When raising an African grey or any other parrot, the relationship between the bird and the owner will most likely go through the taming phase, bonding phase, and lastly the socializing with other people phase. I already had the taming phase written in a different post, and in this article, we will learn How To Get An African Grey To Like You & Bond With You.
So, how to get an African grey to like?
To get an African grey to like, you must provide everything they need to stay happy and satisfied. Stuff like playing, providing toys, interaction, and food are essential. Owners should never leave the African grey to feel lonely as well, as this is the most important thing for an African grey.
However, some owners may miss something that their greys do really love apart from these things mentioned above. And in this article, we will dive into everything you can do to build a strong bond with your African grey.
How To Get An African Grey To Like You?
After the owner provides food, safety, and interaction with his African grey, he might get surprised that the bird doesn’t like to spend time with him, or prefer to stay in the cage. And this is totally normal as African greys are shy parrots and they prefer staying alone to express themselves more than other breeds.
However, if your African grey is tamed and won’t get scared when coming close to him, then this is the time for cuddling with your bird. And this can happen by SCRATCHING THE HEAD AND THE NECK of the bird for 5 to 10 minutes, and if you can do it for a longer time, go for it. Don’t get surprised if the bird is demanding more scratches.
This way of cuddling will make your parrot submissive to you, and it will make him demand more interaction and scratches.
Day by day, the parrot will get attached and bonded to you and will get excited when you show up in front of the cage the next morning. Although African greys are not good with cuddling, this move will make greys fall in love with their owners.
Further Reading:
Cuddliest Parrot Breeds
After building a strong bond with your African grey, the next step is to socialize the parrot. And without a strong bond, the results can be very disappointing, because socializing parrots require the existence of a safety source which is normally the owner or the caregiver, as long as there are some strange people.
Just To Clarify, the relationship between a parrot and an owner normally goes through 3 phases which are:
- Taming Phase, where the owners start gaining the trust of the parrot and discourage aggressiveness
- Bonding Phase, where the parrot will start developing emotion toward the owners, this phase is a bit harder, and this article is about one powerful way to enhance the bond
- Socializing Phase, where the parrot meets new people with no worries about its safety
Why Do African Greys Like Neck & Head Scratch?
African greys are capable of scratching any place in their bodies using their claws, except the head and neck, which are beyond their reach. So, when the owner provides this, the grey will fall in love with it and will demand more.
In fact, scratching the head of an African grey is a good first step to gaining the trust of An African grey. And this is exactly what I did with the first African grey I bought from an owner who lacked the experience of taming and dealing with parrots.
This African grey was aggressive and easily threatened when someone protracts his hand to him, but when someone says scratch, the bird will protract his head toward your hand to get what he likes of scratching. It’s kinda strange that scared grey will give his head for scratches but won’t allow touching the rest of the body.
So, if aggressive scared parrots enjoy head scratches and trust people with their heads, what would you think about tamed and friendly African greys? Of course, they will love it.
Will African GREY Bond With New Owners?
Yes, it’s totally possible for an African grey to bond with new owners. And it’s all dependent on the way the new owners are treating the bird even if the bird was under harsh treatment from the previous owners. And this is exactly what happened with my first African grey.
Conclsuion
In conclusion, scratching the head and the neck of your African grey parrots will lead the bird to develop a love for you as an owner, and this is because the head and neck of African grey is beyond their reach, and seems to be always itchy. And no matter how they feel, African greys will always enjoy scratches and will demand more.
And yes, that’s all how to get an African grey to like you, and I hope you found this article informative and easy to digest. Thank you for reading…
Hello, my name is sadeq and I am obsessed about parrot And I am here to share everything about raising pet parrots and how to be good owners to your bird.
