step up

So I brought home a new (12 year old) Galah cockatoo from a bird expo that I went to in Madison Heights MI. I had been looking for a bird for awhile. He was affectionate through the cage and seemed to really enjoy head scratches. After a stressful day getting him home, he is settling in his...

While observing avian zookeepers when they're getting birds out of their cages, I've noticed that they'll tell the bird to "perch" (so the bird calmly stands on a perch right next to the door) before they open the door and have it "step up" on their hand. Is this a common training technique...

Hi guys, I'm not technically a parrot owner...I've owned parakeets and finches in the past, but no large birds, and have no experience with them. However, I recently moved into a new house with several roommates. One of them is a bit of a "fashion" pet owner and gets cute or interesting animals...

Well Jakey and I are still working on leaving the cage, and I really need support so even though there is not much to update I'm posting an update anyway. Things are going pretty much how any one would suspect with Jakey at the moment. I decided to use the towel method to get him out of the...

Hey everyone sorry I've been absent the past week or so, I had the flu and just wasn't online much. But I am really excited right now. I have had Cleo, (my 2nd kakariki ever owned,) since The end of October. (My recently deceased boy was extremely hand tame since day 1.) However With Cleo, she...

So my Nanday Rio is finally warming up to me! That's the good news. The bad news is that his favorite thing to do is fly to my head and play with my hair. At first I though this was adorable until this morning I got out of the shower let Rio out and he flew right to my head and pooped. And now...

So I've had Mickey for several weeks now and he seems To be completely settled in. He's began playing with his toys, he uses his foraging toys now. He has picked up a few words and sounds from around the house (my laugh, my cell phone ring, good boy). He still doesn't trust me enough to step up...

Hello, I recently got a baby Pineapple Green Cheek Conure, and it's proving to be very difficult to teach him the "step-up" technique. He always jumps from my hand to my shoulders the first chance he gets, and refuses to leave that area. Any advice would be great.

Hi everyone, I'm so happy to be here with all of you and learn from some experienced parrot owners! I have had a 4 month old Maxi Pionus for one week now, so I am very new to this! Could anyone offer some advice--Olive, my Pi, seems to be adjusting well. She will take treats from my hand and...

We just got Indie about two weeks ago from a couple whose daughter had raised him. She did a really great job he's super tame, and will set-up on almost anyone, cuddles bonds with females instantly, he's a great bird; kind of needy ;). Needless to say he's favorable of women. I've never owned a...

After fostering Jojo the Moluccan Cockatoo for a month this Summer he has finally stepped up and liked it! This Summer I wanted to train a bird for Florida Parrot Rescue. I asked my foster coordinator if they had any "difficult" birds that may be hard to adopt out or are at risk for permanent...

Hey there! So this is my first ever post here. I have just acquired a YNA, male, approximately 10 years old. My grandmother had him for 6 months (prior to that, I have no idea) and she had him in a king cage with just one metal perch, a dirty water cup, and fed him wild bird seed feed. I...

Hi all, so I got my patigonian conure Thursday as some of you may know. he is a real sweet heart, he cuddled with me and preened me for a half an hour today :D. I have some questions though. I was under the impresion he was 7 monthsold, turns out he is at least 3 years old, so I got a little...

Hi, This is my first post on a forum, but i'm not finding any information from just searching. I recently got a green cheek conure. This is the second conure i've had, so i have some experience already. My first bird was incredibly easy to train, but the methods i used on her are just not...

I had a previous flightless red front macaw. Well, he has been passed for almost a whole year now (vet put him under for blood work and he regurgitated), so my husband and I bought a new one, but a female. She is over a year old now and was greatly bonded to her sister. We met her last fall...

So I just acquired a 3 yr old Orange Wing Amazon. She has been passed through three households in the past 3-4 months and now is living with me. I intend to keep her for the rest of our lives. The family she came from didn't handle her much or did much at all with her it seems even though they...

I have recently adopted an eight year old blue & gold Macaw and wanted to get some advice about handling him. He didn't get a lot of attention at his old house but would step onto his old owners hand if he was in a good mood. He will let me stroke him through the bars of the cage at certain...

We adopted a 6 year old B/G Macaw a month a ago. His old owner taught him how to shake and step up. He will let me shake his foot but if I ask for him to step up he just tries to bite my arm.