Shoulder help

[Ariana&Opal]

How can I keep my conure from going up my arm to my shoulder ? Also how do I train her to step off my shoulder when asked? She knows how to step up and off my hand but once she's on my shoulders she will play keep away or bite me.. That the only problem she has besides attacking the target stick, biting strangers and not letting me pet her a lot is that!! .. But other than that She's almost the perfect bird!..almost...

[Wolf]

Not much to go on but I would wager that the majority of the time that you take your bird off of your shoulder it is to put it in its cage and since it would prefer to stay out and hang out with you it plays catch me if you can on your shoulder. This is usually the reason for this behavior. Change this to asking the bird to step up and taking it to various other places and doing something the bird likes and then when you take your bird to go in the cage offer a high value treat such as a piece of a favorite nut when you put it in the cage. This will not stop the bird from going to your shoulder, but it should help with getting it to step up from there. Most birds are going to climb to the highest perch on you that it can which is your head or shoulder. This is natural and you are unlikely to change this behavior.
Please read the following topic as it contains important information concerning this site.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13748

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

Is your bird flighted? Myrtle loves me and can really be a pest sitting on my shoulder and picking at me while I am trying to work. Myrtle knows: fly, get off, go away and leave me alone. Being Myrtle she usually does not listen. I use an open hand with palm forward and just push her off.

[Pajarita]

Liz, the bird bites her when she tries to take her off.

Wolf's suggestion is correct. You need to change the dynamics by making her stepping off your shoulder more attractive than staying on your shoulder BUT this only works in the long term if the bird is getting enough out of cage time (4 hours a day) and one-on-one (1 hour at the very least). They are smart and, if they are not getting the minimum attention they need, they will resort to biting you when you try to cut it short. How old is this bird? How long have you had her? Was she DNA'd a female? When, where and how long are the training sessions that will make her bite the target stick? At what time does she wake up and go to sleep? Diet?