New yellow naped!

[Jontchaav]

Hi!
I got my about two days ago , and its starting to get used to the new cage and everything, hes about 3 months old and eats properly, only thing is i dont really know how to start training him.

When i open the cage, he eventually comes out and then wants to step up on my hand and walk around above the cage and etc, but it has really bad balance atm and doesnt really know how to climb.
If he starts to fly he doesnt know where to land and usally it ends up in him crashing into something.

Anyways, outside the cage hes pretty weaned and does not bite (nor does he bite when hes inside the cage) but hes kind of scared of new people and it wont get up on my shoulder, it feels like its very unsecure and shakey. But when hes inside of the cage, when i reach my hand in for him to pet him he is like walking away and just trying to stay out of my reach..
its no biggie now since he can eat treats and play with stuff too chew, what I want you guys to do is to help me with a few tips.

IF i could get a scheduled plan on what to do, recall, target, clicker, flight training and such to get him weaned (getting him on the back, not being scared of new people, train to talk) and also in which order i should teach him and train him...

I have tried to clicker train him but so far i dont know if he has understood the point of the click, i treat him with dry annanas but maybe i should switch to something else.. He eats nuts and stuff you know the things you can buy at the store, but then you wet em up and then feed him.. He also eats corn and stuff like that, but so far he hasnt touched my pellets...

Hopefully we will bond successfully as he seems to trust me by now, but only when hes outside of the cage.. Also i have some trouble to put him back in.

So please experienced parrot owners! Give me a few tips on what i should start with and what i should think about..

regards.

[Michael]

First off, stop letting your parrot climb out of the cage on its own. This is a bad habit that you are creating and setting yourself up for aggression issues in the future. If the parrot wants to come out, it will have to step up for you first. Of course right now the parrot may not know this but it's a baby. It is looking to you for guidance and to learn about what it is supposed to do. Now is your time to mold how living with you will be like for the rest of its life. Now is the time to set up good habits like step up on hand in order to come out of cage.

Most likely the parrot is already hand tame and knows how to step up so then follow this guide for good methods to request step up. If it really does not know how to step up, then refer to the article about how to teach step up. It's probably a good idea for you to read my blog from start to end because I recently got a young parrot and have been sharing the steps I have been handling and taming him. You don't necessarily need to read the injury ones but if you start from the oldest and work your way to the newer articles, you can see the steps I took and it may give you some ideas:

http://trainedparrot.com/sitemap.php

As you said, the parrot is young and doesn't bite. So don't be scared to handle the bird and to instill routine. Lots of other training articles all over this site and the blog so definitely start by checking them out. They are all free.

[pchela]

Mmm... you can allow the bird to come out of the cage by himself. You just need to be sure that he knows when you say step up, he has to step up. Other than that, Michaels blogs have a wealth of information that should be very helpful for you.

[Michael]

By letting the bird climb out on its own, you are bypassing the opportunity to use coming out of the cage as a positive reinforcer. If the parrot is taught to and constantly to come out on its own, it has no motivation to step up for the owner when inside the cage. This is a pretty likely way to teach it to bite hands in the cage. They don't like hands in the cage enough as it is just from being territorial. If they can climb in/out at will, then the opportunity to step up in return for coming out is no longer rewarding. Why shouldn't the parrot bite instead of stepping up then?

Remember, right now it's a baby but I am trying to warn you to avoid creating a long term biting problem.

[pchela]

Based on my own experience, if I put my hand in for any of my birds, they step up. If I open the cage door and let them come out on their own, they come out on their own. They always wait for a second to see if I'm going to offer them my hand before coming out. I did not train them to do that on purpose , it just happened. I see what you are saying but I don't think everything has to be about training. The birds need some freedom to make choices.

[Michael]

Yes, but how does it learn about choices? You can particularly shape the way it thinks and makes "choices" by setting up good habits and routines during its youth when it is looking to its flock for guidance.

[pchela]

I agree with that I just think that coming out of the cage should be the birds choice. They have to have someplace that they feel safe. It's their home and they should feel safe there, knowing that it won't be invaded if they don't want it to. There are other ways to train them when they are young. I think that all of the step up training should be done out of the cage on a separate stand. If the step up training is done well, there shouldn't be any issues with them stepping up from the cage anyway.

[Jontchaav]

Well, when i open the bird cage it steps to the door but then it doesnt climb out of himself, instead he tries to reach for my hand and step up on it, and he does that. But he does not know when to step up otherwise, i just open the cage for him to come closer since i cannot reach in for him yet, then he stands right at the opening being half in the cage and half out, and does not go any further except if its on my hand..

Thanks for your answers i have watched almost all of your videos but not the articles I will start to read them aswell.
Also sometimes when i approach him he lifts one of his wings up, is this a defensive position?

[lzver]

I agree with pchela ... you need to let the bird choose whether or not they want to come out. I do my training away from their cages.

With Lucy, she's not much of a hands on bird, so I just open her cage and let her come out on her own. Being that she's flighted, she comes out on her own and almost all of the time flies over to the jungle gym. On occassion she flies over to Jessie's cage to terrorize him or comes over to see me on the couch.

Jessie on the other hand is much happier hanging out with me on the couch than being on the jungle gym. I always ask him if he wants to come out before I even open his cage. He has a little excited dance that he does which tells me he wants to come out. When I open the cage door, I make him come out to see me. I've gotten nailed by him a couple times by misreading his body language and putting my hand in his cage. His latest game is to hang upside down in the opening of his cage and falling backwards into my hand followed by laughing. He truly is the sweetest and cutest thing in the world

As already stated, Michael has some great articles that should get you started with training step-up. Good luck. I like your avatar picture. Amazon are beautiful birds.

[Azure Hanyo]

If I force Galileo out of her cage when she doesn't want out, I am in for some major biting. I know when to leave her alone! She can be moody. But that's OK, some days I want to be left alone too. Normally she does a little happy dance and calls to me when she does want out, and does a little "ra-ra" noise like chattering. Those are the best times to get her out.