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Post by beakertrout on Apr 23, 2019 8:35:57 GMT -7
Beaker camps out on my shoulder for about 45 minutes in the morning before I go to work.
I watch Me TV and catch up on the emails while he preens away.
This morning I turned my head and for some reason he tried to "beak" my glasses.
We have a rule that appendages and my glasses are "off limits".
I reached up to remove him by putting my hand around him, like a football and lifting him off, which I sometime do.
He wasn't going for it and clamped down on my hand then gave me the raspberry.
I think he realized he screwed up because when he was on my hand (he was getting off my shoulder!) and facing me, he started flapping away as if to say,"I'm sorry!" and I could tell he was.
So, back on the shoulder and he completely ignored my glasses.
What a bird.
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Post by Adele on Apr 23, 2019 11:16:13 GMT -7
What does giving you the raspberry mean? Like when you blow on kid's stomachs?
Manzi used to always ride on my shoulder and one bad bite I got from that is when he started slipping off, then grabbed my shirt (with a bit of skin underneath). It made me holler and he flew away immediately. That was the first time I realized that he had a very powerful beak and could bite very hard if he wanted. It didn't even cut me or make me bleed either.
Yeah, when they do mess up, they often are pretty contrite!!
On my shoulder, buttons, accidents, earrings, and necklaces were off limits. Manzi quickly valued being on my shoulder more than any of those other things and rarely, if ever, broke those rules. He did sometimes scream still too loud in my ears, but even that was pretty infrequent. He seemed to know to keep it down if on my shoulder.
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Post by Adele on Apr 23, 2019 11:18:18 GMT -7
Makes me miss having my shoulder buddy!! People used to say he was my little sentinel! Unfortunately that relationship didn't work well with other humans as he would get pretty protective of me and threaten people getting too close to me. The first 5 years it was mostly just me and him (and I'm pretty introvert and a homebody), so it wasn't an issue.
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Post by beakertrout on Apr 23, 2019 14:57:09 GMT -7
I have always been of the mind that shoulder sitting is a privilege, not a right.
Beaker camped out on everything, hand, arm or leg for over 6 months before I ever let him on my shoulder.
If he went for an ear or my glasses he was removed.
He got with the program very quickly.
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Post by Haz on Apr 23, 2019 18:02:39 GMT -7
My first grey used to ride my shoulder. He would grab earrings, collars, necklaces and you name it. I would remove jewellery before letting him out. He would grab my glasses and throw them across the room. I had beak scratches on the lens.
Chyloe is too ladylike. She prefers to just ride on my arm and never goes after my jewellery or glasses.
Haz
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Post by Jane on Apr 24, 2019 6:17:39 GMT -7
Mitzi has never wanted to go on my shoulder. If I put her there she just wants to come back down.
Jane
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Post by Thomas on Apr 24, 2019 19:54:55 GMT -7
Sheeba will climb up my shirt to be on my shoulder, she acts like she belongs there. Fortunately, she has never gone after my ears, she did scratch up my glasses a few times, but she now understands they are off limits. I think I can read her body language and I do trust her, even though she does bite my hand/finger every few months or so. But you definitely don't want to be barefoot when she's on the floor! Toes are fair game, like she thinks they are so weird she has to investigate, which means a good bite.
Thomas
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Post by chris on May 28, 2019 14:00:19 GMT -7
One problem with the shoulder sitting is you can't really see them and so can't read their body language, which is definitely crucial with a Grey. I let Ruby on my shoulder occasionally but honestly don't completely trust her. It's been a long time since I got tagged but my memory(s) linger! Definitely makes me miss my cockatiel (RIP) who was an angelic shoulder-sitter not to mention no worries even if she did bite (which was practically never).
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