baby amazon likes chewing my hair

[prsgirl77]

Goodnight everyone.
I hope all is well. Just a quick question, m baby Kiwi loves preening or chewing my hair, I have long hair and she loves sitting on my shoulder playing with my hair making purring sounds, it doesnt bother me so I quite happily let her preen/ play. Is this safe for her? Thank you very much. Take care.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Awww so cute... As long as there isn't any breakage and he isn't eating your hair.

 

[Kalidasa]

Just make sure there is no product in your hair, as long as its clean its ok.

 

[henpecked]

There's a reason why he's chewing your hair. he 's preening you, he;s looking for acceptance. What you should do is preen him back. Do you know what preening is about?

 

[prsgirl77]

Good morning everyone
Thank you very much for replying to my post. Kiwi does not break or eat my hair so it's fine for her to chew as I ve never used hair product in my life, I m a wash and air dry sort of girl. Preening from what I ve been told is when I gently try to straighten out her feathers between my thumb and forefinger? Am I doing it right? Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day. Take care.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, you're doing it right. Just be very gentle when you open the feather shafts.

All my guys (and gal) LOVE the mutual preening.

 

[OrangeWingedKiwi]

There's a reason why he's chewing your hair. he 's preening you, he;s looking for acceptance. What you should do is preen him back. Do you know what preening is about?

I'm not sure if she knows; but i'm sure i don't fully know what it's for ! Can you please tell us

 

[forbey]

I found this on Utube: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmyDZqGRwwA]How to Preen Your Bird - YouTube[/ame]
Hopefully, it opens OK. I just did a Google search for "Preening your parrot".

Forbey

 

[henpecked]

There's a reason why he's chewing your hair. he 's preening you, he;s looking for acceptance. What you should do is preen him back. Do you know what preening is about?

I'm not sure if she knows; but i'm sure i don't fully know what it's for ! Can you please tell us

I only watched a few seconds of that video and it deals more with the mechanics of preening. The preening in this thread is about the social aspects of this behavior. Young birds will preen other birds ( or humans as the case may be with our pets). The reason is for social acceptance. It's more noticeable in bonded pairs as they preen each other often. However young birds will preen in hope of being accepted and endearing themselves into the "flock". I can assure you it's a real stress reliever for them when you to preen them back and they realize that they are accepted and part of the flock. A lot of the petting(stroking) we give our pets is not really viewed by the bird as petting, it's more like part of the mutual preening they would receive as a member of a flock. ( scratches are a different story)

A good example of this behavior is found in groups of primates (monkeys) . I'm sure most of you have seen the videos of apes,chimps etc grooming each other. yes they're picking bugs and dirt out but it's more by young ,immatures enduring themselves to the older leaders of the group and gaining acceptance. In the wild the group/family/clan/flock is everything, survival is almost impossible without the help of their flock.To be shunned is a death sentence, as a lone birds survival chances are very poor.

After spending many years with companion parrots i realize that many times they will preen me expecting to stimulate me into preening them.It's a bonding process not unlike you and your significant other holding hands, kissing, and that type of thing. So preen them back and strengthen your bond. My long time hen nape,Jake, will sit for hours and let me preen her. I don't have to mess with pin feathers it's just the act of looking checking and taking the time to unselfishly devote my attention to her. I systematically cover her whole body ,head to tail,she trust me completely. If you want to bond ,really bond with your bird, learn to preen not just pick pin feathers.

Along the same lines, birds have a couple of ways that they reinforce their bond with their mate. Preening, allo feeding ( regurgitating food) and also sex. Yes they have sex for reasons other than having babies (sort of like us). If you don't like having sex with your bird or having them regurgitating all over you, learn how to preen. it's all about bonding and they need a way to show their desires, next time your bird is doing one of those things you don't like ,in an effort to bond with you, preen them instead or allow them to preen you. Don't put them away in their cage in attempt to cure unwanted behavior, redirect them with preening. Heck, all they want to do is bond and instead you isolate them ,punish them. Hope this helps out a few birdie relationships. I really need to make a preening video.

 

[forbey]

I'm in no way an expert on bird behavior, traiing or bonding. That being said, besides my trying to pet Skittles or to get him to step up, or play with him (letting him grab my fingers with his feet and/or beak; tugging on his beak, etc) I usually relax, bow my head towards him and/or let him come in close enough to give him plenty of opportunities to mess around with my hair and beard. Once he helped himself to my glasses, it was a challenge to get them back before he destroyed them.

My demonstrations of trust in him appear to increase the level of trust he has in me.

So far he hasn't taken the opportunity to bite the heck out of me!

Forbey