Help us please

[Chico]

My partner and I have recently bought a beautiful cinammon green cheek. He is 17 months old, extremely tame, hand reared, loves to come out of his cage, runs up your arm to sit on your shoulder. As soon as we put a finger up to take him down he will bite our hands hard and draw blood. Have you any advice on curbing this behaviour please.

 

[Spiritbird]

Happy to have you on the forum. Bird on shoulder or not as often been a topic for us to talk about. It is a privilege for a bird to sit on your shoulder. If the bird takes possesion of your shoulder as if it is a perch then you can have damage done to more than just a finger. I would be more concerned about your face. I am sending you a link that may be of help. Good luck and enjoy your new bird. We like photos.

Pet Birds On Your Shoulder

 

[ArianJordan]

Hey Chico,
in my opinion I think you should not allow your bird on your shoulder, considering he is being very possesive. I allow tango to hang off my shirt, cuddle inside my shirt and crawl all over my chest, but when he trys to go past my shoulders I stop him. He's never allowed on my shoulders because I had the exact same problem as you. Now when he gets on my shoulder by accident I find it very easy to take him off because he already knows he shouldn't be there. He doesn't bite anymore, so that means no more missing chunks of skin.

This is my opinion, and I know everyone has their own. You don't have to listen, it's just my advise.

Creds: Certified Professional Dog Trainer

 

[HRH Di]

Good advice here. And especially thanks for the link, SB. We've always allowed our birds on our shoulders with no problems. They've never bitten when we take them off. I had surgery a couple years ago that left me with nerve damage on the left side of my neck and shoulder...both Jade and Ruby know that the left side is the "less prefered" side and go to the right first every time.

But I understand the reason people don't let their parrots on their shoulders. Good luck with your training/decision.