Will he ever get to like me touching him with my hands?

[bimmyb]

Hi,

My love bug Mojo is 7moths old and accuired him as my mum let her pair bring on an egg. The female of the pair was beating him up as the male was a soft touch and kept feeding him and not the female. Me being me felt sorry for the lil cutie and took him on. He is a very affectionate lil fella after 6 months on taming but will just not let me touch him with my hands. he hate fingers but loves me to stroke him with my face and scratch his neck with my nose lol. He even lets me push him on to his back and blow rapberries on his belly?? Will he ever get used to my hands?

[Pips mom]

There's a good chance that he won't, but ya never know! Each bird is different, so he may warm up to the idea in time. I know firsthand with Pip though that this never changes with him.......he does not like hands and that's that! He does tolerate them pretty well though, like when I have my moments when I just have to pick him up and kiss his little head! :rotfl He'll just sit there pretty content,.....he knows I just have to snuggle him sometimes and that I let him go and don't make him suffer through being held by hands for too long. He knows now, so he's good with it.....he doesn't even try too hard anymore to get away from me when I try to pick him up! The thing is......even if your lovebird doesn't like hands, you can still have a really close and cuddly relationship with him.....Pip comes to me all the time and will get all cozy on me and take a snooze...he hangs out with me alot and I don't feel as if I would feel a closer bond to him if he liked hands, so there really is no need.......if he doesn't like hands, it's really no biggie!

[linda040899]

I have to agree with Pip's Mom. Many parrots just don't like human hands and there's not much we can do about it except respect that choice. It's possible that he will feel differently over time but I wouldn't count on it nor work towards that end. You will earn his trust much better if you play by his rules. Ginger, my African Grey, was completely wild at one point when I got her in 1990. She's never liked to be touched and that hasn't changed. However, now she enjoys my company and adores interaction so she's very apt to follow me where ever I go inside. Touch her? Not on your life, but human hands DO have one very pleasant function. They hold offered food so they are at least good for something!

[bimmyb]

Thanks guys! I have pretty much stopped trying to touch him or pick him up now and we both seem happy with that. The only thing i worry about is if i have to handle him for any major reason like vet visits or if hes in danger but i will have to cross that bridge when i come to it (like most things with my love bug ). I do think that my mum scared him with her hands when taking him away from his parents and she never hand tamed him so he was pretty much wild when i took him on. Hes very tame now and we have a great bond, he loves to walk around scratching and clicking doing his little mating dance and pretending to regurgitate so he must love me :blush:(just without my hands). Although hes happy to sit on my hand when theres something yummy or whist he showers :)

[linda040899]

You have accepted him as he is and that's what made it click between you. For things like vet visits or emergencies, you may be able to teach him to go into a carrier on command, with a proper reward for doing what you ask, of course! Work on it now so that it becomes automatic should the need become a reality.

[shadnamber]

I carry my Chupa everywhere with a perch. He also sits on my shoulder. Somewhere along the way I figure he had a scary hand experience and I just have to work around it. It is possible to teach them to fly to their cage on cue or a travel crate even. I have Chupa trained to fly to his cage on cue, and we have only had him for about 3 months. I think some birds don't recognize your hands as part of you? And some birds just think that hands are evil.