My baby is 7 months old

[Xenobia]

And my partner is sad that he doesn't love him anymore!
See, Busey used to have Rick as his favorite person. Now he's all about me.
I told Rick that he's just being fickle, and is most likely going through his bluffing phase. He's been biting Rick lately. Hard. He's also being a little poo-poo head lately. But we love him.

He's come so far from the scared little birdie I picked up at the airport on July 2nd!

He steps up perfectly and will give you kisses when asked (If he feels like it) and even when not asked. He sits on his cage or playstand and chatters like a monkey.

Busey's favorite game is "You dropped it!" The heavier the object/bigger noise it makes, the better! I rue the day that he found out that he could lift his stainless steel treat cups.

A bit of advice for anyone who's trying to get their IRN to play with toys:
The best toy is the one that YOU are playing with!

If I want Busey to show interest in a toy, all I have to do is play with it myself. He'll come right over and do anything to get it away from me!
Did I mention the poo-poo head part?
I like to think it's because he trusts me to know which is the most fun toy ever, but deep down inside I know he's just greedy! LOL

He has an ever expanding repertoire of sounds, but has not started talking yet. Does anyone have any advice on teaching words? What age did your IRNs begin to talk?

I cannot believe how much I love my little tree pear monkey butt!
He's sooooo smart and funny and charming. Even when he's being insufferable.

He is NOT a cuddler. Sometimes he'll be sweet and sit on your shoulder and preen. Other times he is intent on removing your glasses and trying to eat your ear. Hands are not allowed to touch him unless they have food or are being offered as a perch. He will literally growl at you if you try to pet him!
But... I knew most IRNs weren't cuddly before we got him.

Anyway - there's my update on Busey.

Unfortunately - he's scared of the camera, so no really good pics.
I'll post the two most recent ones in the photo gallery.


- Lisa

[Datsun and Family]

If you want a cuddly bird, ignore the growling and threats and stroke that baby. Datsun used to growl and bite when I tried to pat her but loves it now.

If you get your bird used to it then generally they end up enjoying it.

[kyria]

Is it too late at almost 14 months to get an IRN use to petting and touching ?

Kai screams when he is in a bad mood and my husband tries to get him to step up. He literally does a couple of loud shrill screams (just like the contact call) and pushes him hard with his beak. lol. Then mummy comes along and talks all.. poor baby naughty daddy. Kai step up, and he steps up on me, fluffs up and gets all comfy. Jim HATES it. hehehe

Mostly kai will tolerate him though.

[Datsun and Family]

It is never too late! Get Kai accustomed to touch starting with just a full body pat down the back, ignore the head turned around to growl at you and give him a firm stroke with your whole hand down his body.

[jen5239]

Chamon,
I can not believe that Datsun used to growl unhappily at anything. She is such a happy, content little bird I thought she was born that way. Wow! That just blows my mind.

Jen

[Mazziemom]

Chamon is so on the money with this...

Mazzie came to us adult, mean as heck, and hating to be touched.

I worked on taming her, then loving her even if she acted like she didnt want it.

Now I can lie her upside down in my hand, blow raspberries on her tummy, and kiss her everywhere (and pet her anywhere too)... because I didnt let her bluff me out of it.

Don't give up, they are masters of bluff, but they really do enjoy petting once they know its nice.

Athena

[kyria]

So far he only lets me kiss him on the chest feathers when I am kissing his beak too , but is very warey of what I am doing. I try to pet him or touch him but he moves away or leaps off me and runs away.

Hard to keep him with you when trying to pet him. So I have started blowing his feathers just to get him use to some kind of feeling on them (just a thought that this might work).

Any suggestions (how long it could take, how to get him to stay with me) would be HUGELY appreciated. I wonder if I could distract him with his fav treat and sneak in a pat, or maybe this will have him not liking his fav treat anymore .. hmm <action>shrugs shoulders.

Oh well back to it. Thanks everyone !

[Neokireina]

I've noticed IRNs go nuts when you blow on their featheres, they act like they are going to attack those feathers and start preening.

It takes a long time to build up enough trust in your bird to play and pat them like that.

Kiva doesnt particularly want to be patted, I'm working on that by asking him to step up, placing my thumb on his foot, so he cant get away, putting my hand around his back, patting him, while kissing his chest and let go of his feet.
He's kinda sandwiched between my hand and my face, of course dont do this with a bird that will bite. He doesnt mind me doing that. I'm starting to be able to scrtich him and I can grab him anytime I like.

We all know birds usually hate to be grabbed, It's so much better when this isnt the case. This is just another step on getting your bird to trust you enough to grab him in case of an emergancy or the like.

Once when bappy broke her claw nail and was bleeding everywhere I had to hold her for a long time, didnt have any qwik stop so I was trying to use flour. She was very good and didnt struggle or bite. It didnt stop bleeding so we had to take her to the vet.

[kyria]

Thanks Neo , a couple of other tricks for me to try

[Jade]

Chook loves it when I blow raspberries on his tummy and the back of his neck and when I pretend to chew his neck (with my lips over my teeth). I growl when I am pretending to bite him and he loves it.