How to Teach Parrot to Step Up and to Come Out of Cage

[Michael]

You can use being on you as a reward. For example let's say you want to tame the bird to let you open its wings. Touch the wings, stop, pick up the bird and snuggle for a few minutes. Put the bird down and do nothing. Then gently open wing a little, pick up and snuggle, etc. You can totally use this to your advantage and teach the bird that doing proper behavior is rewarded and the only way to get attention.

[Ashley]

That's fantastic Michael, thank you! i didn't think of it that way, but now that you say it, it makes perfect sense! I will try that out today Thanks again!

[spiral]

Hi everyone
i have an indian ringneck parrakeet, who was handraised, she is fully flighted and i am currently training her with a clicker. I have always done recall traing in my room with her where her cage is as this is the safeest place for her in my house.

What i wanted to ask is do any of the board members have disabilities ?
i have cerebral palsey which poses some specific chalengeges for me when i am training my bird as i only have full use of one hand and not full motor co ordination in the weak hand so i find it hard to press a standard clicker with that hand when i usually carry my parakeet arouynd on my other hand while wearing a glove which she is used to.


My father handles her with his bare hands which i used to do also but i use a gove now because i can only use one hand its safer that way now that she is fullly grown and has a sharp tip to her beak.

My parrot uses my wheelchair headrest as a perch and is very used to my electric wheelchair. i just thout id share that with you all. nice to meet you .

[spiral]

Hi there
Please dont panic i your parrot probbabby needs more time to get used to you. May i suggest feeding it carrot sticks and the occasional sunflower seed as a treat through the cage bars that way your bird can get used to you and will begin too feel more comfotable in your presence.
Was it hand raised if it was not handraised it will be much more difficult to tame.

I have a female indain ringneck who is about three years old, i have had her from a baby of about 2 months old i bought her from a friend who realised that he was unable to care for her so he sold her to me, when i got her she was obease for eating to many sun flower seads, so i switched her diet to a pellitted food and now shes heathier.

They like steamed brocolli you can try feeding that through the cage bars to bond with her more.

obove all relax and try to be patient/ calm. your bird will need time to learn to trust you, and please try not to scream if it bites as that willl only make it, think that you are playing a game with it! and so that would not be discourge itfrom biting again.

When my bird nipps me i just lowe my hand sharply and that discouages her from nipping when shes on my hand/ I am lucky my bird was handraised so she was easier to keep tame, from the begining.

good luck i hope this helps.

hi guys,
i got a new ringneck parakeet for my birthday..i have it almost 2 months...ive never had a bird before
i try to touch it and take it out of the cage so i can pet him and for him to fly around the room...its aggressive it bites it screams...
is there something i can do?
ive tried everything!!!!!
i think it hates me!!!!

[liz]

Hey my cockatiel Chevy is being ignornant about stepping up! I don't know why she just all of a sudden stoped wanting to get on my finger! Well she wants to get out on my fringer form the cage but when I set her down she walks off/ runs off ignoring me trying to pick her up. What should I do?!!!!!!!

Don't stress. She is a little kid testing you.

You probably don't know any little kids. They are full of love and orneriness.

Myrtle is in a stage right now where she has so much to do and learn that she doesn't want to take time with me. I have been chasing her across her patio until she runs out of room then picking her up. I hold her a minute and talk to her and wait until she starts to preen me. Then I put her back.

Now she is learning that I only want a little bit of her time and will let her get back to what she was doing.

[cornettocockatiel]

[ftlaudmom]

I'm new to this forum and I got my 4 year old orange winged amazon last Saturday. He is hand tamed and very sweet but he's either territorial of his cage (he came with his own cage) or he's still a little apprehensive of my hand. When he's out of his cage he's fine and will step up and be scratched and go to anyone without aggression. His owner said he was allowed to come in and out of his cage whenever he wanted to so that's what he's expecting. He bites me when I try to take him out on my hand and when I close the cage and walk away he crawls all over the door and talks and tries to get my attention. I don't want him to feel like he can have his way so I won't let him come out until he's nice to my hand. I found out that he really likes banana chips so I kept putting my hand back in the cage with the treat in the other hand closing the cage door and walking away each time he tried to bite and eventually he stopped trying to bite me so I gave him the treat. He didn't come on my hand but at least he didn't try to bite. He knows "up" apparently because he kept saying it but he wouldn't come over to get up. I have never done target or clicker training before (I owned a yellow nape before who knew to come to my hand by the "kissing" sound of my lips). He never got to come out of his cage unless he was on my hand so I really want to enforce that with this little guy.

I hope it won't take too long for him to learn as I'm anxious for him to come out and be touched and scratched like I know he so loves. I think I'm already ahead of the game than most due to the fact that he's used to people and is very trusting it appears. Do you think he's biting because he's new to me or because he's territorial?

[SunConure]

We got our Sun Conure last year when he was 7 months old. He turned one on February first this year. He is a lot of fun and can be very loving and loves to be with people. He has learned things on his own like mimicking noises like laughter and the noise of someone typing on the computer. However, there are some behaviors that need to be fixed. Sometimes he goes back to his cage voluntarily and sometimes he does everything he can not to go back. He sometimes likes to play games and bite people unaware.I know it is probably my fault but it would be more enjoyable to hang out with him if he behaved more. I have read about training him the basics but either I didn't have the right tools, or I got discouraged when I couldn't get his attention, that I haven't done much about it. He has his good days and his bad days( again, I believe its me since this is the first time I have a bird, especially a medium sized parrot). When I saw the video's on here it got me motivated to try again. I am wondering if I should still stick train him even though he is comfortable with me and if I can skip to just training him outside the cage without the stick. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you. We are planing on getting him a play stand for the living area, so I should have a area to train him.

[Michael]

Do you think he's biting because he's new to me or because he's territorial?

Could be either. I'm sure with some work it can be reversed.

I am wondering if I should still stick train him even though he is comfortable with me and if I can skip to just training him outside the cage without the stick. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you. We are planing on getting him a play stand for the living area, so I should have a area to train him.

I do not advocate what is commonly called "stick training" involving shoving a stick at the parrot until it has no choice but to step up. It does not create a good relationship. Instead, I suggest target training the parrot regardless how tame it is. It establishes a method for training and is a tool used for more advanced training. I don't think it should be skipped by anyone. Here is a newer article I wrote with more videos to expand the concept further.

[InsaneX3]

Hey Michael, i bought 2 cute little Lovebirds one month ago and are as of today 5 months old.I let them fly every day for 3+ hours the week after i got them.So now i want to try and let them get used to me cause they are a bit scaref of me.When they where out in my room flying, i always do a shout like "Get in the cage" when i want them to be in the cage and now they got almost the hang of it(they fly on the cage but then it takes some time to get them IN the cage ).I think it is a nice start for a beginner like me, but i want to go a bit deeper with the feeling of "trust" so i can hand-feed them for example.Now the problem is, i forgot about the treats and i used millet on a regular basis(every 2-3 days)Am i in trouble or do i have some hope left?How should i tame them ? I mean i have 2 birds and i think it is a bit harder isnt it?(btw they are in the same cage ^.^)Should i approach them in the cage or when they are out?I think it would be better when they are cage cause they fly away every time i go near them and hide on top of my cupboard!! Does lovebirds needs some special attention or so? or can they be handled the same way you do with your parrots? Hope you can understand most of it cause im from Germany

Ps: I love how you treat your birds and want to do so the same way with my birds <3