Anyone have any thoughts on how to pet or cuddle an Amazon ?

[BIRDIGIRL]

Well it seems since Mr Biggles arrived Im learning something new every day about Amazons in general and Mr Biggles in particular. I found this video today and learned why Mr Biggles started to nip me the other day...yes I was un invitedly stroking him in spots he did not want stroked like his breast ( because I could quickly sneak my finger up there while his beak was occupued with a treat). Now bearing in mind that Mr Biggles does not understand the word cuddle like the parrot in the video nor indeed to my knowledge has he ever been petted or cuddled by a human, how do I begin to go about this process of stroking him. I already stroke his beak when he permits me to but I have not managed to progress any farther. He bows down his head as if he would like a scritch but when I go to give the scritch he turns to nip. So anyone have any ideas on how I progress on this matter or even if it is appropriate for me to continnue to try to stroke him at this particular time as he has only been with me for just under 3 months now and prior to that appears to have been an aviary bird. Any thoughts you might have on this are greatly appreciated. Im including the youtube video I found on how to pet an Amazon.
[ame="https://youtu.be/wnAFbx0M2gw"]How to Pet an Amazon Parrot - YouTube[/ame]

 

[JerseyWendy]

I would continue working on the neck scritches when Mr. Biggles bows his head and ruffles up his feathers. Of course stop as soon as he goes to bite. I believe he has yet to find out how good it will make him feel if he'd let you stroke his neck.

Once he allows you to touch his neck, even if only for a very brief period of time without nipping - STOP. That will (hopefully) leave him wanting more. So the next time he offers his neck, he 'should' allow you to do it a bit longer. But always stop long before he's had enough.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Thanks Wendy for the helpful advice. Peter Pan my quaker is not much help when learning what birds like and dont like as she enjoys being touched and scritched just about everywhere. Shes one of those real cuddly types but Mr Biggles is different. Roger my boy who passed only liked head scritches and the odd back pet and it took ages to be able to do that to him(he was not hand raised like peter Pan)...almost the best part of a year before Roger let me touch his neck...but Mr Biggles is different even in the way he approaches things and looks at me and with him its like every day is a great leap of trust for him even though we are only taking small steps..I can see by him he thinks differently to PeterPan and Roger and is not just responding to my treats but is weighing me up and its almost like I feel he is trying to train me. There is a link between me and Mr Biggles thst Ive never had before with any of my birds...its just different...the other day I bought a clicker...Im not good with clickers but anyway I used it to get him doing some target touching, however when I went to the cage later and he wanted his dinner and fresh water he mimicked the clicking sound of the clicker for me as I put the food in his bowl. If I ever get the chance to give him a scritch and I do think that some day soon I will, I will indeed keep it short and leave him wanting more.

 

[wrench13]

Try under his jaws. Salty when is not in a scratch mood can be persuaded into a scratch session. Wendy is right, stop before the nip , always leave him wanting more.

 

[Aquila]

I've had luck around the ears, Sydney is a bit ticklish and makes a yawning motion when I scratch around there! If you want to be extra gentle, I've used my bird's own feather to gently stroke the head feathers. It keeps your fingers a bit away and is just a really soft touch. Give plenty of treats when you're trying or even when he's acting like he wants to be pet.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Try under his jaws. Salty when is not in a scratch mood can be persuaded into a scratch session. Wendy is right, stop before the nip , always leave him wanting more.

Thanks wrench 13 I will have a go at stroking under the jaws tomorrow and see what his reaction is like....he will be going to bed for the night shortly...I hate it when its his bed time but he needs his 12 hours beauty sleep

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

I've had luck around the ears, Sydney is a bit ticklish and makes a yawning motion when I scratch around there! If you want to be extra gentle, I've used my bird's own feather to gently stroke the head feathers. It keeps your fingers a bit away and is just a really soft touch. Give plenty of treats when you're trying or even when he's acting like he wants to be pet.

Thanks Aquila I dont have any of his feathers yet ss he hasnt lost any but I have been trying to tickle him there with a lolly pop stick and he doesnt nip but lifts his foot and grabs the stick and pulls it away...it has become a bit of a game we play...perhaps if I had one of his own feathers he might be more open to allowing it to tickle him. We, well I, call it the" tic tic" game Mr Biggles doesnt talk but I think he understands what I say once I repeat the word with the action a few times.

 

[SailBoat]

I honestly liked the Video for reason other than preening. It showed a number of typical Amazon body and beak movements that a non-Amazon person would consider aggression. Learning Amazon Body Language is so important and more specifically your Amazon's Body Language in developing a life long relationship. Thank's for providing the Video.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Well I tried to do a video of Mr Biggles and I playing the tic tic game where he usually barely lets me touch him with the lollypop stick but grabs it with his foot and pulls it downward away from him however thats not what happened today...today he decided to semi tolerate the lolly pop stick...he bowed his head momentarily but didnt ruffle the feathers...actually he has never ruffled the feathers yet for me but has bowed his head a few times ...today I got to really touch him with the lolly pop stick and though a little startled by the touch he didnt nip it or object and I pulled away before giving him the chance to object or nip

[ame="https://youtu.be/518-WMpwVVc"]Mr Biggle and the " tic tic" game - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Birdman666]

Years ago, I wrote a behavior mod on birds that don't allow touching, which was basically a variation of the old "two perch" method of touch training. Only instead of using perches, you use popsicle sticks.

And as the bird slowly learns to accept being touched with the popsicle sticks, you gradually work your fingers down the popsicle stick, until the bird allows you to touch with your fingers.

The first few times you do it, they generally recoil in horror, and hate it.

The next few times you do it, you may successfully touch them with the sticks.

The next few times you do it, you will probably succeed in touching.

Once you succeed in touching, use the stick as a tool to gently scratch the bird's head. If the head feathers go up, they like it.

THEN gradually get to the point where you work your fingers down the popsicle sticks, until you don't need them anymore, and the bird accepts being touched.

I'd say 3-4 week process with most birds. 6-8 weeks with the really phobic ones.

Go at the bird's pace, and don't get discouraged if they recoil in horror at it. Let them beak the stick and play with it. Figure out it's just a toy. Not going to hurt them. End the first lesson with that note.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Years ago, I wrote a behavior mod on birds that don't allow touching, which was basically a variation of the old "two perch" method of touch training. Only instead of using perches, you use popsicle sticks.

And as the bird slowly learns to accept being touched with the popsicle sticks, you gradually work your fingers down the popsicle stick, until the bird allows you to touch with your fingers.

The first few times you do it, they generally recoil in horror, and hate it.

The next few times you do it, you may successfully touch them with the sticks.

The next few times you do it, you will probably succeed in touching.

Once you succeed in touching, use the stick as a tool to gently scratch the bird's head. If the head feathers go up, they like it.

THEN gradually get to the point where you work your fingers down the popsicle sticks, until you don't need them anymore, and the bird accepts being touched.

I'd say 3-4 week process with most birds. 6-8 weeks with the really phobic ones.

Go at the bird's pace, and don't get discouraged if they recoil in horror at it. Let them beak the stick and play with it. Figure out it's just a toy. Not going to hurt them. End the first lesson with that note.

Thank you Birdman...I started just getting him to touch the popsicle stick with his beak a bit like target training about 3 weeks ago...we are taking longer than your timeline to get there but thats more my fault than his as I was really flying blind here not knowing if I was doing it right...to touch the popsicle stick initially he was bribed with lots of treats.and each time he touched it he got a treat...it took me the best part of a week to get to come anywhere near touching him and we made it a game with the words "tic tic" to let him know what I was doing in the hope that as time went on he would associate the word and the popsicle stick with fun...when he used his foot instead of his beak I again rewarded him initially with a treat each time he did it and we started to play...it took over 10 days to get that far but my sessions were very short and I always made sure they ended well without him getting tired of the game or cranky
This is a short clip of the foot in action

[ame="https://youtu.be/a2FrYaSKPUs"]Original Tic Tic game of footsey - YouTube[/ame]

Then today he was a little more accepting of the popsicle stick touching him but I havent succeeded in getting to touch his head yet like you mentioned in your post...he wriggles and ducks when I try and I missed so often that I gave up on the head and touched where you saw in the video...any ideas about how I touch the head or do I work with where he allows me to touch him...he does also allow me to stroke his beak with my finger but not his head...never the head Do you have a link to what you wrote on popsicle training as I would love to read it. As you mentioned we did end our session well today with him taking the popsicle stick in his beak and playing with it. Today is the very first day he has done this. He got a treat afterwards for being so good

[ame="https://youtu.be/hidTzZH-lKc"]First time Mr Biggles took the lolly pop stick in his beak to play with - YouTube[/ame]