Step-up

[Wolf]

I am very cautious when it comes to giving treats in exchange for doing something for me. I want the bird to respond on its own for things like step up and staying on or with me. So I would probably let my bird see that I have several sunflower seeds and ask for the step up and when the bird does, I would give it a treat. I would walk around the room and step the bird off in a different location, such as a chair back. I would talk to the bird and praise him for a couple of minutes and ask him to step up without showing him the seeds and walk around, step down in new location, praise the bird and scratch its head if it allows this and step up and move again and give treat after step down. I would do this about three times and either end the training session or move on to something else.
As for the one on one sessions, I think that I would pick a fairly small area to sit with my bird and when he climbed off of me I would give him a couple of minutes and start calling him by name and show him the sunflower seeds and give him one when he comes to me and give him a few more minutes and call him to me but only give him the sunflower seed if he steps up for you. Again this is with me talking to him during all of this and I would only do this for three times during any one training session. Reward as much as possible with praise and head scratches.
Part of the reason that he is not staying on you is that he wants to explore his new home and get used to it and make sure that it is safe and you need to allow him to do this even if you have to follow him around. He will find everything that needs to be changed to make it safe for him to wander about in the rooms that he is allowed to go into. So you will have to make these things safe for him. He is a social creature and once he has some of this exploring done he will want to spend more time getting scratches and hanging out with you. As before you don't want to be too insistent with any of these things except where they are not safe for him.
I don't use a lot of treats as rewards, I prefer to reward good behavior with scratches and praise and save the treats for random moments wile we are hanging out together. This is not because I am opposed to treats, because I am not. Bribery is a wonderful training tool. But I base all of my interactions with all of my animals on trust and the natural desire to be together. I want my animals to come to me and play with me not for a reward, but because they want to.

[Sammy22]

Im getting a total opposite reaction to what you do wolf, i show him the treat and lure him on my arm, he straight away sets one leg back to get down off my arm and i need to show him a second seed to get him staying before i move away so he doesn't attempt on going down. I can see that he starts to get nervous and looks around. I pet him and talk to him to keep him calm, put him down on the chair top and i tried telling him to step up and he would move away from my arm. Only way to get him up again is with a treat. I got really frustrated today when i let him out today to explore because nothing i would do got his attention, to end the session i showed him the seeds once again to get him up to take him to his cage.
played target in the cage with him but this time with less treats. I dont know if im doing something wrong but i know i just need more patience

[Wolf]

No it is fine. You just need to relax as they know when you are frustrated and will usually try to avoid you then. They are very intelligent and frustration is just one step from anger so calm yourself, you are not doing anything wrong, but the bird needs time to get to know you too. Patience will help you a lot. Just take your time with him and allow him to set the pace, your bond will be stronger if you do and he will learn to trust you sooner. Sometimes the suggestions that work for one bird doesn't work as well with another bird and this is partly due to their intelligence. In many ways it is like children, no two of them are the same or respond the same way as another even if the are raised the same way. The suggestions are really not hard and fast, so feel free to alter them in small ways as you need to. They only give you an idea of how to proceed. There are books and books all about training parrots, but I have yet to find a parrot that took the time to read these books, so they don't care what the books say, but they do respond to you. If your bird seems to be in a bad mood you should let it be until it feels better or you could get bit. The bird sees that you are excited or frustrated and its natural inclination is to avoid you until you calm yourself.
Personally if my bird steps up and steps right back down, I let it and wait a minute or so and try again. This is one way that you let the bird know that you are listening to it and that helps to establish trust.

[Sammy22]

You're right, im the one that needs to take a step down haha, i appreciate the help wolf. Made him a stand today, set it for him in our lounge to sit with us and get comfortable with everyone being around. I'll just need to be patient with him, he'll come around soon hopefully.

[liz]

When he is ready he will come to you. If it is an emergency and you have to move him from one place to another and he won't step up, scoop him. Use both hands to go under his body and scoop him. Move him to where he needs to be and put him down. Preditors come from above so keep your hands below his head level.

[Sammy22]

Will keep that in mind when i come to that point, thanks liz

[Sammy22]

Just a quick update: he now steps up easier then before since i started only focusing on that for the past few days and still practicing. I allow him to sit on my arm for a bit and walk around with him but at times he gets nervous and walks up on my shoulder, and at one point my head. I had to target him down my arm again

I researched if its alright for a cockatoo to sit on your shoulder and received all different answer, some say yes the higher they are the safer they feel others say no because then they claim their self as your boss and be dominant.
Id personally love for him to sit on my shoulder once he completely trusts me and i can trust that he wont peck at my eye hahaha but whats your opinion? A little confused on that.

Totally random, but maybe you could help me out with it. When i bought him, his tail feathers were just off white and i try to bathe him every few days but the tail feathers are still not clearing up and look dirtier then before, nothing on them they just look stained.

Thanks guys

[Wolf]

Don't look to make his tail feathers all white as they have a tendency to be yellowish.
For the most part parrots are more comfortable the higher they are as there are fewer predators up high. As for whether or not to allow him to sit on your shoulder, that is entirely up to you. You should know, however, that if this species of parrot gets angry or startled and grabs your ear or other part of your face, you may find a trip to the emergency room is in order to try to repair the damage. These birds do not live in a dominance based social structure and so the height myth is just that a myth and has no basis in fact.

[liz]

Though I say bring them up to face level to give them confidence, I also mean keep them down to face level so you have control. That way you can talk face to face with no intimidation to either one of you.
You have a clingy species. They get to the point that they want your total attention. You love them and show they show love in return. They enjoy cuddling but can also throw a royal tantrum and chase you around the house if you run and let them.
Once the two of you get past your fears you will be good friends. Relax. Be with him and not at him.