Being Social With Your Bird

 

Being Social With Your Bird


The next step to taking good care of your bird is being social with them. Birds, while a social species, can be very nervous around humans. Today, I will be talking about how to form a bond with your pet bird and get them to trust you.

Something to remember when handling a bird is that you are massive to them. Birds have natural instincts to flee from danger, and will react loudly when frightened. Keep this in mind when interacting with any small animal that you do not know.

The first step is to find a safe spot to keep your bird cage. Hopefully you referred to an earlier post when picking out a cage for your bird. It is good to put the cage in a room with traffic, so they can get used to human presence, but it is also good to keep the cage in a corner. This makes the bird feel more secure. If they are nervous or scared, they can feel like they are not exposed from every side, causing less stress for the bird.

It is important to spend time with your bird. Every day, for a small period of time, sit near the bird's cage and speak gently, usually for about 5 minutes. Do not make full eye contact with the bird either. Looking away shows the bird that you are not a predator, and keeping your voice lowered prevents them from being frightened by the loud noise. You should repeat this for as long as you need to, but a month or two should be the minimum.


After some time of accommodating your bird like this, the next step will be to get your bird comfortable being closer to you. If you want, you can wear a gardening or leather glove for this step, depending on the type of bird you have. 

You should open the door to the bird's cage and slowly move your hand inside. Do not move too quickly, or you will scare the bird. Leave your hand inside of the cage for a small period of time. Wearing a glove will help keep your skin safe if your bird does not have well trimmed nails, or has a tendency to bite. Slowly move your hand towards the stomach of your bird, and if they stay still, move it closer, until the bird perches on your hand or finger. This is called 'stepping up'. Putting your finger in front of your bird's lower stomach encourages them to perch on your hand instead, and after some time of contact, your bird should begin to trust being held by you.

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