Linnie is confused?

[magglett]

Hi everyone, I'm a first time bird owner and have had my linnie, Simon, for a month now. I'm at the point where I can put my hand in the cage and he isn't very scared of my anymore so I've started trying to feed him from my hand.

My problem is: I put food in the palm of my hand and he'll approach my hand fine, though a little hesitantly, but then he always tries to eat my actual hand. I've put my hand in so my fingers are hidden under a perch and his choice is basically only to reach the seeds, but he'll go for the side of my hand right next to the border of the seeds and as soon as his beak touches my skin and he doesn't get the food, he'll back away and go to one of his toys. I'm assuming he understands the concept of my hand but I don't understand why he doesn't go for the big pile of seeds in my palm.

I want to clarify that he isn't trying to bite me when he does this, he just bumps my skin with his beak and then backs off. Is this a common thing? I can feed him from a little medicine cup full of seeds that I'm holding or when I'm holding a piece of fruit between two fingers, but he just won't eat from my palm.

Is this just his way of still getting used to my hand? I'm confused

 

[bug_n_flock]

I would say most likely he is still just getting used to you. But it sounds like you are on the right track. Welcome to you and little Simon! Linnies are such fun little guys. We would get babies at the partot shop from time to time, and we had such fun playing with the little clowns. We had one clutch who liked to be spun around slowly on their backs on the counter.



They also smell good.


Anyway, pardon my weirdness and welcome to the forum!


From phone please forgive typos.

 

[magglett]

Thanks for the reply! I've been wanting to get a bird for about 2 years and this guy popped up and seemed perfect! To be honest, him getting used to me is taking longer that I was expecting lol but I'm learning how to be patient. He has a swing toy that he doesn't know how to use, he goes onto it from the top of the cage and makes it spin by holding onto the side bars of it instead of sitting on the perch. It's hilarious!

 

[magglett]

I wanted to post an update that I figured out a way to get him on the perch! He still keeps trying to chew pieces of my finger off though, but baby steps!!

 

[bug_n_flock]

So cute! Yes, millet is a powerful tool in the bonding toolkit. I'm in the process of making friends with an adult pair of cockatiels we just got. Millet works *wonders*! The hen will sit on my hand now to eat the tasty stuff. The male is still more unsure, though. With birds especially, slow and steady wins the race!


Have you checked out the thread something along the lines of "tips for bonding" in the budgie forum? Let me quickly pop over and grab the link. Oh, this is the budgie forum, lol.



Http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets/72068-taming-bonding-budgerigars-tips-beginners.html


Good info above. My phone is having a fit though, I think this is all the internet it can handle for a while, so I will put it down to have a break. Sorry, old cell phone is the only internet access we have on the farm right now.

 

[LauraC]

Magglett, I had a Linnie named Luna. Before I took her home from the bird store, I would go in and bond with her until she was fully weaned. When I got her home it took me a few months before she really warmed up to me. As I mentioned in another one of your posts, Linnie’s seem to be afraid of hands. That was the consensus when I was on a different forum called the Linnie Forum. Once my Luna warmed up to home environment she was literally like a Velcro bird. I think you will get there with Simon it will just take time. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.