Sooo not sure what I'm doing wrong

Hey guys!! So the baby chose his own name! Milo! I just read a list of names and watched his reactions and i came to the conclusion that Milo was his name due to how he turned to look over every time I said it! Even walked over((; little cutie.

My issue that I'm having is that he DOES NOT want to come out of the cage. He'll walk over to take a sunflower seed then go back to the corner. And get this, my breeder told me not to give him a few days to settle in but have him out as much as possible to avoid him getting cage bound. I thought it was rediculous but now he won't come out. He acts wild in the cage!! I just don't understand. I decided to try using a perch to get him to step up but nope. He flapped out of the cage like a psychopath! I wasn't even pushing the issue and was moving very very slowly. I don't understand? Even my cockatiel who was abused and neglected for a whole year doesn't behave this way.

But after he was out he would happily step up onto a stick,just to get off the floor. If I used my hand he would reach out to step up but but instead of just letting go when he got his balance he would just bite down. So I laid out a whole bunch of toys and tried to get him interested but you can see him just sitting there looking for a way to get away. So I thought maybe if I went to the other room so he can't see the cage. Which I was able to have him step up to my hand. We toured the house which he seemed to enjoy but in the other room I laid down a towel and laid out the toys to try and entice him to play touched a couple toys and that's when he saw the dark space under the entertainment system so he ran over and got under it and was fluffing up and hissing at me. This is a completely different bird than I was visiting. So I used a perch to get him to step up and then made him step down on the training perch then step up again praised him for it then put him back in the cage. As to not reinforce him to bite me if he wants to go back.

But the breeder told me he was handfed. Now that u have him home I'm thinking this may not be the case. A wild baby sun conure?? This is crazy! The reason I went to the breeder was to have a baby that was at least used to people but his poor baby is behaving like he's never seen a human before! Which is weird because I had no clue while I was visiting him! I need help.)): how do I start?? I was definitely expecting for me to have to put a lot of work into him but he just caught me by surprise. Where can I start to help him? And my fingers! Lol

Alright. Well Nevermind then. I'll just buy Birdtricks.com training package and Skype them instead. Thanks guys..

I would say it sounds like he was parent raised vs hand fed. The only thing I can say us maybe get some treats that you think he may like (I Give Harley sees balls and fresh fruit I know he likes). Don't force him out. Give him the time to get use to his surroundings and become aware of what's around him. Could take a couple days, could take a couple weeks. Don't get mad at him if he doesn't come out right away. Let him come and go as he pleases. With Harley I had to earn his trust before hed come out of his cage. I would talk to him and whistle to him and even sing. It took about a month. But he eventually came out. Now it's over a year and he is a snuggle bug. He still has his moments but he's better now.

Get a play stand. Put some treats in the bowl of the play stand.Leave the cage door open then stand back and let him come out in his own time. This worked with my pineapple conure Rio.It will teach him out of cage =tasty treat

DannyA93 said:

Alright. Well Nevermind then. I'll just buy Birdtricks.com training package and Skype them instead. Thanks guys..

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A little patience, please! No need to be so hasty. Occasionally a post doesn't get the immediate attention the OP is looking for, our members and staff always make an effort to answer posts, if there is a delay, it's not intentional. Please don't take it personally.

Hello sorry that we have been disappointingly slow to answer your post.

So Milo is a Sun Conure that you thought or expected to be hand reared? Have you contacted the breeder about this?

As with any bird that is a new addition you need to take it slow allow the bird to start to trust you. Let him gain some confidence in his new and strange surroundings. Thrusting a stick at him and expecting him to know and do the right thing straight away is unrealistic. You have another bird so trust you are familiar with basic bird training techniques. There are a couple of previous posts to mine so hope they help too.

DannyA93 said:

Alright. Well Nevermind then. I'll just buy Birdtricks.com training package and Skype them instead. Thanks guys..

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WHOAH! Patient much?

Good luck with Birdtricks! Since you're paying for it, you'll get what you pay for.
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So, now that I have that out of my system, I just wanted to tell you that 'handfed' does NOT necessarily mean 'well adjusted', 'socialized', 'super cuddly or friendly'. It only means the bird was raised by a hand feeder. Nothing more.

Allee already said it MUCH nicer than I ever could. Posts DO get lost sometimes. This is a busy forum. A gentle 'bump' on your part would have put your question right back to the top.

Best of luck with your baby!

Don't worry Danny, it's happened to all of us before (posts getting pushed down before they can be seen and answered).

I think it's ridiculous that the breeder says to rush the bird out of the cage immediately, so that he doesn't get cage bound. That's not going to happen to a brand new just barely weaned bird! Ridiculous. He does need time to settle in his surroundings. It's quite normal for them to not act 'themselves' right at first. Some come out of their shell sooner, some are more apprehensive by nature and may take longer. If you just brought him home, let him just observe and get used to his drastically new surroundings! With gentle encouragement, he'll warm up when he's ready, and not before that.

I'm not frustrated I just knew it's spark some responses( sorry and thanks guys! I was just a little thrown off guard given all the surprises! But I wasn't expecting anything from him except for him to be a little calmer and more comfortable around people. It was a shock to discover how his attitude changed so drastically in the new environment! I was expecting him to have a bit of nerves and uneasiness but flapping around and almost hurting himself and me just scared the crap outta me!

Anywho rant over lol I have not spoken with the breeder yet. I knew right away not to take her advice as she told me not to let him settle in first! She also told me that if he flew off to wrap him in a towel for a minute then put him back. What?? No thank you I'm not about to try and use negative reinforcement with him as we all know DOES NOT WORK. Especially if you want the bird to trust you. He was also on a homemade diet of pellets crushed corn oyster shells SUNFLOWER And SAFFLOWER SEEDS! Crazy! I noticed he was only eating the sunflower seeds and an occasional pellet so I decided to pick all the sunflower seeds out of the bag and use them for training as I can see he loves them. If he doesn't have the sunflower option he eats the pellets thank the lord.

i was thinking he could of been hand fed as he's very happy to take treats from my hand, it's just her methods have caused him to not fully trust hands as he thinks they will grab him and wrap him in a towel all the time If there is no treat in them.

I haven't bought the BirdTricks program yet but what do you guys think of them? I don't hear many negative reviews. I've also just sat back and remembered I know what to do. 5 years of parrot research didn't just go to waste! Ive established that it seems to be that he thinks I'm gonna make him uncomfortable with every interaction so I started today's training session with NOHANDS. Pulled out a chop stick, a clicker and got started clicker conditioning.

He is a very smart bird. He quickly got the idea that "click" means sunflower seed! So I felt comfortable enough to start actual touch training. Surprisingly enough he was touching the stick all over the play stand by the end of the session! I was very proud of him so he got a jackpot reward after we were done and nicely stepped up and went back into his cage where breakfast was waiting for him(

DannyA93 said:

I'm not frustrated I just knew it's spark some responses( sorry and thanks guys! I was just a little thrown off guard given all the surprises! But I wasn't expecting anything from him except for him to be a little calmer and more comfortable around people. It was a shock to discover how his attitude changed so drastically in the new environment! I was expecting him to have a bit of nerves and uneasiness but flapping around and almost hurting himself and me just scared the crap outta me!

Anywho rant over lol I have not spoken with the breeder yet. I knew right away not to take her advice as she told me not to let him settle in first! She also told me that if he flew off to wrap him in a towel for a minute then put him back. What?? No thank you I'm not about to try and use negative reinforcement with him as we all know DOES NOT WORK. Especially if you want the bird to trust you. He was also on a homemade diet of pellets crushed corn oyster shells SUNFLOWER And SAFFLOWER SEEDS! Crazy! I noticed he was only eating the sunflower seeds and an occasional pellet so I decided to pick all the sunflower seeds out of the bag and use them for training as I can see he loves them. If he doesn't have the sunflower option he eats the pellets thank the lord.

i was thinking he could of been hand fed as he's very happy to take treats from my hand, it's just her methods have caused him to not fully trust hands as he thinks they will grab him and wrap him in a towel all the time If there is no treat in them.

I haven't bought the BirdTricks program yet but what do you guys think of them? I don't hear many negative reviews. I've also just sat back and remembered I know what to do. 5 years of parrot research didn't just go to waste! Ive established that it seems to be that he thinks I'm gonna make him uncomfortable with every interaction so I started today's training session with NOHANDS. Pulled out a chop stick, a clicker and got started clicker conditioning.

He is a very smart bird. He quickly got the idea that "click" means sunflower seed! So I felt comfortable enough to start actual touch training. Surprisingly enough he was touching the stick all over the play stand by the end of the session! I was very proud of him so he got a jackpot reward after we were done and nicely stepped up and went back into his cage where breakfast was waiting for him(

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Hi, pleased you have the responses you so craved but honestly don't think this trick will work again. JerseyWendy's advice is sound ie getting a little impatient? A gentle bump is all that is required.

It's good to hear your little fella, Milo, is responding positively after you sounded a bit down about things. IMHO definitely focus on a healthy diet for him. Looking forward to hearing more tales about how it's going with him in the future.

You can also try sprouting the sunflower and safflower seeds to teach Milo to eat new stuff. Sprouts are great for them.

I remember when Bird Tricks was new. I don't think you will learn anything from the program that you can't get from a forum like this or from other free bird behaviorist blogs. However, maybe you need something all in one place and it will be great for you. I don't know much of what they teach now, so no idea how good it is.

Sounds like you are off to a good start with clicker training. I know it's kind of a shock to go from having a bonded bird who you are used to behaving (your Kyro) to a new bird that you have to start from scratch. At least I seemed to forget just what it took initially for that bond to begin to form. It will happen though.