He won't step up!!!

nattyd

New member
Mar 10, 2019
37
0
London, UK
Parrots
GCC: Yoshi
So me and yoshi, my GCC seemed to be on the right path in forming a bond - he started taking food from my hand through his cage, then inside the cage and then from the palm of my hand all in the same week after 1 month. But now we seem to have reached a stagnant point in which he refuses to step up on my hand (it's been nearly 2 weeks since his other progressions), he's even hesitant to put one foot on my hand.

I read somewhere that it's better to ensure your bird knows how to step up before letting him out his cage but as of now, we're not really making any progress, it's been nearly a month since i let him out and i feel bad. (I haven't let him out because he was becoming increasingly difficult to handle and would refuse to go in his cage and when he was in his cage he would scream all day long, someone suggested he needed to acclimate to his cage which has seemed to work and he seems comfortable in his cage now).

Should i continue his training inside his cage? Or is it time to let him out?

I've attempted to use a perch to teach him how to step up but this seems to really freak him out and i don't want to stress him and un-do our progress - As such, i would much rather teach him how to step up directly with my hand. With that being said, i've tried to use one finger, my whole hand, 2 fingers, the back of my hand etc - no luck! I've also used a clicker but he didn't seem in the slightest interested.

Whilst he doesn't hesitate to take food from my hand he is still a little wary of my hand and has yet not allowed me to touch him or anything.
:(
What should my next move be? Any advice will be most appreciated!!
 
Last edited:

clark_conure

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2017
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A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
are you afraid of your birds beak?

if you show fear they will also be fearful.

Just put your hand up right to his chest and push back against him slightly, he will be more confident in you with an assertive gesture, not a timid one. If he isn't running away in flippy flappy escape mode; and takes seeds from your hand...it's kinda sorta time to imprint on the bird that you are the alpha, AND YOU WILL PROTECT HIM. you do that by being super confident in all your actions.

If theres still I bite later on you can do the time out method, but once a bird trusts you, there is nothing to be lost and it wont hurt if you have to show you are CONFIDENT. then they will trust you all the way.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
How old is Yoshi now? Was he hand-raised/hand-fed? I'm just asking to get an idea of his background and temperament...

You need to start letting him out of his cage every single day!!! And for a good long time each day!!!! You got some really bad advice as far as "not letting your new parrot out of their cage at all until they'll step-up for you, and it's really bad advice for 2 different reasons:

#1) First of all, it's very unhealthy for them, both physically and mentally. He's gotten absolutely no exercise for a month, and it also causes severe boredom, depression, and commonly leads to Feather-Destructive Behaviors...They're birds, they normally fly around 8-10 miles each and every day in the wild, so they cannot be just kept inside of a cage for a month at a time. Period. Not your fault, you just got horrible, horrible advice...

#2) You've been working with him/trying to train him to step-up while he's inside of his cage, his "territory", and by constantly putting your hands inside of his cage, or his "territory", and this is no-doubt why you're moving in a backwards-direction in-regards to bonding with him, because in-order to bond with a parrot, any parrot, and also in-order to be able to teach them to simply step-up for you on a regular-basis or on-command (should just step-up for you whenever you put your finger down at his belly right above his feet ultimately), you must first "Earn Their Trust"...And every time you're putting your hands inside of his cage or his "territory" while he's also inside of it, and you're spending time with your hands inside of his cage trying to get him to step-up, meaning you're putting your hands extremely close to him and trying to touch him, you've just been reversing any Trust-Building that you originally did with him (also remember that he literally hasn't been ouside of his cage in a month now, so he's quite familiar and protective of it I'm sure)...

The reason that I asked how old Kermit is was because I wanted to know whether or not he is of an age where sex-hormones are also an issue; for Green Cheek Conures puberty usually starts between the ages of 8 months-old to around 1 year-old, usually it happens right around 1 year-old. However, if they have anything inside of their cages that is a "Trigger" for hormonal-behavior, then they tend to go into puberty much earlier than they normally would (They should not have ANYTHING inside of their cages that creates a small, dark place that they can get inside of or underneath ("Nest-like"), nor anything that could be seen-as or used-as "Nesting-Material", as these are one of the most-common hormonal "Triggers", and unfortunately they are sold by pet shops as being safe and wonderful for pet birds)...So if Kermit has ANYTHING inside of his cage like any type of "Bed" (they sell those "Triangle-Beds" for birds in pet shops), any type of Tent, any of the "Happy" or "Snuggle" Huts (they are actually extremely dangerous and kill thousands of pet birds for other reasons, so they need to be thrown away immediately if he has one), any type of Hammock, any type of "Box", meaning a cardboard-box, a nest-box, etc., then you need to remove them from his cage immediately and not ever put them back inside...And as far as "Nesting-Material", I'm talking about any type of animal-bedding or anything similar that is often put in the bottom of a bird's cage to absorb their droppings, such as rodent bedding, wood-chips, corn-cob bedding (which they stupidly and irresponsibly market as being "for birdcages"), crushed walnut-shell bedding, shredded-paper bedding (such as "Carefresh"), etc. You only want to put either sheets of clean newspaper, sheets of Butcher's Paper, or actual birdcage-liners in the bottom of his cage, and they need to be UNDERNEATH THE GRATE so that he cannot access them and start shredding them into "nesting-materail"...

**Also, try not to ever pet/scratch him anywhere on his body except for his head, face, and the back of his neck (and with some birds under the chin is also okay, some not, it depends on the bird). Touching/petting/scratching your bird on the back, the wings, under the wings, anywhere on his chest/belly, his legs, tail, or anywhere around/near his Vent will also trigger hormonal-behavior...

***So, forgetting the sex-hormones for right now (that was just an FYI kind of thing), what you need to do is first of all, if you haven't done this already, you need to make sure that his main-cage is located in the "Main-Room" of your home, which means the room of your home where you and the others who live with you (Kermit's "Flock") spend most of your time whenever you're at home. This is extremely important with pet parrots when it comes to first Earning Their Trust, Bonding-Closely with them, and also just simply keeping them Psychologically and Physically happy and healthy. Parrots are all "Flock Animals", and as such they need to always be with their Flocks...You and whomever you live with are his "Flock", and even though you might not be paying direct-attention to him or interacting with him all the time when you are home (just like all the birds in a Flock aren't always talking to each other all of the time), he still wants and really does NEED to be around you/near you/with you or whomever else in his Flock is home. So that means that when you and the rest of the people you live with are at home, if the room you all usually hang-out in is the Living-Room, Family-Room, Den, TV Room, etc., then that is exactly where his main-cage needs to be (I say "main cage" because some people also have a much smaller, free-of-toys "sleeping cage" that they usually put in their bedrooms that their birds sleep in beside them, which is totally fine)...So whenever you or any other people who live with you are at home watching TV, on the Computer/Phone/Tablet, are Gaming, are talking with each other, are eating a meal together, having visitors over, etc., then it's extremely important that Kermit is in the same room with you so that he feels like he's a part of the Flock, and also of course because the more he's just around you, sees you, hears your voice, has you and others walking past his cage (his "territory" again), etc., the more comfortable he's going to be with you...And the more likely he'll be to entertain himself inside of his cage with his toys....Some people make the mistake of putting their new bird (the only bird they have) in a spare-bedroom or some other back-room in their home, thinking that it's going to be really nice to make it into the "Bird's Room". Sometimes they go all-out and really set-up a really awesome Bird-Room with perches all over the room, swings, all kinds of toys hanging everywhere, a window perch they can look out of all day long, etc...And then their bird does nothing at all every day, all day long, but sit in one spot and continually cry/scream/yell, because they know/can hear that someone is at home, but they can't see them, and they are feeling left out of the Flock, and they don't want to entertain themselves or look out the window, etc. because they just want to be with their Flock...And the other common result of this is the bird just turns into a silent statue that makes no noise, but also doesn't move, doesn't play with anything, doesn't fly around, etc. They just sit in one spot all day long, every day, and that's their life besides eating and sleeping...

If you've already got Kermit's main-cage in the "main-room" of your home, then the next step is to start letting him out of his cage every single day, for ideally 4-5 hours a day, and for you to start working on Earning His Trust and teaching him to "Step-Up" for you AFTER you Earn His Trust...But you're most-likely not EVER going to accomplish this as long as you keep putting your hands inside of his cage and attempting to train him that way. The first thing that I suggest that you do is to either buy or build him (or re-purpose something you already have) a "Stand/Perch" of some kind that you can put in the main-room of your home next to or near his main-cage, that he can automatically start flying to (or if he's clipped that you can transfer him to) whenever you open-up the door to his cage...Because that's going to be the idea, that every day when you're home you're going to simply open-up the door to his cage and then you're going to wait for him to come-out on his own...And the very first time he does this you need both verbally-praise him a lot, AND give him a "Training-Treat" (whether he comes out and climbs on top of his cage or he comes out and flies onto something else, either way)...

A Training-Treat is his absolute favorite treat (and something that he can eat quickly and that you can keep in yoru pocket or near you at all times so that you can reward him quicklly), and it's something that you only give him as a reward when he does behaviors that you want him to do (Positive-Reinforcement)...Raw, unsalted Sunflower Seed Kernels are good Training-Treats (he shouldn't be eating Sunflower Seeds as a part of his regular diet as they are nothing but fat, but if he does then they cannot be his Training Treat)...
 
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nattyd

New member
Mar 10, 2019
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London, UK
Parrots
GCC: Yoshi
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  • #4
are you afraid of your birds beak?

if you show fear they will also be fearful.

Just put your hand up right to his chest and push back against him slightly, he will be more confident in you with an assertive gesture, not a timid one. If he isn't running away in flippy flappy escape mode; and takes seeds from your hand...it's kinda sorta time to imprint on the bird that you are the alpha, AND YOU WILL PROTECT HIM. you do that by being super confident in all your actions.

If theres still I bite later on you can do the time out method, but once a bird trusts you, there is nothing to be lost and it wont hurt if you have to show you are CONFIDENT. then they will trust you all the way.
No not at all! I've tried to do it this away but he freaks out and flys away
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
So the main idea here is that his cage is his "territory", and parrots are extremely territorial over their cages, some more than others, even the most tame and deeply-bonded pet parrots will still nip/bite their owners whenever they put their hands inside of their cages...I have a 4 year-old Quaker like this who I've had since she was 11 weeks-old and was hand-raised, and who I'm very closely bonded to...I cannot put my hands inside of her cage with her inside to this day, and probably never will...So from now on you want to simply open up his cage door and then back away and let him come out on his own, in his own time. It might take a while for him to do this, but that's okay, just make sure that you verbally-praise him and reward him by giving him a Training-Treat from your hand as soon as he does come out...Quicklly he will start automatically coming out of his cage as soon as you open the door and step away...And THEN you want to start working with him on "Step-Up", but not inside of his cage...And also, do not try to change his food/water or put a toy in, clean his cage, etc. with him inside either, let him come out on his own first...

And that's why I said that he needs to have some kind of T-Stand/Perch, Play-Stand, etc., either a Tabletop one or a Floor one, that is in the same room as his cage so he can learn to automatically fly to it whenever his cage door is opened up...So after he learns to come out of his cage whenever you open the door, and then he learns to step-up for you regularly, then what you want to do is open up the cage door, wait for him to come out on his own, have him step-up from wherever he is, and then carry him over to and put him on his Stand/Perch, and then verbally-praise and reward him with a Training Treat after he steps onto the stand/perch, etc. Then he'll quickly put it together and just automatically come out and go to his stand/perch whenever you open up his cage door...And it's easier to train/work with him if he's standing on a perch/stand anyway (sometimes if you hang one of his toys on the perch/stand or you put a foodd bowl on it, they will recognize it as being their own right away)...The more time you spend with him every single day with him, meaning just with him around you/near you, and the more opportunities he is given to be rewarded/Positively-Reinforced for wanted-behaviors he exhibits, the sooner you will earn his trust...And he will also be a much, much happier, healthier, outgoing, less-scared, less-nervous bird once he is out of his cage every day and able to fly, hang-out with his Flock, and isn't just locked inside of his cage while you wait to earn his trust and get him to step-up, because it's not going to happen, as you've found out...Hit the "Reset Button" and start-over with Kermit, and you'll be fine...

And as far as what Clark said above, he's correct that he is going to pick-up on what you are feeling, so if you're nervous or have anxiety about him being out of his cage, then he's going to feel the same thing towards the situation as well...Just relax, and like I said, you don't want to keep putting your hands inside of his cage to try to work with him because he doesn't want you in there, and you need to respect that...But to relate to what Clark said, he also doesn't feel comfortable outside of his cage right now either, because he's not been out of his cage at all, and because you feel uneasy about letting him out. So you need to start thinking of him as a member of your family, and you and the rest of the people you live with as being members of his Flock.

And as far as the perch/stand that is for him to be on whenever you just open-up the cage door, it's a good idea to make it portable, so you can easily just pick it up and carry it into whatever room or area you may be in, so he can be with you there too. Again, doesn't mean you'll need to be constantly paying direct-attention to him all the time that you're home, it just means that he should be out of his cage whenever you're at home, and be around you/near you/in the same room as you as well, instead of sitting in his cage when you're at home...

Lastly, you mentioned using a perch, like a wooden-dowel, to use to get him out of his cage...Some people like to do this, some people don't...I personally think that it's much better to simply open-up the door to his cage, walk away (give him space to make it inviting), verbally ask him to come out, and then wait for him to come out on his own, and then you must really praise him and reward him like crazy...Of course it might take some time and patience from you to allow him to come out on his own, but once he does it once or twice and you reward him with some really special treat that he loves (this is the time for people food he shouldn't have, lol), then he'll easily and quickly start automatically coming out on his own as soon as you open-up the door...And if you give him his own "territory" outside of his cage that he knows is his and that he's supposed to go to, and that it's his place to hang-out on whenever he's outside of his cage and with you, and he's rewarded and praised whenever he goes to it as well as when he simply comes out of his cage door on his own, then you're also going to earn his trust more and more every day...(As opposed to what might happen if you use a wooden-perch/dowel rod to stick inside of his cage and attempt to get him to step-up onto; I don't like that because it might work great, it might scare the hell out of them...I feel differently about the perch/wooden dowel-rod being used to get your non-tame bird out of his cage if we're talking about an African Grey, a Cockatoo, a Macaw, an Amazon, etc. who refuses to come out on his own and who can literally bite a finger right off, than I feel about a Green Cheek Conure or similar bird, who will typically come out of their cage on their own after the door is opened IF you are just patient and let them figure it out, and they are then rewarded well.
 
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nattyd

New member
Mar 10, 2019
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London, UK
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GCC: Yoshi
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  • #6
How old is Yoshi now? Was he hand-raised/hand-fed? I'm just asking to get an idea of his background and temperament...

You need to start letting him out of his cage every single day!!! And for a good long time each day!!!! You got some really bad advice as far as "not letting your new parrot out of their cage at all until they'll step-up for you, and it's really bad advice for 2 different reasons:

#1) First of all, it's very unhealthy for them, both physically and mentally. He's gotten absolutely no exercise for a month, and it also causes severe boredom, depression, and commonly leads to Feather-Destructive Behaviors...They're birds, they normally fly around 8-10 miles each and every day in the wild, so they cannot be just kept inside of a cage for a month at a time. Period. Not your fault, you just got horrible, horrible advice...

#2) You've been working with him/trying to train him to step-up while he's inside of his cage, his "territory", and by constantly putting your hands inside of his cage, or his "territory", and this is no-doubt why you're moving in a backwards-direction in-regards to bonding with him, because in-order to bond with a parrot, any parrot, and also in-order to be able to teach them to simply step-up for you on a regular-basis or on-command (should just step-up for you whenever you put your finger down at his belly right above his feet ultimately), you must first "Earn Their Trust"...And every time you're putting your hands inside of his cage or his "territory" while he's also inside of it, and you're spending time with your hands inside of his cage trying to get him to step-up, meaning you're putting your hands extremely close to him and trying to touch him, you've just been reversing any Trust-Building that you originally did with him (also remember that he literally hasn't been ouside of his cage in a month now, so he's quite familiar and protective of it I'm sure)...

The reason that I asked how old Kermit is was because I wanted to know whether or not he is of an age where sex-hormones are also an issue; for Green Cheek Conures puberty usually starts between the ages of 8 months-old to around 1 year-old, usually it happens right around 1 year-old. However, if they have anything inside of their cages that is a "Trigger" for hormonal-behavior, then they tend to go into puberty much earlier than they normally would (They should not have ANYTHING inside of their cages that creates a small, dark place that they can get inside of or underneath ("Nest-like"), nor anything that could be seen-as or used-as "Nesting-Material", as these are one of the most-common hormonal "Triggers", and unfortunately they are sold by pet shops as being safe and wonderful for pet birds)...So if Kermit has ANYTHING inside of his cage like any type of "Bed" (they sell those "Triangle-Beds" for birds in pet shops), any type of Tent, any of the "Happy" or "Snuggle" Huts (they are actually extremely dangerous and kill thousands of pet birds for other reasons, so they need to be thrown away immediately if he has one), any type of Hammock, any type of "Box", meaning a cardboard-box, a nest-box, etc., then you need to remove them from his cage immediately and not ever put them back inside...And as far as "Nesting-Material", I'm talking about any type of animal-bedding or anything similar that is often put in the bottom of a bird's cage to absorb their droppings, such as rodent bedding, wood-chips, corn-cob bedding (which they stupidly and irresponsibly market as being "for birdcages"), crushed walnut-shell bedding, shredded-paper bedding (such as "Carefresh"), etc. You only want to put either sheets of clean newspaper, sheets of Butcher's Paper, or actual birdcage-liners in the bottom of his cage, and they need to be UNDERNEATH THE GRATE so that he cannot access them and start shredding them into "nesting-materail"...

**Also, try not to ever pet/scratch him anywhere on his body except for his head, face, and the back of his neck (and with some birds under the chin is also okay, some not, it depends on the bird). Touching/petting/scratching your bird on the back, the wings, under the wings, anywhere on his chest/belly, his legs, tail, or anywhere around/near his Vent will also trigger hormonal-behavior...

***So, forgetting the sex-hormones for right now (that was just an FYI kind of thing), what you need to do is first of all, if you haven't done this already, you need to make sure that his main-cage is located in the "Main-Room" of your home, which means the room of your home where you and the others who live with you (Kermit's "Flock") spend most of your time whenever you're at home. This is extremely important with pet parrots when it comes to first Earning Their Trust, Bonding-Closely with them, and also just simply keeping them Psychologically and Physically happy and healthy. Parrots are all "Flock Animals", and as such they need to always be with their Flocks...You and whomever you live with are his "Flock", and even though you might not be paying direct-attention to him or interacting with him all the time when you are home (just like all the birds in a Flock aren't always talking to each other all of the time), he still wants and really does NEED to be around you/near you/with you or whomever else in his Flock is home. So that means that when you and the rest of the people you live with are at home, if the room you all usually hang-out in is the Living-Room, Family-Room, Den, TV Room, etc., then that is exactly where his main-cage needs to be (I say "main cage" because some people also have a much smaller, free-of-toys "sleeping cage" that they usually put in their bedrooms that their birds sleep in beside them, which is totally fine)...So whenever you or any other people who live with you are at home watching TV, on the Computer/Phone/Tablet, are Gaming, are talking with each other, are eating a meal together, having visitors over, etc., then it's extremely important that Kermit is in the same room with you so that he feels like he's a part of the Flock, and also of course because the more he's just around you, sees you, hears your voice, has you and others walking past his cage (his "territory" again), etc., the more comfortable he's going to be with you...And the more likely he'll be to entertain himself inside of his cage with his toys....Some people make the mistake of putting their new bird (the only bird they have) in a spare-bedroom or some other back-room in their home, thinking that it's going to be really nice to make it into the "Bird's Room". Sometimes they go all-out and really set-up a really awesome Bird-Room with perches all over the room, swings, all kinds of toys hanging everywhere, a window perch they can look out of all day long, etc...And then their bird does nothing at all every day, all day long, but sit in one spot and continually cry/scream/yell, because they know/can hear that someone is at home, but they can't see them, and they are feeling left out of the Flock, and they don't want to entertain themselves or look out the window, etc. because they just want to be with their Flock...And the other common result of this is the bird just turns into a silent statue that makes no noise, but also doesn't move, doesn't play with anything, doesn't fly around, etc. They just sit in one spot all day long, every day, and that's their life besides eating and sleeping...

If you've already got Kermit's main-cage in the "main-room" of your home, then the next step is to start letting him out of his cage every single day, for ideally 4-5 hours a day, and for you to start working on Earning His Trust and teaching him to "Step-Up" for you AFTER you Earn His Trust...But you're most-likely not EVER going to accomplish this as long as you keep putting your hands inside of his cage and attempting to train him that way. The first thing that I suggest that you do is to either buy or build him (or re-purpose something you already have) a "Stand/Perch" of some kind that you can put in the main-room of your home next to or near his main-cage, that he can automatically start flying to (or if he's clipped that you can transfer him to) whenever you open-up the door to his cage...Because that's going to be the idea, that every day when you're home you're going to simply open-up the door to his cage and then you're going to wait for him to come-out on his own...And the very first time he does this you need both verbally-praise him a lot, AND give him a "Training-Treat" (whether he comes out and climbs on top of his cage or he comes out and flies onto something else, either way)...

A Training-Treat is his absolute favorite treat (and something that he can eat quickly and that you can keep in yoru pocket or near you at all times so that you can reward him quicklly), and it's something that you only give him as a reward when he does behaviors that you want him to do (Positive-Reinforcement)...Raw, unsalted Sunflower Seed Kernels are good Training-Treats (he shouldn't be eating Sunflower Seeds as a part of his regular diet as they are nothing but fat, but if he does then they cannot be his Training Treat)...
Hey,

Thanks for the great advice!! Yoshi is now aprox 5 months and wasn't hand reared when i bought him so it's been a slow process. Will start to let him out again tomorrow - I also bought him a little play stand for him for when he's outside out his cage so hopefully ill be able to train him from there - Where would you recommend me to place the stand? At the moment, yoshi's cage is in my room so when i let him out he'll be around my room. And not to worry, i took out the little hut i had for him after reading horror stories!!
 

clark_conure

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Jul 14, 2017
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Parrots
A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
are you afraid of your birds beak?

if you show fear they will also be fearful.

Just put your hand up right to his chest and push back against him slightly, he will be more confident in you with an assertive gesture, not a timid one. If he isn't running away in flippy flappy escape mode; and takes seeds from your hand...it's kinda sorta time to imprint on the bird that you are the alpha, AND YOU WILL PROTECT HIM. you do that by being super confident in all your actions.

If theres still I bite later on you can do the time out method, but once a bird trusts you, there is nothing to be lost and it wont hurt if you have to show you are CONFIDENT. then they will trust you all the way.
No not at all! I've tried to do it this away but he freaks out and flys away

ok so not what I said if avoidance yeah read the book ellenD wrote.
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
8,145
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Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Wait..your bird has never been out of its cage and its been a month?
Mine didn't step up for 3, but she was always out...

DO NOT JUMP TO TRAINING TOMORROW WITH A T-PERCH RIGHT AWAY!

You need to first allow him to be comfortable hanging out on his cage-top etc...If you expect him to go onto a terrifying new t-perch when he hasn't be out of that cage for a month, you are mistaken (unless your bird is way braver than mine)... If you force him or push the issue, you will damage trust.
Leave the door open and wait for him to come out on his own.Just do your thing within the same room and don't try to con him into doing anything. You really need to give him time after a month of being locked up.
Do have a plan in case he freaks out over something---cover windows and make sure mirrors are covered. You don't want him spooking and flying into something dangerous like a fan or window's glass. You can try putting the t-perch within his line of sight so that he gets used to seeing it for a week or so...
and even then, do not force step-ups. It will happen when the trust is there.

He needs to be in the room with the main activity---they are flock animals...
They need to be around others...This is essential for healthy socialization as well.

I just found this older post (below)---be aware that you may have just made this issue worse....I mean, you locked your bird in the place he hated for a month, so be prepared to be very patient and please find a better solution than keeping him caged...I know it is frustrating, but you cannot just lock up a bird because they won't go back in their cage...especially for a long period. That just reaffirms their fear of entering their cage. It's like taking a kid who is terrified of water to the pool and telling them that it's safe etc (jump in, I'll catch you) and then letting them nearly drown and leaving the pool.. How would that kid feel if you tried to take him/her to the pool a second time? Do you think they would jump in after that first experience?
You may have strengthened your bird's anti-cage issues by getting him in and keeping him shut in. Initially, he may actually be scared to come out at at all (a seemingly opposite turn of events), but that is only because it is mentally and physically damaging to be shut in so long and cage-bound birds can become a bit agoraphobic....but once that passes, you are going to have to deal with his fear that you will shut him in again.
My green cheek completely refuses to go into his cage - to the point which he has began to purposely starve himself opposed to having to enter this cage. I let him out every day and it has gotten worst by the days - I have tried everything, no matter how many treats i put in his cage he won't budge. Even when and if he goes into his cage its a struggle to close the door without him attempting to fly out with even the slightest of movements on my behalf making him fly out.

Last night, I was awake until 4am waiting for him to go into his cage and he did not budge, instead he stared at me until i gave up and let him sleep outside. I dont want to stop letting him out but at this rate, he's driving me absolutely insane.

I need help asap! Even at this very moment i'm waiting for him to give into his hunger and go into his cage. I dont want to have to chase him and attempt to grab him as i know this really stresses them out but I'm considering this to be my last option. I let him out today at 5pm, it is now 10pm and he hasn't eating since and I see no attempts on his behalf to go and eat.

Fyi - he was not hand reared, is 3-5 months, and I've had him for just over 2 weeks.

I know wing-clipping is controversial and not a good fit for many birds (I'm against it in some (but not all) cases and I do think it is best to avoid it when possible). That having been said, when done properly (both wings and so that they can still glide down safely), it can be safer for the bird in certain circumstances (older birds can struggle more because they are so used to flying etc- which is why the clip must allow them to glide, NOT fall or lose control). Regardless of opinions on wing-clipping, I think that most would agree that being cage-bound is a much worse fate. Even if you do clip, please know that he needs to trust you before you make him do anything or you will just be taking giant steps backwards...MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU CONSIDER WINGS IT IS DONE BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS NOT TO MESS WITH THE WRONG FEATHERS(there are lots of people who will chop feathers in unsafe ways!!!)

The thing is, clipping isn't a magic solution here, because even if you clip the wings, you are still going to have to figure out a way to get your bird back in the cage and out of the cage again each day (without damaging trust).

Also--- if your bird was staring at you with the lights on, I am not surprised it didn't go back to the cage...Next time, consider dimming the lights so that the bird feels like it is night but can still see where he is going...This is how I got mine to go to her cage when she was reluctant.

DO NOT chase him around/grab him (clipped or not)---I know this advice was offered early on, and I am reiterating it. Birds take extreme patience....
 
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nattyd

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Wait..your bird has never been out of its cage and its been a month?
Mine didn't step up for 3, but she was always out...

DO NOT JUMP TO TRAINING TOMORROW WITH A T-PERCH RIGHT AWAY!

You need to first allow him to be comfortable hanging out on his cage-top etc...If you expect him to go onto a terrifying new t-perch when he hasn't be out of that cage for a month, you are mistaken (unless your bird is way braver than mine)... If you force him or push the issue, you will damage trust.
Leave the door open and wait for him to come out on his own.Just do your thing within the same room and don't try to con him into doing anything. You really need to give him time after a month of being locked up.
Do have a plan in case he freaks out over something---cover windows and make sure mirrors are covered. You don't want him spooking and flying into something dangerous like a fan or window's glass. You can try putting the t-perch within his line of sight so that he gets used to seeing it for a week or so...
and even then, do not force step-ups. It will happen when the trust is there.

He needs to be in the room with the main activity---they are flock animals...
They need to be around others...This is essential for healthy socialization as well.

I just found this older post (below)---be aware that you may have just made this issue worse....I mean, you locked your bird in the place he hated for a month, so be prepared to be very patient and please find a better solution than keeping him caged...I know it is frustrating, but you cannot just lock up a bird because they won't go back in their cage...especially for a long period. That just reaffirms their fear of entering their cage. It's like taking a kid who is terrified of water to the pool and telling them that it's safe etc (jump in, I'll catch you) and then letting them nearly drown and leaving the pool.. How would that kid feel if you tried to take him/her to the pool a second time? Do you think they would jump in after that first experience?
You may have strengthened your bird's anti-cage issues by getting him in and keeping him shut in. Initially, he may actually be scared to come out at at all (a seemingly opposite turn of events), but that is only because it is mentally and physically damaging to be shut in so long and cage-bound birds can become a bit agoraphobic....but once that passes, you are going to have to deal with his fear that you will shut him in again.
My green cheek completely refuses to go into his cage - to the point which he has began to purposely starve himself opposed to having to enter this cage. I let him out every day and it has gotten worst by the days - I have tried everything, no matter how many treats i put in his cage he won't budge. Even when and if he goes into his cage its a struggle to close the door without him attempting to fly out with even the slightest of movements on my behalf making him fly out.

Last night, I was awake until 4am waiting for him to go into his cage and he did not budge, instead he stared at me until i gave up and let him sleep outside. I dont want to stop letting him out but at this rate, he's driving me absolutely insane.

I need help asap! Even at this very moment i'm waiting for him to give into his hunger and go into his cage. I dont want to have to chase him and attempt to grab him as i know this really stresses them out but I'm considering this to be my last option. I let him out today at 5pm, it is now 10pm and he hasn't eating since and I see no attempts on his behalf to go and eat.

Fyi - he was not hand reared, is 3-5 months, and I've had him for just over 2 weeks.

I know wing-clipping is controversial and not a good fit for many birds (I'm against it in some (but not all) cases and I do think it is best to avoid it when possible). That having been said, when done properly (both wings and so that they can still glide down safely), it can be safer for the bird in certain circumstances (older birds can struggle more because they are so used to flying etc- which is why the clip must allow them to glide, NOT fall or lose control). Regardless of opinions on wing-clipping, I think that most would agree that being cage-bound is a much worse fate. Even if you do clip, please know that he needs to trust you before you make him do anything or you will just be taking giant steps backwards...MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU CONSIDER WINGS IT IS DONE BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS NOT TO MESS WITH THE WRONG FEATHERS(there are lots of people who will chop feathers in unsafe ways!!!)

The thing is, clipping isn't a magic solution here, because even if you clip the wings, you are still going to have to figure out a way to get your bird back in the cage and out of the cage again each day (without damaging trust).

Also--- if your bird was staring at you with the lights on, I am not surprised it didn't go back to the cage...Next time, consider dimming the lights so that the bird feels like it is night but can still see where he is going...This is how I got mine to go to her cage when she was reluctant.

DO NOT chase him around/grab him (clipped or not)---I know this advice was offered early on, and I am reiterating it. Birds take extreme patience....
No no! He has been out of his cage when i initially got him - I would let him out everyday. Someone had mentioned that because I had done so he hadn't become acclimated to his cage and as such I stopped letting him out - I then received advice to train him from within his cage which would make it easier for me when he came out seeing as he would fly away if i came too close to him making it extremely difficult to even start to create a bond in the first place.

I've let him out now and he's absolutely fine, he shows no signs of fear and is super comfortable flying around my room (doesn't fly into any of the windows or mirrors) and he even walks around on the floor with complete ease - infact he's been out of his cage for the past 2 days and refuses to go inside his cage to sleep which is what i was trying to avoid but nonetheless i won't be chasing him to get him back in his cage, I'm waiting for him to do everything a this own pace.

In regards to getting him to trust me he is now a lot more confident around me - As sad as it is, i do think training him from within the cage and not letting him out improved everything a lot more than what it originally was - I won't be doing it again but that initial process did give me a jump start on things. As of now I'm playing the waiting game until he feels comfortable enough to actually step onto my hand.
 
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noodles123

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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
The issue is, he may be be more resistant to re-entering the cage now. So just keep that in mind.
 
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nattyd

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The issue is, he may be be more resistant to re-entering the cage now. So just keep that in mind.
Yeah, to be honest since i got him he's been resistant to going into his cage despite me letting him out. Hopefully once we build trust and he begins to step up ill be able to transport in and out of his cage with ease.

thanks for the advice!
 

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