How do you get them to lay on their backs?

[girly]

I'd love to be able to cuddle and play with Jezebel on her back. How do you do this?

[kali]

You can't force them... :) Lexi won't do it, but Boo loved it :)

[Phenomenon]

If the bird trusts you...rub down the back, hold the back and flip while making kootchie, kootchie, koo sounds (let the feet remain perched on your finger).

May not work the first time, they struggle to get up, eventually if they trust you, they begin to love the game and will let you do it without them holding to your finger.

[girly]

sounds good phemonenon, I'm going to try it (as soon as I get her home tomorrow).

[RockysMom]

Yeah don't force them or you might find yourself on the recieveing end of a bite! The first time I tried it with Rocky thats waht I got, but now he loves to be on his back! Sometimes when I am sitting on the couch he will roll over on his back and just lay on my chest! It's cute, wish I could get a pic, but as soon as he sees the camera he jumps up...LOL! Good luck, let us know how it goes!

[Emmilyy]

I think its a big trust thing.. Cookie won't just roll over and play on her back, but i can flip her over so she's laying on my hand and she likes to be scratched that way :) it took a bit of time, though..

[NotEnoughTime]

I don't know how much trust has to do with wing and back touching as opposed to species and nesting behaviours. Of course trust is important - but it isn't the only thing. Touching the back and wings is something that is hard for some species to tolerate and involves not only trust but substantial training.

In some species wing and back touching is a mating behaviour - and so it should be avoided. To me, anyway, leading-on a bird isn't fair...

Conures, on the other hand, have a great deal of tolerance for wing and back touching. It seems to have to do with their general nature - they like to go under things like... well... hamsters. In the wild they nest in tree cubbyholes... So they are not afraid to squeeze into tight places (which gets them in trouble in the home sometimes).

Of course there are always exceptions...

[LovelySydney]

My conure lets me pet him mostly all the time, not really in the mornings (he is just like mom in the mornings - grouchy!!) I think he would let me put him on his back, but its definitely a thing that Im going to let come in time. I have no need to rush him!! Glad I got the info on this thread though, very useful.

[perchingbird]

Is it Jezebel you want to play with on her back? Greys aren't generally as cuddly as a lot of the conures, which seem to just roll over for kicks. :D Work with her slow for sure. She may like it! How cuddly is she in general? I've not met many "adult" greys, and the ones I've known haven't been cuddly. They also weren't living with people that really went out of their way to understand parrots or weren't looking for cuddly (they were happy and healthy birds, just not cuddly!).

[Scritch]

I agree it has a bit to do with species... conures and Poicephalus especially seem to like being on their backs. As babies they'll sometimes sleep that way, and even as adults sometimes play on their backs. My first Quaker, Josh, used to roll onto his back in my hand and practically fall asleep while I scritched his head. Petrie though would rather not be on his back -- he doesn't freak out if put him there, but he's back on his feet as soon as he can be. It's just not his thing. My first grey was pretty much like that, too... I could put him on his back if I went slowly and fussed over him for it, but he didn't seem very comfortable with it.

LOL and then there's "my" lory (lives with my father)... she doesn't relax when she's on her back, she's too busy playing and wrestling! But on her back is one of her favorite places to be :)