to bite" look was really the "about to beak you like the big baby I am" look. I am reading everything I can about bird body language and just ordered Barbara Heindreich's DVD on it, and I usually feel like I get what he's trying to tell me, but sometimes it's just so difficult to read!!!
So I have been thinking that when I move my hand to Sammy's head like I am going to give him scratches and he raises his head and opens his beak that he was about to bite so I would stop moving my hand forward and just hover so as not to enter his personal space against his will. However, he has learned to say "step up!" when he wants my attention or wants to play (because obviously those words mean "play time" rather than "climb on my hand," LOL!). So I was just trying to hover my hand in the air to get him used to it near his head (he has been letting me cup his body with my hands for treats, something he wouldn't let me do at all before) and he grabs my finger lightly in his beaks and holds it--lightly--then begins to tongue it. I lightly pull and he releases, and as I start to take my hand away he says "step up!!!" like he was playing a game. So I am wondering... am I confusing his body language? Mistaking him wanting to play with my hand for aggression? It just seemed really strange to me. I saw him get REALLY aggressive when some idiot working at the Petsmart decided to shove his hand in Sammy's face without warning when he was already freaked out about his first ever trip to the store, and it didn't look like he looks when I put my hand near his head. So now I am wondering if what I was thinking of as the "about to bite" look was really the "about to beak you like the big baby I am" look. I am reading everything I can about bird body language and just ordered Barbara Heindreich's DVD on it, and I usually feel like I get what he's trying to tell me, but sometimes it's just so difficult to read!!!