Anyone ever "grab" their birds?

[StormyMom]

Just wanted to get ppls input on this. Some people i know who own birds (smaller ones in general) have such a habit of grabbing their birds, rather than asking them to step up. My brother recently took in a rehomed parakeet because her old lady died, and this bird has NO idea how to step up. Come to find out shes USED to being grabbed and then put on your hand. She wont bite or anything..but i just found it so strange. (and i dont mean rough when i say grabbed, i mean just putting your hand over their bodies and lifting them up that way)

Ive never once grabbed my lovies. Personally i think id end up with some holes in my hands. Theyre both used to stepping up..and alot of times if im trying to get them to step up on my hand they refuse. It HAS to be that one finger lol.

With Jaden (my Goffins), sometimes ill grab him with 2 hands, swing him upside down and kiss him in a playful way (ill do this with Mika my quaker as well) but not as a stepping up method, and he knows im playing and is all for it.

I also saw this at a petstore about a month ago. Some girl was buying her first bird ever, a parakeet, and the lady selling it to her was teaching her how to grab it, so that her fingers trapped his head and he couldnt bite her! Ive never heard of this or seen this until then. I was totally shocked! The bird was young, and wasnt tame, but wow. I dont think its going to get tame that way

[Tango's_Mom]

only when i have too, tangpo accepts it, but for everday picking up he steps up.

[LovelySydney]

Gus has no idea how to step up and would prefer not to learn at the moment. I have never just grabbed him except once when I had to get him to the vet when he was sick and I think sometime last week because we had to get him off the floor and he WOULD NOT step up even on the dowel.

I have learned from this forum that this traumatizes the birds. Luka let me pick her up whenever I felt like it, granted she was used to being constantly handled so I continued that by just doing what she was used to.

For Gus and Oslo I will not be doing any grabbing, they can come to me when they feel like it and I will let them do their thing. i don't feel right grabbing them, I just feel like it does more harm than good.

[Flapjack]

I do all the time... I just scoop her up and give belly rubs and tummy kisses.

As far as coming out of her cage, Jack steps up. However- she is fully flighted so if she doesn't want to go back, she just flies off. When I need her to be somewhere NOW- I have no choice but to restrain her.
I make it fun for her and give kisses the whole way, though.

Chino HATES it- so he's good about staying on my finger or shoulder.

Nokomis is great about step-ups too.

Jack is the only one who loves to be held this way. Now- I've had her since she was 2 weeks old and can do anything I want with her and she doesn't care.

[momo]

The only time I grab her is when I need to cut her toe nails... she knows what towel is used for that.. It's kinda good because if I need to shoo her off something, I just show her the towel.

I was told in the beginning by wrong people to grab elmo and that would make her tame.. and I nearly lost fingers.. and alot of blood when I did.. I don't do it any more and her trust for me and my hands is slowly coming along... slowly!

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

hmm.... i usually offer a "step up" first, but i grab if i have to. Sunnybird doesn't seem to mind too much, just a sad little eye bc she usually knows it means she's going back in her cage.

[momo]

I have a rope that elmo knows she steps up on... and she will step on it.. but if i move towards her cage.. she doesn't want to go.. doesn't matter if she's been out for the whole day.. !!..

[Enko_chan]

with Odinn- only when I have to. he will usually go back in his cage when i say "Odinn, go home!" in lieu of stepping up or being picked up. I am gentle about it when it needs to be done, though and he has only ever bitten me hard once- and I didn't even put my hands on him that time. I had to grab him this morning to get him into the carrier for travel, but in general, I let him get around as he pleases. We are doing clicker training and stick training, plus he will step up onto my arm, head, face, foot- but typically not my hands. when i do pick him up he generally accepts it- he knows he is going where freyja is and that it's probably either home or somewhere good, i suppose.

with freyja, sometimes i will scoop her up and lay her on her back- she doesn't mind a bit. she'll just lay there and pick at her toes while i kiss and tickle her belly. when she won't step up occasionally i'll have to pick her up and place her inside the cage to get her back in, but its never rough. i prefer to let them get around as they please, but on occasion i will pick them up and they do not seem to mind it or resent me for it.

[Angelic vampyre]

My avairy birds I have to grab but my pet guys only if i can't get around it

[Jally]

My hubby chases our new lovie around and grabs him :( I ask him to step up on a rope perch that we sometimes use for our suns. The new one, Oreo, will step up when asked, but you have to go very slowly and head straight back to the cage or else he will jump off. He is clipped so we find him in some not so convenient places! LOL

Peanut, I will grab and smother with kisses. Unfortunately, he has learned the phrase "Momma has to go to work" and will make me chase him all over creation to get back into his cage. So, when I do get him, I don't let him go until he is in his cage! But, he gets kisses galore until I do get him to his cage.

Oh, I forgot to add that the holding the birds head in between your fingers is called the no bite hold. I learned about that in another forum.

[Jessica]

Stino will let me grab him and it's our nightly ritual that I chase him until he finally sits in a certain spot. I scoop him up and it's time for kisses and preening before going in the cage. It took a few years to gain his total trust but now that I have it I can hold him in any positon. It's amazing to have such a little guy trust you so much.

[Pips mom]

I grab Pip a couple of times a day! Someone said it traumatizes them?? I highly doubt that with Pip! Not much phases him! He doesn't seem to mind us picking him like this much at all.....especially considering he hates being held and hands! I think maybe it's the restraint he hates, not so much us handling him. Sometimes he'll sit there in my hand calmly, almost like he likes the attention.....just not the holding him down from doing what he wants! So I think he has mixed emotions about the whole thing! and he hardly ever bites when I do this either. If he does, it's just a nibble!

[personatus]

I pick all my birds up when I need to inspect them or sex them, thats all. None are tame though except 2 who step up. The birds do get used to been held, and I do keep the head between the fingers to stop them biting. They struggle a bit but soon get used to it. I can now hold all of them with little or no struggle at all.

[Enko_chan]

Stormy's Mom-

take this advice with a grain of salt, because it is from me and not the experts...

but when Odinn is really in a mood and refuses to go home, I will "sneak" up on him (he obviously sees me coming- but my movement is slow and deliberate) with my hands wrapped up- entirely hidden- in a light cloth, and throw it around all but his head. When he is READY to go home, and is just too far away, he allows me to pick him up without a problem... but when he is bent on staying out of the cage, and he has to go home, I will wrap him up in a towel and he does not struggle. In fact, he'll just look at me with a mischievous expression while I plop him back in the cage.

[dieflying]

Pip's mom made me laugh - not much phases him!

Kath is like that too. My husband grabs Kath all the time, then swings her around so her little head is poking downward. She twists and turns, but as soon as you put her down, she comes running back up to you like she wants more "rides".