Petting my IRN?

lutino · Post by **lutino** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:08 pm

How do i get my IRN to let me pet him/her? Lutino will sit on my hands,arm,shoulders etc, and even eat from my hands. But as soon as i try to pet him/her i get my hand attacked or he/she tries (clipped) to fly away! I think he/she doesn't trust me yet, or just doesn't liked being petted at all! I have had he/she about 1.5 months,and it was 5 months when i got he/she. Lutino is out of the cage for most of the day.
Any ideas?

julie · Post by **julie** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:50 pm

lutino may be frightened by your hand coming for him/her in that way. Try taking lutino into the shower, they go into a funny trance kind of thing and some that dont normally like to be scratched let you. And try saying scratch when you go to do it so they know what you are going to do.

Post by **kyria** » Sun May 13, 2007 12:42 am

yep as julie said, a time when they are not alert, and always! tell them what you are doing, that way they learn to expect what is coming when they hear your words, after all. they communicate mainly by calls/sounds (I do say mainly).

When your IRN is fluffed up on you, tucked up asleep, i personally have found this is the best time to try it, use a closed fist and just one finger to gently move the feathers backwards over lutino's head.

I have found our Pickle loves a little tickle on his chest, but no way will he allow it on his head.

IRN are not usually great lovers of petting anyway, especially males (again in my experience). I find my Jordan will allow it, only when he wants it, but is much more open to me cuddling and kissing him. I have him on my finger and I place him close to my chest, wrapping the other arm around him, he will reach up for kisses, almost like in a nest. Mind you, he hated!!! this at first, but I kept on doing it until now, he expects it, and enjoys it.

Again, repetition and persistance, will have him understanding what you are doing and trusting you when you do it.

Remember trust can take a long time and by that I would say, months. Most of mine were what I would call extremely trusting after 6 months, they showed growing signs along the way and have gained even deeper trust since, but 6 months for me is about the time I would say most fear of you as a danger has gone.

Good luck.

catschair2 · Post by **catschair2** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:21 am

I don't have too much to add here, except to say that I think Magellan completley trusts me, she just doesn't really want me to touch her feathers. She would sit on my shoulder, preen me, chew on my ears and play with my hair for the rest of her life; tries to feed me, rubs noses, etc....but just doesn't like to be scritched. Guess since I have had cats with variants of how they like to express affection (I still have one that HATES to be picked up, though she is sleeping on me whenever I sit down), I have never tried to push her comfort zone.

Post by **Datsun and Family** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:35 pm

I agree with all the above posts, if slowly introduced to petting from a young age, I believe most will learn to tolerate it but by no means does it mean a bird who will not allow petting is less bonded to their owner... I am lucky enough to have Datsun who LOVES cuddles and petting but some never learn to tolerate it and we must also respect that.

luckTry it slowly and ignore the bites and Lutino may learn to love it but bear in mind that some just never will.

Good luck, keep us updated