Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    
    	I think a really tame bird will, in most cases get used to being
    picked up by the body. When I first got my African Grey, he growled and
    bit, but within thirty days I had him following me around like a puppy.
    At that point I started working with him each day picking him up
    bodily, talking to him the whole time, and holding him in my hand on
    his back.  He diffinitly didn't like it and growled alot and bit me a
    few times, but never very hard. Although he would rather stand on his 
    own two feet than lay on his back, I can now put him on his back and 
    he will stay there for 4-5 minutes without being held down, before 
    he decides he's had enough. If I stroke his head feathers while 
    doing so I can keep him that way for a long time.  
    	When he's in a real good mood, I can tilt my head back and place 
    him on his back along the bridge of my nose and he will stay there 
    for a bit. The problem with that is that the slightest movement and he 
    loses his balance and starts to fall.  The important part is that he 
    puts up with it...
    	I have used the same techinque to get my Halfmoon conure to lay on
    her back and have started using it on my Goffin Cockatoo.  The Goffin
    still grabs my fingers with her beak, but so far she doesn't bite hard
    at all, and she is starting to learn to accept it.
    	I think if you go slow, spending only about ten minuites a day,
    every day, at trying to handle your bird bodily, you can succeed. In
    my opinion, they are scared because they are in a vulnerable position,
    especially when on their back, where they can't use their wings or
    their feet properly. Once they realize that you won't let them fall or
    get hurt, they'll come around and actually enjoy it.  
    	I've never worked with a "Teil", so they might be different, but I
    think it's worth trying anyways.
    
    						Have A Nice One,
    						     Mark	 

    
    Jeanne,
    
    I think it really depends on the bird.  My wild-caught timneh grey
    would *never* step onto an offered hand or arm - she'd bite every time.
    However, even a total stranger could pick her up bodily, and she loved
    to lie on her back and be petted.  Neither my white front amazon or my
    grey cheek permit touching on the body, but both will go to strangers,
    will climb all over anyone who lets them, and are happy to play and be
    friendly.  Casper, my citron cockatoo, will permit just about anything,
    including being picked up bodily, turned upside down, and tossed and
    caught, as well as being swung upside down by his toes, and other silly
    tricks too numerous to mention - he is *very* physical.  Layla, a
    wildcaught umbrella cockatoo, will not permit being picked up bodily,
    but does appreciate "bear hugs" - that is, snuggling by wrapping both
    arms around her body, and will crawl under armpits and elbows when she
    feels she isn't getting adequate attention.  
    
    
    						/Rita
    

	I can pick up my Macaw by his body, placing my hands around his
	wings from behind or from the front....if he is on the floor, and
	you put a finger out, he will hang from you finger by his upper beak,
	without closing his bottom beak on your finger....

	However, none of this means he doesn't bite...Avalon is a Macaw, and
	that means he likes to play rough...the rules of the game are that
	he can play rough and you can't.  He gets mad at me if I accidently
	hurt him, yet he can't seem to understand why I get upset should he
	accidently hurt me...

	Anyway, before drifting too far from the original point...I don't
	believe that being able to lift a bird bodily has a lot to do with
	his biting...it probabaly does have a lot to do with his being tame.
	and even that is not necessarily so.  I remember a Pat Walz column
	where she talked about one of her birds (Bubba the Grey, I believe)
	getting his foot caught.  By the time Pat had freed the bird, her
	hand was a bloody mess, and Pat hand-fed each of her birds, and
	she can do ANYTHING with them.  But, when a bird panics....

	So I guess birds bite for lots of reasons, we have to understand 
	that most of our birds are not tame as cats and dogs are, and I have
	seen people really scratched up from their "tame" cats.

	Birds bite for lots of reasons; they are scared, either by the fact
	that they are not tame, or by panic; they bite in play, sometimes
	harder than they realize; they are angry with you.  Another reason
	that birds can bite is to "get you out of the way of danger"  I assume
	that their bite is a warning to run from danger.  At least people who
	know lots more about birds tell me that this is why they were bitten.

	I also have been told that a bird on its back is an unatural act, as
	is a bird being picked up bodily, since surely this is not likely to
	happen in the wild...so maybe we can pick up our prize pets, because
	they are not smart enough to realize that they should not be doing
	this....

	-dick

    I think birds are just individual on this as people and how much they
    can tolerate of physical contact.  We have a huge blue-crown Amazon hen
    that by all rights would bite your hand off, but loves to be cuddled 
    just like an umbrella cockatoo.  And she was a wild-caught and is
    sexually mature...both strikes against her for physical contact with
    humans, but she had some wonderful, caring treatment by her former 
    owner and we continue to work with her, so she is going against all
    the predictions.  On the other hand, we have a domestically bred,
    hand-fed dusky conure hen that will get up on your hand but watch out
    if you try to touch her in any way, let alone try to actually pick her
    up!!  Her mate, on the other hand, is very sweet and cuddly.  Hand-feds
    in general are more likely to tolerate, even crave, physical
    contact with humans, but there are no guarantees....And wild-caughts
    are likely to go nuts if you try to pick them up, but an African grey
    parrot we had would allow himself to be wrapped in a towel and held
    on your lap and be petted, but would freak if you brought your hands
    anywhere near him.  I don't think there is a hard and fast rule on
    this one.
    
    Linda