step up only in some condition??

[naomi]

hi everybody,
my CAG just learn how to step up and he does step up very well.but why he only step up very easily when the cage is away?when he is around his cage is very very very difficult to make him step up.is very hard because i need to hide the cage every time we want him to step for some reason.
i never force him too much and im not scared of the bite.i keep my hand steady when i ask him to step up and he knows i wont let him fall down even he bite me hard.i know he trust my hand but he just dsnt like to step up around his cage.
why he doing this??can anyone help me to cure this??
thanks

[Michael]

when he is around his cage is very very very difficult to make him step up.

Keyword "make." This is the root of the problem right here. You are making him step up rather than setting things up so that he really wants to. It's probably because you punish him too much by "making him step up" and then putting him away in the cage. Don't "make" him go in the cage. Make him WANT to go in the cage. Lots and lots of articles I wrote on my blog about making the bird want what you are doing to it rather than it fighting and biting because it doesn't want that.

http://TrainedParrot.com/Caging
http://TrainedParrot.com/Taming
http://TrainedParrot.com/Bad_Rewarding
http://TrainedParrot.com/Good_Behavior

Just to name a few.

[naomi]

hi michael,thanks for the link.
i never punish him with step up and put him inside his cage.what i know,he love his cage too much.
i do all the food management and that always work for me(before he dsnt know step up and this is the best method because i dont want to towel him to put him inside cage).he is very discipline,he come back himself to his cage with ''go eat your dinner hun'' command and he come back happily.he come out himself on time around 8 am without any problem.all his schedule is perfect.

i just worried he wont go anywhere else except his cage,which slowly i will introduce him parrot park and gym.i dont really like him to spend all of his time on his cage too much also.when we move him little bit far from his cage like 2 mtr away,what he trying to do is looking at his cage and try to come back.he is lack of 'confident' to be far away from cage.
i also like to teach him (be more discipline) to come out and back with step up command.

what the best i can do michael?

[Michael]

he is very discipline,he come back himself to his cage with ''go eat your dinner hun'' command and he come back happily.he come out himself on time around 8 am without any problem.all his schedule is perfect.

what the best i can do michael?

Stop letting him come in/out on his own, stop punishing him for stepping up, and make stepping up more rewarding. DON'T EVER LET THE PARROT COME IN/OUT OF THE CAGE BY ITSELF. These are two things the parrot can potentially REALLY look forward to. The parrot is happy to come out and spend time out and it is happy to go inside to eat its meal. By letting it do those by yourself, you are left with damn little good stuff that it can see as coming from you. Instead you are a bad person to the parrot because all you do is get in the way of it doing what it wants. You stick it back in the cage for no reason when it just wants to stay out and play, etc.

So instead, follow my positive reinforcement "well behaved parrot approach." In the morning you take the parrot out only via step up. You do training while it is still hungry. Then you have it step up so YOU can reward it in the cage with a complete meal. Same thing in the evening. Good interactions only happen via you, bad ones happen separately and not from you (like being stuck in cage when meal is done, by that time the parrot already forgot how it ended up in there). So don't put the parrot away in the cage just because you want to. Put the parrot away with a reason for it to want to be there like it's dinner time. Every interaction with you must be rewarding for the parrot. I can't stress this enough.

[naomi]

wow michael,
thanks for the very good advise.now i understand what i have to do and whats my mistake.
i have cockatiel as well and he does step up to me to come out and in.
i dont know why this dsnt work on my CAG.
only 1 more thing make me confused and i really apreciated if u answer my last question.

just say tomorrow morning he need to come out after breakfast meal.but he refuse to step up and prefer to come out by himself.what i have to do?should i insint him to step up?
and how about he refuse 100%?i should not let him out without step up?

thanks u michael!

[Michael]

i have cockatiel as well and he does step up to me to come out and in.
i dont know why this dsnt work on my CAG.

Cause he's smarter! Duh!

just say tomorrow morning he need to come out after breakfast meal.but he refuse to step up and prefer to come out by himself.what i have to do?should i insint him to step up?
and how about he refuse 100%?i should not let him out without step up?

Ok, so for starters you have to bear in mind the long term goals vs short term goals. Just because the long term goal is for him to always come in/out via you doesn't mean it will happen all at once. Now the ONLY way he can learn that stepping up on your hand equals getting breakfast is to do it. So he will have to do that at some point in order to learn its importance.

So how do you get your parrot on your hand so you can show him that it's worthwhile for him? Well this is where target training is so beneficial! It's a way of coaxing him onto your hand so that you could reward him with a huge meal to make it more than worthwhile.

For example, you let the parrot out in the morning. You come over to cage, open but stand in the way of the door with your hand there. Don't let the parrot climb out himself. Put your hand where he wants to climb so at the VERY LEAST he has to walk over your hand to get out on his own. With progressive sessions increase how much he needs to be on your hand. While he is out of cage he can get treats for training but NEVER FEED MEALS OUTSIDE CAGE. This is his reason for going back in so don't waste it out where he likes being anyway. So you put meal inside cage. He knows its there. Show him if you have to. He wants to climb in himself but the cage door is CLOSED! Look at that, parrot sees food but can't get to it. Here comes human to save the day. Target onto hand, open door, put parrot right on perch with food. Problem solved. Continue this into the long term and maintain this routine in morning/evening and the whole problem of going into and out of cage is solved. Your parrot will always step up to come out and to go in. This solves 80% of cage related tension cause it's always in the parrot's favor.

[naomi]

hahaha yes i understand now.
thanks again michael,i will prepare for nasty bite start from tomorrow.
thanks thanks thanks!