"Step up" help

[bmcgowen135]

Hello everyone.

Two months ago i got a new named Sunny, he's about a year old now. I've been trying to train him to step up but i can't get him to do so, i'll explain why after the intro. I got him from a local pet store, he wasn't hand fed so i knew human contact might be a big deal. However, he is very friendly and enjoys human contact. Which surprised me. He'll go up to complete strangers without much hesitation. The one caveat is he does not like anyone or anything touching near his feet. Whenever i try to get under his abdomen to try and teach him the Step Up command he'll back up or put his head down to block my finger or the training perch.

I have found that he will sometimes jump on my hand if he is scared or if he is trying to run up my arm to get on my shoulder. I've tried using treats to lure him onto my finger but i think he knows that it's a trick because he'll follow up right up until its just far enough that he has to jump onto my finger.

Does anyone have any tips on how to break him from this fear? Like i said he loves sitting on me and will let me pet him whenever, i can even put my hand into his cage and hand feed him, but once i get near his feet he freaks out. Thanks for the help.

[Michael]

Let him come to you to step up instead of you approaching him making him step up. You can check out the free parrot taming article or buy my DVD to see exactly how to use a positive reinforcement approach. In the DVD I targeted a cockatiel that never stepped up before to step up on my hand so I could take it out of the cage.

[pionus]

targeting is a really good idea.

have you taken him to the vet yet? if he doesn't like you touching his feet, or getting close to them, it might be because they are sore/hurt. what kind of perches does he have? if they are dowels, you should replace them with natural wood perches, like grapevine, because the straightness of the dowel causes their feet to form sores and can lead to arthritis.
he may just not be comfortable being touched there.

[bmcgowen135]

I haven't taken him to the vet yet. I do need to make an appointment though.

I do have the wooden dowels but i also have a few other perches that are different sizes, is that okay too? or should i get the natural one's anyways? Either way is fine with me just checking if having the current perches would be okay.

I haven't noticed any sores or anything on his feet (which doesn't mean anything). He's okay with standing on my arm and jumping on my hand but he only does it when he wants not when i ask.

I have tried a little bit of target training with him. He seems to follow the stick pretty well, although i haven't gotten him to follow it onto my finger. I'm still working on the target training though so maybe if i do it a little bit more he'll feel better about getting on my finger.

[Polarn]

as to the perches, I'd say few things beats the natural perches.. Their "naturally" in different shapes and sizes, and besides that they provide some enrichment (if the bark is still on em) couse then they will peel off the bark and well mines completely destroy perches, the tiel only chews off thin ones though) but basically it keeps thei beaks in shape as well as often being patterned enough to actually keep the nails in shape providing they got a few thick enough for the nails not to just go round them..

[Pricey_boy]

With my birds I perched them on something where they feel uncomfortable or scared and they will immediately step up then reward them and then eventually they learn

[Eric&Rebecca]

When we taught ours we used to have the same problem. We just had to put up with a lot of nibbling but eventually they do learn not to block your hand- these were our wild ones but we now have a hand reared. We first did the step up from inside the cage- then once they could do that after many hours we did it in the cage door and then finally outside the cage. The whole process took about 3 months. Also nibbling your finger is a way of testing stability of an object before they get on

Cockatiels protest at things but they will still do it if you can get past being nibbled and if you reward them afterwards. You could always try rewarding him when he does get on you without asking with a small tit-bit. That way he will know that it's a good thing to be sitting on you and eventually will want to get on your hand in hopes of a tit bit.

Another way you could work up to this is perhaps hand feeding... again if the hand contains food they tend to become more familiar with it. He may be more inclined to want to jump on it then.

In some circumstances I have known birds not to like pointed fingers. Perhaps try two fingers or a bent thumb. (We did this with our previous female tiel).

Overall, reward the positive behaviour and be persistent. Eventually he will do it.

[pionus]

With my birds I perched them on something where they feel uncomfortable or scared and they will immediately step up then reward them and then eventually they learn

wait, you put your birds in a situation that makes them feel scared just so they step up? don't you think here is a better way to do that other than making you birds feel uncomfortable in that way, even if it takes longer?

is it really necessary to frighten your birds into stepping up?

[bmcgowen135]

Yeah he finally is starting to step up. I found that the single finger doesn't work well at all but if i put my whole hand out in front of him he will usually step up without an issue. Still have a little work to do but we're getting there. Thanks for all of your help and advice!