Kissing,dominance and dry retching questions

[Danigrl]

My green cheek absolutely loves to kiss us! But he always wants to kiss on our mouth?.. When my son goes to kiss him on the head he will move so he gets him on the beak, is he just sweet or is it a dominant thing? He has been trying to sit on top of my head a lot lately I was told not to let him and he gets a bit cross when I try to lift him off.

Also whenever I rub the side of his face when I'm petting him he does this weird open mouth thing like he's gunna puke a retching movement. He is only 4 and a half months old is it a baby thing?

I must say this ill guy is the best pet I have ever owned, he is my first bird though so there's a lot of learning here. Thanks for everyone's help in advance.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

As for the kissing on the beak, that is normal, and most likely the conure is kissing back on the lips cause he thinks that the person kissing is his/her mommy/daddy.

As for the retching, that is completely normal, its a sign of bonding, not of dominance. Your conure is merely trying to 'feed you', while it is normal, it shouldn't be 'encouraged'. What I do when Skittles does that is I just find a way to distract him. I don't scold him for doing things that come naturally, but I don't want him to confused either.

 

[riddick07]

I do the same as Skittys whenever Loki does the retching movement. I either distract him or completely stop what I was doing with him until he stops. He doesn't need to be scolded just discouraged from the behavior.

Definitely try to keep him off your head especially if he is being difficult about coming back down. Plus, bird poop in the hair is never fun!

 

[Danigrl]

Definitely try to keep him off your head especially if he is being difficult about coming back down. Plus, bird poop in the hair is never fun![/QUOTE]


Thanks guys, I'll not pet him there so much.
Though I'm glad he's bonded to us as much as we have him.
Lucky for me dusty(my conure) Hates to poop on us. I can be fully confident to have him on my shoulder when I dressed ready to go out. He'll do a gentle nip to hop down.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I wouldn't necessarily say don't pet him on the side of his face, they like to be scratched there, especially on the side and back of the head - and the top of the head. Just get into the habit of distracting him when he begins to retch, he should catch on after a while. Usually all I have to do is 'snap' my fingers - just a small noise to get his attention (but not scare the crap out of him).

I wouldn't encourage ever letting a bird sit on top of your head. That can lead to dominance issues I've heard.