Help With Parrot

[Simmons]

Hey people.

I have an Orange Winged Amazon and he wont "step up" out of his cage he will eaither put his head under your hand and fluff his feathers to try make you scratch him or just simple run away..But eventualy he will climb onto my hand after submiting..but if he is calm minding his own buisness on the floor he will "Step Up" with no fuss..I dont get it.. he allows me to scratch his head and talk to me but go any where near his feet and back and he turns into Demon Bird from hell..anyone got an idea ? :)

[areias]

You can start by using a small wooden dowel (stick) if you are afraid of being bitten. You don't need to press into his feet. Let's say he's sitting on his perch...you put your hand against his chest and push a little-it will knock him off balance, and he'll want to grab onto something, and he'll climb onto your hand. As you do this, say step-up! Keep praciticing like that and he should learn quickly.

[fatcat91]

if possible dont use a stick as this may scare the bird try.....errrrr.......i know try if he fly onto the floor or something if he will step onto your wrist when he does say "step up" give him one of his favourite treat's (try peanuts or monkey nuts in shell's) then he should learn how to get the treat when you say "step up" or try areias way



GOOD LUCK!

[SunsetRose]

Your missing one important aspect in the world of animal training. Rewards!!!

You must give him a reason to step up. The privlige of coming out often isn't enough, especially with a bird who is reluctant.

Keep doing what you are doing, but instead when he steps up, immediatly give him his favorite treat.

In fact, it would be better to coax him into stepping up. Hold your hand out in front of him and hold a favorite treat in the other hand. Keep the treat behind your other arm. Show it to him and then gently move it further away to lure him right onto your arm. If he wants the treat, he has to work for it. You may need to break it up and shape it first. Reward him when he just takes a single step the first couple times. Then, when he reliable takes one step, do the same thing, but don't reward one step. Keep luring him and reward him for 2 steps. Then reward him for putting one foot on your arm. Then reward him for stepping up. Your using frusteration to get this effect, the thing that once got him a treat suddenly doesn't so he'll work harder and the behavior will become more extreme to get the treat. Then you add the cue by putting your arm down and saying "step up" as he steps up, then reward him.

[Simmons]

When he is in the cage. he wont let me go anywhere near his Chest to push up on him he will just fly to other side of the cage. i have signed up for a training sessions over email.. He dont run away in side his cage anymore he just stands his ground and wont "Step up" but its getting somewhere. the problem was he had nothing to come out for. he only used to eat fresh fruit and seeds now he is on a health Parrot pellet..feel like im starving him :(. i got this from a Free training lessons over Email prety good http://www.birdtricks.com/

1.) get your parrot to only eat pellets or sumthing like that. sumthing that is good for him. and only give his fav treat when training (prety easy :p )

2.) 1. Put your bird on a perch in a quiet room with
limited distractions. Have plenty of treats
ready. (the amount of treats your bird needs
to meet his daily food allowance)

2. With your bird sitting on the perch, hold up a treat for it.
The instant your bird turns to look at the treat, or try to take it,
before he does, say to bird, verbally, 'GOOD' and then give
him the treat. Do not give the bird the treat until you have
told him 'GOOD'.

You verbally telling the parrot good is just like when Dr. Skinner
dropped the pellet in the rat's food dish and it
made a clanging sound. The rat knew it was then garanteed
a food pellet.

The same is true with your parrot. We want your parrot
to know that every time he hears the word 'good', he
is sure that he will get a treat. So he works for you to
say 'GOOD' to him.

3. The next step is to hold the treat in such a way that your
bird has to turn his head 90 degrees to reach for the treat.
The instant he turns his head 90 degrees, say 'GOOD' and
reward him with the treat.

4. Repeat the above steps until your bird knows that
no matter where you put the treat, all he has to do
is look directly at it and he gets a reward.

=======================================
IMPORTANT: DO NOT REWARD ANY MOVEMENT AWAY
FROM THE TREAT!
=======================================

You are only going to reward your bird for actions/behaviors
that you are trying to shape. This means that you never give
your bird its favorite treat unless it is in a training session.

Do not give it its favorite treat when he is in his cage either,
unless it is doing a specific behavior you would like
to train it to do.

5. Next, make your bird have to reach/walk in the
direction of the treat to earn a reward. Then have it
take 1 step towards the treat to earn it, and then 2, until
your bird knows that it has to walk over to
the treat to be rewarded.

Some birds will do this automatically, in which case my
next lesson that you will recieve tommorow can start
the actual training of a trick. But if your bird doesn't
catch on that quickly, no worries. Some birds take
longer than others.

Just simply repeat these steps until your bird will walk
towards the food. And once you have that down, you
are really going to enjoy my next lesson which you
will get tomorrow.

Best of luck Stuart,

lol sorry it is a bit long :P

[SunsetRose]

Yep, that sounds good.

If your interested in doing further training with him, there is a book called "Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds" by Melinda Johnson. It goes over that as well as telling you how to teach tricks. It also discusses how to tame birds and end aggressive biting and how to calm fearful birds. It's done using ALL positive reinforcement.

It uses methods similar to the one you posted, but instead of saying GOOD, you click the clicker, then give a treat.

The book explains it very thoroughly. I highly suggest getting it as it will really help you out, strengthen the bond between you and your bird, and will give you the opportunity to have fun and enjoy owning a parrot.

[Simmons]

im into 4th day of training my parot now and he is no longer scared of me..HAPPY DAYS..he has learn Wave aswell :) coming along nice..as for that book i cba to buy a book when there is free stuff on the internet that works aswell

[Argranade]

Foooood & Treeaaattss!

Thats what usualy helps lol!

Put your hand infront of your bird then show it some treats from your other hand, your bird should then climb onto your hand (While you show him the treats and saying ''step up'') and then you finaly give the bird a treat & of course congratz your bird with ''Your such a good bird''!

After some practice your bird should get used to you saying step up, then hopefuly with time and care it will learn to step up when you ask it too.