Willow has been with us for three days. He seems to be doing very well and is very interactive with us.

I did a lot of research before we brought him home because I wanted to do everything right and avoid all of the known problems. I was cautioned against letting him sit on our shoulders, so I've been very careful about that.

My question is whether he needs to be excluded from our shoulders all the time, or if we just need to limit the amount of time he spends there. I let him on my shoulder some the first day so he would feel comforted and secure, but we haven't allowed him to perch on anyone's shoulder since. We are playing the "towel game" and he seems to enjoy snuggling in a towel as a way of being close.

If you have any advice about allowing him on our shoulders, I'd appreciate hearing it. He would clearly love to sit on our shoulders, but I don't want to allow it if it is going to cause problems in the long run.

Thanks!

The general rule is a shoulder is privledge not a right.. they have to earn the ability to perch up there. We've never had a problem with Casey on our shoulder, she's up there all the time and she's never gotten nippy or bossy as a result. Since Willow is a baby and he's new to your house he'd probably be fine up on your shoulder for now, BUT when he matures and finds his spot in the household he might become bossier and it will be more difficult to keep him off the shoulder should it ever come to that...

We've put Casey on our shoulder from day 1 (it would have been a different story if she was a larger species! haha) and have never had any issues, I guess it's kind of individual, but maybe stick to fingers for now since he's probably still learning to step up etc. He should know how to step up when asked before he's allowed on your shoulder I think

Good luck, hopefully some others have more ideas!

Personally, I do not allow my birds (2 cockatoos, 2 macaws & Quaker) on my shoulder. The reason I do not allow them on my shoulder is a bird's fear reaction. Birds may bite the person's face (if they are on the shoulder when frightened) damaging an eye, ear, or lip. Or they may fly off in a panic, hitting something & being hurt or killed or flying out a window or door to be lost. Our birds can be frightened by many things we do not even consider. For some reason when my hubby comes in wearing a hat all of my birds are frightened. So many things frighten them & we just don't think of things all of the time that can be frightening to our birds. So I teach my birds to allow me to place my thumb over their toes as they sit on my finger or hand. All of my birds allow me to do this & it has kept them all from flying off in a panic in the past.

Jess

My guys have no problems and ride on my shoulder and head when they want to...

LOL Majj.. .your kids need to explain to Kiko that she'd be allowed up there too if she didn't turn into a three headed Cerebus of a beast when she gets up there! Are they willing to write?

Hubby refers to me as "Clyde's Shoulder," so that should tell you the situation at our house. Clyde also likes to sit on my head and fix my hair and my head is his preferred landing pad. Jade is uneasy with hands so the only way to carry her around is to get her on a shoulder, and she prefers Hubby's, though if she's in a very good mood, she'll sit on mine. Not while Clyde is there! He won't allow that.

We've always let Clyde on our shoulders, and yeah, he sometimes nips an ear and he likes to try to remove moles and freckles on my neck, but that's preening and he thinks he's doing me a favor. The ear-nipping is generally to get my attention if I'm on the computer and not paying enough attention to him. Jade nips Hubby's ear occasionally if he's eating and isn't generous enough about passing her tidbits. However, neither of them has ever done any real damage. If Clyde's in a nippy mood, I keep him on my hand until he settles down, and generally speaking he prefers to sit on my hand because he gets more petting that way, but he spends a lot of time on my shoulder, too.

It really is a personal option...I suggest not allowing any big bird on your shoulder period...for a couple reasons. I've had injuries to my face because a bird was on my shoulder and was frightened or was being over protective and bit me to make me move away from preceived danger. Also because allowing a bird above your eye level is a way for them to show dominance over you. Its a hiearchy thing...Who ever gets the highest perch is the top bird.

But with a little bird such as a quaker even though they still feel they are above you in class when they're on your shoulder (if you allow them to get away with it) they can still inflict a pretty severe bite even though it isn't probably going to be as severe as say a cockatoo or an amazon's or macaws bite.

So if you want to allow your bird shoulder privledge then I would only allow it once they learned that they are to step up from any where, without hesitation. So for instance if your bird will willingly step up from the tip top of his cage or from someone elses hand or shoulder with out trying to bite or if he will come off your shoulder when you ask him to no matter what...Then and only then would I allow him up there. Many times a bird will think they don't have to get off or step up and they'll run back behind your head or move down onto your shoulder where you can't reach them. For me, that's totally unacceptable because they're basically telling you that they are in charge. That's when you get into trouble (in my opinion)

Plus another good reason not to have them on your shoulder is you have no control over them and they could get scared and attempt to fly away and get into more trouble. I know of some birds who were allowed on their owners shoulder and was allowed to go everywhere with them. In one instance the woman had forgotten she had the bird on her shoulder, went in to start making dinner and had a pot of water on boiling and was getting ready to put spaghetti noodles in the water. Well the action scared the bird and the bird jumped off her shoulder and right into the boiling water. Severely injuring the bird, the bird ended up losing both feet and part of a wing.

Another person I know had her bird on her shoulder while driving in a car...and another car drove past, frightened the bird and the bird bit her so severly in the face that it caused her to have a car accident as well as having a big laceration on her face from the bite.

Another person lost their bird when they had the bird outside on their shoulder and the bird got scared and flew off into an on coming car in the parking lot and was killed.

But as I said, it truly is a personal preference. Many people have and do allow their birds on their shoulders and haven't had problems...YET... but the possiblity is always there.

i agree... it's a privledge not a right. when cricket was a baby, he would snuggle under my hair and purr in my ear. as he got older and more outgoing, he prefers the top of my head.

it's true... if startled he may bite your face. for some reason when they're scared or threatened they tend to strike out at the person the closest to him which would be you!

also, he has to be willing to step up from your shoulder. if he bites at your fingers, he doesn't get the privledge!

enjoy your new baby!

That is right. Shoulder is a privilage and so I don't let the girls abuse it. I usually don't let them on my shoulders very much becuase they leave little gifts behind. So when they are allowed to sit with Mommy on her shoulders, they know that it is a aspecial moment. Either that or they know that I am wearing my bird clothes.

Thank you all for you input. It has been very helpful.