Petting under the wing a no no?!

[jenniferag]

We just got a Sun Conure a few days ago.... when you pet his wing, he always lifts it up and we've been rubbing him a little under his wing....

Someone said that's a no-no..... why is that??


Can someone advise for me?

Thank you!

[mmr]

again, this is one thing on here that many members dissagree on!

It incourages sexual stimulation. That is why it is a no no. You can do a quick little scritch, but to sit there and rub, and rub, and rub is a another thing!


Sexual behavior

[jenniferag]

oh ha ha that's kind of funny.....

Well, almost every time we just touch his/her wing he/she will lift it up for us to rub under there..... could he/she be "in heat"

I'm sure the term for birds when they're "in heat" as you say :)

[xafsmom]

The concave area on the body under the wing is directly over where the birds reproductive organs sit. Essentially, the bird's umm.. 7th letter of the alphabet... spot. The -CONCAVE- bit. Everywhere else is fine. The wing itself is fine. Just no long drawn out sessions of rubbing on the dip in the body and it's all good. That's all there is to it.

By all means though, snuggle, pet and cuddle the hoo out of your birds, just be mindful of a bird begging to be rubbed ONLY in that particular area. There are some birds (usually males, figures huh?) that will cry and beg and lift their wing to be pet on the no-no spot and if they don't get it, they turn nasty. That's an problem. lol

Pretty much, you shouldn't pet under the tail, on the tail or on the back either, but honestly... as long as you know your bird and you're not mast...er...stroking it in specifically pleasurable ways known to er.. yah, you get the point when it's feeling seasonal, then you should be fine.

[alwaysontimneh]

Originally Posted by xafsmom

The concave area on the body under the wing is directly over where the birds reproductive organs sit. Essentially, the bird's umm.. 7th letter of the alphabet... spot.

HAHAHAHA! I had to think about that one at first.

[jenniferag]

ha ha ha That is too funny!

That does make sense.... darn those males :) They could be any species and they still only want one thing!

ha ha

Well thank you so much.... you know, you can read and read and read everything you can online but it's very different when you ask an actual person who's had experience with birds so thank you so much for taking the time to help me :)

I really appreciate it

[xafsmom]

Originally Posted by alwaysontimneh

HAHAHAHA! I had to think about that one at first.

Well! There might be kids!! LOL


...and you're welcome, Jennifer!

[MiniMama]

This is a good ? - my male Hahn's likes it when I scritch under the wing. I don't do it very often - maybe every two weeks or so. but it's a good reminder to be careful here.

[Amie]

Oh, my female lifts her wings for scritches, too, but we've never scritched her there for more than a second or two. Since we only do it for a second, she eventually stops asking, and asks for head scritches instead.

[DarwinTheSun]

But babies do it too. My sun asked for wing rubs at 3 weeks old, there is no way it was sexually stimulating.

If you have a bird who is always getting stimulated from anything below the neck, then wing rubs are going to be an issue. But if not, then don't worry about it. I think they are just itchy too! As an adult my suns favorite place to be scratched is the little corner of skin between the wing and the body, not very sexual place and he loves it. He acts itchy...not turned on.

And just to be devils advocate, I don't know if the locality of the reproductive organs has anything to do with it either, after all I don't get turned on my rubbing the skin over my ovaries...just a thought.