Frustrating! Impossible Behavior To Overcome!

Hi All. I am having a VERY trying problem with my 6 month old Citron Crested Cockatoo, Knuckles.

She is FIXATED, ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED, with picking at the skin on my hands. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get her to step up, because when I present my hand and ask her to "come up" her immediate response is to lower her beak, and begin picking.

I have tried having her step up from behind; she turns around and starts picking.
I have tried keeping my hand covered with my shirtsleeve; she bites the sleeve, and will attempt to chomp down on the flesh in the sleeve.
I have tried luring her with a treat; she likes picking on my skin better than treats.
I have tried getting her to step up on a perch; she is TERRIFIED and will do anything she can to get away.

So it's pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to get her to step up. Every once in a while, if I leave my hand there for a minute or so, she will pick, pick, pick, and then actually step up. I will immediately click, and begin treating her, with the treat held high, so she has to keep her head UP to get treats. If she goes to pick, I will shake my hand a little.

What makes this problem even more frustrating, is that I haven't had her long enough to build a strong enough bond with her to file her nails, and they are razor sharp. So every time she does agree to step up, she leaves little cuts on my hands, for her to pick at the next time I try to get her to step up.

Has anyone had a similar problem, or have any suggestions as to how I can fix this issue?

Wrap a thick towel around your arm, at least until she improves to the point you can do a nail trim, and make her step up anyway.

She won't be able to bite through the towel and it will protect your entire forearm.

That's what I used to do when I was rehabbing the biters.

Maybe offer your arm instead of your hand? Wear a long-sleeved sweatshirt so her nails won't dig into you.

My previous amazon wouldn't step up on my hand, but he would for my arm- I always kept my hand closed in a fist and turned down so he couldn't get to my hand so easily

Thanks guys. I just keep pulling away when she does it. She freaked out with my sweat shirt sleeve over my hand, so I can only imagine what she's going to do when I approach her with a towel on my arm.

She actually has been a little better this afternoon.... we will see. It's just such a crazy problem!

Yup definately protect your arm, and don't pull away anymore, push into her scooping upwards. Just keep trying, she'll get it. Once this hurdle is crossed you're in the promised land

If I'm understanding you correctly, Knuckles is only beaking and preening you with her beak, right? No actual bites? If so, it doesn't sound much different from what happens with Bixby. He just LOVES beaking. Playing with my finger and moving it all around anytime my hand comes near. So this caused a bit of an issue with stepping up as well. Every time I offered my hand he'd reach out and grab my finger.

I got around this by offering my thumb, first. Once he started grabbing my thumb with his beak, I'd roll the rest of my hand under his "defenses" and put gentle pressure just under his chest, which caused him to instinctively step up. After a few days of this, saying, "step up" every time, he learned exactly what I wanted and now just steps up with the verbal command.

Again, this is only an option if he isn't actively trying to bite you. Hope this helps!

Since Percy decided he suddenly loves me, he is also constantly nibbling my hands and fingers! He's especially fond of grabbing my pinky and also the soft pad inside my thumb. It doesn't deter him from stepping up or down most of the time though, so I just go with it. He seldom bites hard enough to hurt either. I do share your pain about sharp claws though!! When he's perched on just one finger, I fear that my finger will spontaeously fall off just to get away from the pain! I've tried clipping his nails by making a game of it but he's NOT impressed with the look of the clipper. Today, I started playing around with a nail file (emery board) while he was on my lap and while he's not afraid of it really, he get very concerned if I try to file any nails LOL! I've got an app at the AV for a nail clipping on the 14th but if I can get something done before then, I'd be much happier. I'm really not keen to take him to the AV for this because I'm expected to drop him in his travel box and leave him there for about four hours while the AV does all his clippings, trimmings, etc and then the parronts get phoned to collect their fids. Four hours! In that box! Alone without food or toys! The idea terrifies me but this is our only AV in town .

Sorry, I've hijacked your thread!

Back to Knucky - isn't he just looking for affection? Perhaps he's still unsure in his new home and is trying to win you over by preening you?

I am interested in how you'll solve this. My galah is a chomper too....

Maybe you should rename him? Do you think he's trying to live up to his name?

Yes, JAWS would be an appropriate name!!!

She's actually getting better, and will sometimes step up now, with no nibbling. I think it's because when she tries to nibble, I pull my hand away. As she gets to know me better, she wants more and more to spend time with me, so she will come up.......and THEN try to nibble!!

I will keep you posted

Have you tried target training her? If you haven't maybe you could try rewarding her with a favorite treat for touching a an object (like a chopstick or a small dowel) with her beak. Once she's consistently touching the target with her beak each time it's presented in front of her, try doing it in different areas and having her move to touch it. Once she's consistently following it and moving to touch it you could try putting your hand near her and asking her to touch the target instead of your hand. Eventually, you can ask her to step up by placing the target in front of the hand you want her to step up onto so that she has to step up to touch the target. Because she will have been rewarded so much for touching the target and because in the meantime she hasn't been given the opportunity to pick at your hand, she'll choose to touch the target instead of picking at your hand. The more you reinforce her for a behavior you like, the more she'll engage in that behavior instead of the undesired behavior.