Parrot's That Do Not Want to be Touched

Ringo is my wild caught orange winged amazon that was found outside in New Jersey. He is pie bonded to my other male amazon JoJo. They chose to be boyfriends.

Ringo doesn’t want to be pet by me anymore and hasn’t for years. He has his boyfriend to groom him. I’m okay with this because I would prefer my birds to be able to be birds and have choice in what they want VS what I selfishly want. It opens up a good conversation about petting parrots.

Not every bird wants to be touched. I’ve made posts about this in the past but birds aren’t tactile touch creatures like we are or like dogs are. They do enjoy some for grooming purposes or a little snuggle when roosting from their mate, but wanting to be pet all the time whenever is not a parrot thing. It often leads to unhealthy relationships if you pet and stroke your bird too much.

I get asked a lot if you can teach birds to like to be pet. I’ve had people ask for sessions with me with the goal of them being able to pet their bird. I honestly turn down those clients because is that in the birds best interest? Now, training the acceptance of touch for harness training, body checks, preening the head, love that, will support that, I have those sessions often! But to touch your bird because you want to, that’s not my goal for training, and there are other trainers to work with you!

Luckily for Ringo, he loves his JoJo, and JoJo takes good care of his grooming needs. Ringo also does the same with Jo, but I think it’s time for us to rethink that the bird isn’t here to just fill our desires and needs, but what we can do to fill theirs, which involves sacrifices at time. I always at if you want a companion to pet, a dog is your safest bet, not a parrot!