Trust is something that we all should be fostering between ourselves and our feathered friends. Just this week I thought that Sprog had injured his leg because he appeared to be having difficulty climbing on his cage. Because he trusts me completely, he let me take him to an unfamiliar room, and lie him on his back under a brightly lit magnifying glass and check his legs and his feet.
A Trusting Sprog
You can win the trust of your bird by always offering good nutritious food, good perches a happy bath time experience and good, loving play times on a regular basis.
Let your pet bird see you pet, hold, and hug other pets that you may have, even you hugging and touching another human in front of him will help him trust you.
Establish good routines, wherever possible, and remember your bird will watch you and remember. Before doing anything with your bird tell him what you are going to do, even if other people watching may think you are a bit “dotty”. Don’t startle your bird,make sure he can se everything that you are doing when it comes to his care and well being. Before you touch or go to pick him up explain what you are going to do. Before I pick Sprog up, I say Kiss Kiss and kiss him lots then when he is looking forward to coming to me I go to pick him up. Remember that repitition is the key, it is no good doing it once and think that after that you dont have to do it anymore.
The more predictable you are, the more your bird will watch you learn the signs and trust you. He needs to know that you are not going to do anything to harm or hurt him. Do things that your bird enjoys, this will also help him trust you.
Remember that trust does not happen over night, it is weeks and months, of consistency and love.
Because I was able to get a good look at Sprogs legs and feet, I found that there was nothing wrong and I could relax and take him back to his play area.
If there had been something wrong I would have been able to sort it out quickly and calmly.
Foster trust and have a very good loving relationship between you and your favourite friend !!