sat o5/24/008 01.00
sanfrancaliusa
When Alias came home with us, he was said to have been hand-raised.
That was a few months ago. Since then I have been hanging out with
him a lot and being as friendly and pleasant a great big featherless
thing as I know how to be -- talking and singing to him whenever
henotices me, handfeedng him lots of millet and so forth. Well, we are
certainly buddies after a fa****on -- he eats from my fingers and plays
"budgie-ball" with me from the top of his cage, seems pleased and
interested whenever I talk and babble and sing to him, will nibble at
my eyebrows and nose with what seems to be affection or friend****p,
and definitely is not scared of me.
Here's the problem: the little brat just simply will not hop onto a
finger or perch I offer him; that is, A: unless he wants up onto
something he cannot get to on his own and wishes me to give him a
boost or B: every now and then when I am sort of sneaky about it.
Once he is away from his cage he will play "Hop on" from one index
fnger to another and once in a great while he has allowed me to give
him a good "scratchies" -- the last is something he gives every
indication of enjoying very much, turning his little head this way and
that for me to get to the itchiest spots in a way which would seem to
suggest a lot of confidence in my good intentions, but it is not a
common occurence. I haven't been trying to force the issue much since
we seem to have a fairly good rap****t otherwise.
I'm sure he's not scared of my hands -- he will often give my fingers
a friendly little nibble when I reach into his cage to put food in his
dish,hang up a treat or a green leaf, or give his toy ball a poke, or
when he's up top of his cage and I am goofing around with him(I most
certainly know the difference between a playful nip and a scared or
"teed-off" one by now!).
Should I go on as I have been, and assume that he'll eventually want
to hop on of his own accord, or should I be doing something different?
Or are some 'keets just not big on perching on human fingers even if
the human is a good pal, and maybe mine is one of those? When he rubs
his itchy little face on his perch or the bars of his cage, I know I
could do a real good job of giving him a scratchies, and it
frustrates me he won't hardly ever accept them from me!
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