African Grey Congo stopped allowing head scratches

[MaggieOwner]

Hello

We just adopted 18 month old African Grey Congo - Maggie. She is very young smart and sweet. First week went very well, great progress - she allows herself to be petted, and asks to scratch her neck. My wife did daily training tricks with her and progressed well. They cuddled in the evening for 30-60 minutes, lots of neck scratches etc. It was really great.
But then suddenly something changed, and parrot doesn't allow my wife to scratch her neck, but allows me to do it. Maggie though does fine training with my wife, sits with her on the bed watching tv, but still doesn't let her come close to her neck. It is unclear what really happened, there was one instance when my wife disciplined parrot with the finger on the beak, but parrot allowed scratches after. So we have no idea what happened after that parrot reacted to.

My wife is very upset and frustrated. She tried to win back the trust by spending more time with the parrot, being very positive, and giving her treats, but parrot still doesn't allow her to scratch her neck, but allows me in exactly the same place and situation. Also when my wife comes to her perch parrot tries to walk away.

We have no idea what to do, and are totally lost.

Could you please advise on how to get back parrot's trust and so my wife and parrot can truly enjoy each other company.

 

[SailBoat]

Consider just stepping back a bit. Head scratches can be connected to need or want separately. You may be providing a style of head scratching that just a bit more to your Grey's liking and fulfilling your Grey's need at the current moment.

Where the other time spent with your wife is fulfilling another want /need. Better to accept what your Grey likes and live life understanding that Grey's can be choosey. Point being, everything can switch the other direction 8 months from now.

Welcome to the shifting World of Grey's.

All based on listening to Friends discuss life realities of living with Grey's.

 

[texsize]

I had the same thing happen with my grey Bella.
After first bringing her home she accepted scratches from all members of family.
This lasted until she hit puberty (or puberty hit her).
Only my wife is allowed neck/head scratching privilege's.
Bella acts like she wants a scratch from me then quickly changes her mind and try's to bite me.
She is well behaved otherwise, I can pick her up, carry her around, or let her ride my shoulder.

I can only hope she will return to normal once she has gone through puberty.