We Asked:
How Do You Spend Time With, Play and Socialize With Your Linnie?
Nancy (luvmath) is mommy to Parsley:
“From the moment I got her, Parsley has been a snuggler. Also, she was not a big player of toys. so I actaully had to work on both those behaviors. Because she is a velcro bird and prefers to be glued to me she began VERY LOUD calling if she wasn’t on me. I spoke to a bird behaviorist who suggested I follow the 10 min. rule. She is never on me for more than 10 min. but I go get her frequently. You need to be consistent but this eventually worked for me. She learned I would be coming for her and it curtailed the loud calling greatly.
I have also partially potty trained her. She knows she cannot leave her cage unless she poops. This is really helpful in the early morning before that huge poop. She will still poop on me but it has made it very manageable.
One of the things I have been working on with her is to get her over her fear of hands. As much as she loves me she is still cautious around my hands. Progress has been slow in this area.
Parsley rarely plays with toys in her cage. However, she loves to climb so she has a large spiral boing and ladders in her cage. I keep changing and rotating toys in order to spark some interest but she really only plays out of her cage and then she is very gentle with toys.
She loves to chew paper so I provide her with that outside the cage. Because she loves being on me I wear a birdie necklace with things she can pick at. She loves crawling on the computer desk and I have small bird safe objects sitting around that she can investigate. But she is not a bird that destroys and plays wildly with things.
I have tried to socialize her with my other birds, budgies. Most of the time she wants no part of them even though one of them is very interested in her. In fact, they are never allowed out alone together as Parsley tends to lunge and try to bite and I don’t want a hurt budgie. She is somewhat socialized with other humans. She is not afraid of others and will land on them if she is searching for me. But once she sees me she leaves them immediately. If I am out of the house my hubby will let her out and she will sit contentedly on him but the second I walk in the house she wants no part of him.
Parsley is a charming and endearing bird. In the past year and a half it is only just recently that she did some biting. I am fairly certain it was due to hormones as it only lasted a few weeks and she is almost totally back to her old sweet self.”
Annee (aghast) is the proud mommy of Lentil:
“Most of the time I let Lentil out to climb around and hang out with Stokes as soon as i get home. I try to keep the birds out of the cage as much as I possibly can. They will sit on my chair or shoulder when I am on the computer or crawl back into the space behind the keyboard to hide out. Usually, my boyfriend and I will have dinner and watch videos whenever we are both off at night, and the birds get to join us once dinner is put away. I don’t trust Lentil to not put her little butt in our plates, especially now that she is almost fully flighted, but I usually keep out a piece of a veggie or other bird safe food for her so she doesn’t feel left out.
Whenever there is enough time to make it worthwhile, we try to have play dates with my boyfriend’s budgies at either my house or his, usually with a big bowl of beak appetit for all to share, or mixed veggies and the like…. kinda like a birdie family cookout, hehe.
My schedule changes a lot, but no matter what, I almost always get to let the fids out for a few hours a day (and I feel like such a bad parront when i don’t) to flap freely while I do my thing nearby or play on the top-of-cage playground. Lentil usually follows me whenever I leave the room, while Stokes is perfectly content to run in the hamster wheel or gnaw on his wood perch tree thingy on top of his cage.
That’s our usual family time after work and on weekends, usually combined with overuse of cameras, lol.”
Peggy (chilli) is the proud mommy of Deja Bleu, Aquafina, Dulce, Hubble, Dasani, and a parrotlet who thinks she’s a linnie, Sweet Pea :
“Each of my linnies chose me, so I think this has made the bonding process much easier. They are paired, each with a best buddy, so they always feel comfortable. Then I usually work with them in pairs for bonding. One of the best times for bonding, even with the most wild bird (Dasani is my wild girl) is in the evening. I put two layers of soft baby blankets around my shoulders and then tuck them in by my neck. They are reassured with eachother, and then I can reach up and give them little pets. Sometimes they like the scrithes and other times they say “back off” so I try to respect their space. I find that making little bird sounds– whistles and clicks —to them is reassuring, and often they will start making these sounds as soon as they are tucked in.
I have noticed that linnies are not always happy about having their head scratched (my parrotlets, conures, and cockatiels all love it). So I touch them wherever they feel comfortable.. sometimes it is only a little “bump” kiss– touching their beak to my face. I think that linnies don’t care much for our hands, but feel more comfortable with our faces touching them (Often I’ll rub a linnie on my cheek, rather than trying to pet him/her)
Using sticks instead of fingers is also helpful. I start out by giving them a lift with a perch or stick to where ever it is they are trying to get (mine are clipped). That way they always associate the stick with a free ride to something good. Later I use fingers.
I let them come to me.. it takes longer, but then they really trust me. I have branches all over in my bedroom. In the morning I will let them out of the cage and let them move about on their branch scaffolding. Eventually they want to come over to see me in my bed or easy chair. I let them come and wait until they hang upside down and beg. Then I just give them a lift.. to my shoulder or whatever. Usually they will end up rummaging around in my hair or under a blanket on my lap or around my shoulders.
I guess I don’t feel I always have to hold them. When they come it is wonderful, I so much enjoy watching them be themselves, running among the branches. They know I am good to them, and now they give me kisses, hang upside down and stretch way down to give me little bump kisses.
The newest ones — Hubble and Dasani are pretty wild when they are together, so I have been taking them separately on outings or pairing them with Dulce, my calmest bird. When they are away from the “flock” with just Dulce or just me, they become much more compliant. I just want them to know I am safe for them and that I am as much a part of the flock as the other birds.
I don’t really think there are any bad birds.. just scared birds, and they need more space and time, and reinforcement that contact with you will always be good. DejaBleu warmed up to me right away, but Aquafina (added a bit later) was very wary, did not like to be touched, or to be caught. She was a screamer, too. But now, you would never know that. The is very tame, comes easily to the stick and goes into her cage with no fuss at all. And instead of screaming, she is my biggest whistler and mimic of the other birds.
Finally, I believe strongly in trying to provide a bit of habitat for the birds, to give them chance to climb real branches, chew on safe plants, listen to waterfall, bask in sunlight.. I am blessed because my office is perfect for all this. It is really a garden sanctuary for the birds.”
Jaime (Feathers) is the proud mommy of Storm:
“Storm and I spend time together on the computer, watching tv, reading bird talk magazine,listening to music in my room and even having a shower. She really likes to try and drink all the water. We tried eating but she will try and steal anyone’s food and I like to use salt. Maybe when the fresh veggies start to come into season we can have some veggies together, I think I will be able to sneak some dip for myself
Storm will stand on the keyboard and let me give her scritches. When she does not want scritches she will lean away from me. I am finding that she enjoys the occasional scritch on my shoulder, the keyboard, playgym or on/in her cage. I love when I ask for a kiss and she will make the kiss sound for me.
For training she knows how to step up,get down, say hi and give kisses. She will sometimes lift her foot when I tell her to say hello but I think we need to work on that alot more.
Storm mainly plays in her cage with her toys and rarely on the playstand. I will also throw her little munchie ball and she will go after it sometimes but most of the time she will decide to play ball herself and go after her ball growling and throwing it around. She is one aggressive girl. I believe that is how she gets her bruises on her beak.
For socializing , I like to have Storm spend time with me, my Mom and Dad, and anyone who would like to hold her when they come to visit. She absolutely loves everyone and will give anyone a kiss.
Unfortunately I am not Storm’s favourite person. That title goes to my Dad AKA her boyfriend. Today Storm was sitting on my Dad and my Mom touched him saying “my Daddy” and Storm growled and tried to bite her. If my Dad is not around she will sit with my Mom, I have also told my Mom that teasing Storm will only teach her to bite to get what she wants (her to stop touching her favourite person). Luckily I can take Storm off of my Dad without a fight, so I think we have a really good relationship. I am really glad I have Storm and I would recommend a linnie to anyone”
Jenny is the proud mommy of Mizu and Loki:
“We follow a pretty regular routine in my house, which I think really helps them; they know when it’s time to socialize and when it’s time to relax and keep to themselves. My father works out of the house, so quiet time is a valuable commodity!
Every morning, I come down and get ‘breakfast’ ready, which is their birdie-mash. As soon as they hear me awake and moving upstairs, the whole flock starts making noise and getting excited for play time! It starts quiet, but if I don’t come downstairs in what they deem a reasonable amount of time, it gets louder 
I open everyone’s cage and they get to have time playing on top of the cage in the morning and eat their breakfast.
When it’s time for work, they all get closed up and they get fresh dry food to last them through the day and they’re by themselves all day. Every evening is when we have real social time and they get to come hang out on the playstand and roam around. They love it when I sit on the couch with my computer and put the playstand next to me. They go back and forth from the playstand, my lap, my shoulder, wherever they feel like going! They love to jump and hide under things; between couch cushions, under my computer, they even try and climb in my pockets!
Neither of my birds really enjoy being touched… My female, Mizu, when I got her, was absolutely terrified of hands. She was from a shop that did not specialize in birds and the day I saw her little kids were beating on the sides of the cage screaming ‘BIRD!’ at her… which was apparently a regular occurance. She was always very playful within the cage – hanging upside down, playing with her foot toys on the bottom, and loves apples! We started with a very slow introduction.. for her first few months, I didn’t bother her, just let her get used to my hands being on and around the cage. I made sure I reached in the cage for dishes every morning and evening so she could get used to hands being around her without trying to bother her. After she was comfortable with that, I began opening her cage and letting her come out of the cage on her own terms… Once she was completely confortable being outside the cage on her own, I would start coming over to her, talking to her, tempting her with shiny earrings, hair, my glasses, anything to get her attention. After a year of patience and work, she comes running out of the cage every morning when I open it, comes right up to my face and gives kisses 
She does her little kissy noise and puts her head down and lets me kiss the top of her head. She’s just starting to tolerate me petting her back, but will not step up off the cage or her playstand, which I will not push… She needs her safe places where if she’s not comfortable she can retreat to and she knows I will not chase her. The system has worked very well for us!
One year ago, after owning my little girl for 2 years, I decided I felt too badly for her being alone during the day, especially when I cannot touch her, preen her, or really give her the hands-on attention I felt she needed. So… I got her a boyfriend!! Loki has been head-strong and a trouble maker since day one! He loves to jump down on the floor and chase the dogs, jump to the parrotlet cage and tease her, steal her food. He was cuddly with me at first, I could scratch his head and love on him. Once he hit around 6-8 months, that ended rather abruptly. I’m pretty positive he hit birdy-puberty and having a girlfriend in the cage didn’t help! He got very aggressive and possessive of the cage – when I opened it in the morning, he would chitter at me angrily and if I tried to kiss my girl, he’d try and bite my face! At first, I tried getting bossy back at him – it works with the macaws at the shop, but not with him! He’d just get angrier and angrier and we really had a rough patch for a while… A few months ago, I spoke with my vet who used to breed linnies and she said her best advice for dealing with his aggression was to completely ignore him! So when he would get mad and try to chase me away I would stand right where I was, but turn my back on him! He would get very mad at first, but then he’d get upset! He did NOT like to be ignored! He’d start talking, nibbling my hair, anything to get me to turn back to him… So when he’d calm down and behave himself, I’d turn and talk to him again and give him a kiss. A month of this broke through our barrier and, while he was still aggressive at times, we were back to being friends again.
Just in the past week or so, his aggression has entirely dissappeared however. I think he’s finally pulling out of the hormone rush, and really mellowing out. A lot of parrots go through an aggressive or possessive phase when they hit sexual maturity, I just wasn’t expecting it so soon on these little guys! He no longer ‘yells’ at me or gets bossy or possessive around my girl. He just sits all puffy and sweet and lets me kiss all over him!
Long story short, I can’t pet either of my linnies… my male has bonded so strong with my girl, he doesn’t enjoy it any longer, but I think he may come around now that he’s done with puberty! My girl is still uncomfortable around hands, but we’re slowly working on me being allowed to pet her back.
Both of my linnies are good talkers, my male is just much clearer than my female and says more words. Mizu says hello, pretty girl, and gives kisses. Loki says hello, i love you, pretty bird, whatcha doin?, kisses, wolf whistles… he LOVES to try and predict what I’m going to say and say it at EXACTLY the same time as me!! He has also learned to say things in a sort of context… if Mizu leaves the cage, if anyone falls down or he’s just upset he will say ‘oh no!! baaaaaby! ooooh noooooo!’ I guess I said it pretty frequently when something ‘bad’ happened and he picked up on it. On the same token, when he’s happy or trying to flirt with Mizu he’ll say ‘i loooove you. pretty biiiird, i loooooove you!’ it’s so fun to listen to! They’re very clownish, love to play with their toys and forage at the bottom of the cage. They’re very affectionate, but it’s definately a more one-sided relationship… Loki is forever feeding, preening, and loving on Mizu, and when he puts his head down begging to get preened, she preens him for all of.. 10 seconds? Then she’ll pinch his feet and demand being preened herself!! She’s definately my spoilt princess!
I love my linnies, and cannot wait for the day I can breed them and have my own flock. Ideally, I would LOVE to have a big aviary full of linnies! Just imagining listening to them all chatter, sing, and play around together is like a dream come true!”
Thank you for your wonderful responses! It is great reading all the different ways everyone interacts with their linnies. Please feel free to comment and share your stories!
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