I think I created a monster..

[AmyMyBlueFront]

..this little guy is obsessed with my computer desk as soon as he see's it he jumps from my hand and just explores every nook and cranny on it. Of course I move/take off things that would be dangerous for him but he has having the time of his life. Beaking ANYTHING he can,and if I put him back on my shoulder,the little so-and-so is right back at it.

He enjoys running across the key board..chewing the buttons..wires on the mouse..my telephone..he knocks over my BP bottle to roll it around0 then throw it on the floor. Paper sticking out of my printer is his to tear up,so he thinks..he trys to "hang" from my monitor base then flap his arms wildly...and if I shoo him away,he now is getting nervy enough to fight with my fingers..my water bottle is his..car keysmki++
All of my typing errors you can thank him for :54:

ARGGGGH! Get o.f+f
of my keyb0oard!

Jim

 

[Tropical]

I know what you mean. Coconut is OBSESSED with my laptop... my new very expensive ultrabook actually

He makes a mad rush for it ALL THE TIME

I'm now no longer letting him anywhere near it lol... hopefully he will get the hint. You should see what Rascal did to my old netbook whe he was a baby.... tore out all the keys when I turned my back.

 

[Scott]

Its all part of the "make the human pick stuff up" or "clean stuff up" game they LOVE to play!!

 

[SilverSage]

So my desk has a shelf on it. On the top shelf I have bird play gym, sea grass mat, foraging toys, etc. The birds are allowed to play on it when I am working. Of course, they want to eat my gadgets, and they hop down to get them. I simply scoop them up immediately and set them back in the bird area. I pick them up around the body rather than having them step up. In fact, I am doing this EXACT thing with Nohea right now. The cycle repeats about ever 15 seconds. You have to do it consistently 923472093 times which can be maddening, but it saves a lot of money and danger in the long run.

 

[Tropical]

So my desk has a shelf on it. On the top shelf I have bird play gym, sea grass mat, foraging toys, etc. The birds are allowed to play on it when I am working. Of course, they want to eat my gadgets, and they hop down to get them. I simply scoop them up immediately and set them back in the bird area. I pick them up around the body rather than having them step up. In fact, I am doing this EXACT thing with Nohea right now. The cycle repeats about ever 15 seconds. You have to do it consistently 923472093 times which can be maddening, but it saves a lot of money and danger in the long run.

Interesting... I never thought of picking them up by the body instead of allowing them to step up when they are somewhere they aren't supposed to be. Tiels hate to be picked up by the body... I'm going to do that from now on when Rascal jumps on the floor because I don't want to allow him on the floor... too high risk of getting stepped on. Maybe then Rascal will finally STOP jumping on the floor lol

 

[SilverSage]

The reason I do it by the body is so there is a clear connection. Bird hops down, bird gets moved. No chance for them to associate hopping down with stepping up, or stepping up with being put farther away. I don't do it angerly or harshly, just matter-o-factly. Birds are not allowed on the tech. But, I should mention that I teach my birds to be handled in that way from a young age. I manhandle my whole flock so that when the time comes that they need to be grabbed and I don't have the time for stubbornness (such as a house fire or other disaster) as well as vet visits, wing and nail trims, harnessing, etc, it's all in a normal day for them. If your bird fears being picked up around his body, you may want to come up with a different method. It shouldn't be a punishment, simply a repeated action that gives their big birdy brains a chance to realize that trying to get the keyboard is pointless.

 

[Tropical]

The reason I do it by the body is so there is a clear connection. Bird hops down, bird gets moved. No chance for them to associate hopping down with stepping up, or stepping up with being put farther away. I don't do it angerly or harshly, just matter-o-factly. Birds are not allowed on the tech. But, I should mention that I teach my birds to be handled in that way from a young age. I manhandle my whole flock so that when the time comes that they need to be grabbed and I don't have the time for stubbornness (such as a house fire or other disaster) as well as vet visits, wing and nail trims, harnessing, etc, it's all in a normal day for them. If your bird fears being picked up around his body, you may want to come up with a different method. It shouldn't be a punishment, simply a repeated action that gives their big birdy brains a chance to realize that trying to get the keyboard is pointless.

I'm going to start picking Coconut up by his body several times a day so he gets used to it... I've also been petting him under his wings. Rascal gets FURIOUS when I pick him up by the body or touch his wigs (unless he is in a singing trance then I can do anything). I don't want Coconut to turn out to be like Rascal!!

... so I'm going to start man handling Coconut more... he is such a sweet gentle bird and is still a baby so I want him to get used to being touched so he stays that way (eeeeww... that kind of doesn't sound right!) LOL

Eventually I am going to start putting the diapered flightsuit on Coconut... so he can come places with me like Rascal does all the time. So he needs to get used to me touching his wings... Rascal is a nightmare with that.

 

[Tropical]

The reason I do it by the body is so there is a clear connection. Bird hops down, bird gets moved. No chance for them to associate hopping down with stepping up, or stepping up with being put farther away. I don't do it angerly or harshly, just matter-o-factly. Birds are not allowed on the tech. But, I should mention that I teach my birds to be handled in that way from a young age. I manhandle my whole flock so that when the time comes that they need to be grabbed and I don't have the time for stubbornness (such as a house fire or other disaster) as well as vet visits, wing and nail trims, harnessing, etc, it's all in a normal day for them. If your bird fears being picked up around his body, you may want to come up with a different method. It shouldn't be a punishment, simply a repeated action that gives their big birdy brains a chance to realize that trying to get the keyboard is pointless.

I forgot to ask... are you able to pick up your tiel by the body and also lift his wings without him caring about it? I know this is MUCH easier with conures than tiels as tiels hate being handled in that way unlike conures. I'm scared to keep trying this as I don't want to have Coconut start getting "scared" of me since I've only had him very short time... I'm second guessing whether I even care if I can pick them up by the body or not since tiels hate it so much. Only thing that is important to me is that can cup my hand around him and lift his wings... I don't need to be picking birds up by their bodies.... unless the buggers jump on the floor where they are not allowed to be.

 

[SilverSage]

I don't have a problem doing this with any of my birds including my cockatiels. I believe it is less a question of species and more a question of training. Conures tend to be more snuggly, but even a cockatiel should learn to be handled without fear.


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[BeatriceC]

Not a 'tiel, but this is my Senegal's favorite place to land. I have won the most recent battle of wills, but I'm sure he'll start another one soon.

 

[Tropical]

I don't have a problem doing this with any of my birds including my cockatiels. I believe it is less a question of species and more a question of training. Conures tend to be more snuggly, but even a cockatiel should learn to be handled without fear.


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You will never get a tiel to lay on its back (actually Im sure you could eventually but it would be MUCH MUCH more diffcult than getting a conure to lay on its back).. but you will never get a tiel roll over or have its bell rubbed when it lays on its back... I feel it is a species issue. Tiels simply do not like to be handled in the way conures do... sure you can pick tiel up by grabbing it but you cannot deny there is a species specific issue.... conures do all this naturally. It is far too against the nature of a tiel.

 

[SilverSage]

There is a difference true, but my tiels don't mind being held on their backs, having wings extended, etc. of course the two species are different, but my point is that my birds are handled and socialized in such s way that me picking them up by their bodies is not some sort of punishment for them.


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[Tropical]

There is a difference true, but my tiels don't mind being held on their backs, having wings extended, etc. of course the two species are different, but my point is that my birds are handled and socialized in such s way that me picking them up by their bodies is not some sort of punishment for them.


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I'm working on Coconut letting me lift and open his wings... I don't want him to end up like Rascal. I regret not man handling Rascal a lot more when he was much younger. How do you do it? I mean with tiels... do you just regularly lift up and open one wing at a time while the tiel perches on your finger? I usually do it when Coconut is preening then he allows me to lift the wing and slightly open it.

 

[SilverSage]

It just sort of depends on the bird. I have an advantage in this area because I start in the nest. I routinely hold out their wings, and tons of other stuff. I typically hold them around the body in one hand and mess with the wing with the other hand, but it isn't something I practice a lot since I'm able to do it so early. My general desire is that they be able to be given medical treatment without panicking


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[Tropical]

It just sort of depends on the bird. I have an advantage in this area because I start in the nest. I routinely hold out their wings, and tons of other stuff. I typically hold them around the body in one hand and mess with the wing with the other hand, but it isn't something I practice a lot since I'm able to do it so early. My general desire is that they be able to be given medical treatment without panicking


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You are lucky to be able to do it so early... I wish Coconut's breeder had started doing this but by the time I got Coconut he's definitely not used to it all all. I guess I will just have to keep trying every day. He's potty trained and doing great with that at least

What I really wish is the breeder could have started putting the flightsuit on him... I know some breeders will start getting the baby birds to wear it a little to get them used to it. I want to be able to take Coconut with me to places like Rascal does. Rascal has been wearing the flight suit for almost 4 years (only when he goes out with me) but he still hate the suit lol... but he knows once it's on he's going on an adventure and then he's happy.

 

[SilverSage]

I honestly get frustrated that breeders don't do both of these things. I think both should be standard operating procedure. As your bond grows just keep taking things one step farther at a time and you will get there


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[Tropical]

I honestly get frustrated that breeders don't do both of these things. I think both should be standard operating procedure. As your bond grows just keep taking things one step farther at a time and you will get there


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Totally agree. I have to confess though that I totally screwed up Rascal as I didn't have the patience to get him used to the flight suit and ever since he has been terrified of the flight suit, my bad. I have Coconut very used to being around the flight suit as I pinned it on my shirt and soon I will start petting him with the flight suit so he knows it's not harmful but I have a feeling it's going to be a project getting it on him LOL

Right now Coconut thinks the flightsuit is a toy...

 

[Blancaej]

My Quincy would tear out every key on my laptop if he could. So when he climbs down my arm toward the keyboard he goes back up on my shoulder! LOL!

 

[wrench13]

That's why I use a tablet, with the keyboard on the screen. The one time I let Salty on my keyboard at work, he ripped a key off in 30 seconds. They must make the keys with peanut oil or somehing, every parrot wants to start cracking them open. Oh and forget about voice input, when I do that, it's exactly when Salty figures it time for singing and talking lessons, and yes the tablet has no problem trying to type his ranting. Imagine trying to write an email ' dear Mr so&so, the mercury level of your Hello, Hello, Hello, good boy good boy good boy is affecting the yield on your ... oh crap Salty !!!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Sage, and others... I would love to try picking the Rickeybird by the body, but I worry he'd twist his stretchy little neck around and bite me!

Maybe I can get my husband to try it...