Teaching Your Parrot Toweling Is OK and FUN!

[Sondra]

To start training you bird for toweling use a baby wash-cloth and hold it up between you and him (even if he's in his cage) and play peek a boo. Slowly over time touch him with the cloth, drop it on your face and pull it off and say peek a boo. Then after he's comfy with the cloth touching him drop it on his head and immediately pull it off saying peek a boo. You can gradually increase the size of the cloth, going from the baby washcloth, to a regular wash cloth, to a hand towel or dish towel. You can go to a standard bath towel for larger birds. Once they are comfy having their heads covered pick them up and place them right back down & uncover them, rember to say peek a boo! When comfy with that pick them up (covered) and move them from one place to another and immediately uncover them - peek a boo. Always make a game out of it and ALWAYS end on a good note, even if that means you go back to where they are comfy. I have found that as long as the bird trusts you a hand towel works for picking them up as long as their heads are covered. You can poke and prod as long as you keep the head is covered. I am to the point where we can place our birds on their backs and uncover them and put them in the crook of our arm and rock them or walk around with them. Just keep things fun, use lots of praise. This is a good way to be able to check on their bodies, feathers, or an injury without being bit and an excellent way to just play with your birds.

[Debz]

Excellent !

[steptoe91(tozie)]

this is how i got skittles okay with a towel. it really does work.
i havent worked with ollie on this much. he and i are still working on basic trust issues. taking it slow.
marley was so young and a natural towel/blanket burrower it was unnecessary.
twiggy came to me okay with being toweled.

but the working your way up method works very well. 

[BirdCrazy]

I'll have to try this with Gizmo :)

[BuffaloParrot]

Sticky posted!

[Ditty]

Oh I do that with Yoshi all the time.  And he loves blankets so I hide in one with him, Pull it over my head while he is in my lap of chest and play with him, pull one side down and play peek a boo and make sure sometimes i cover him with it totally then pull it up and peek a boo, he LOVES that game.  He will play that one with Jared too!