Here she is!

[Skittles2016]

Hello everyone!

So I got Skittles today and she is so beautiful and sweet! She's just coming up to 5 months. She let me give her some head scritches today however there is one problem we have. She doesn't know how to step up and I think it confuses her which leads her to biting my finger. Which is absolutely fine because she just needs to learn, but I've never experienced a bird who doesn't know how to step up so I'm a bit unsure how to go about this? Any tips would be welcome! Oh and I've also discovered just a few minutes ago that she's learnt from the previous people to say "okay, love you" which was very nice to hear even though I'm sure she doesn't quite yet!!

 

[wrench13]

In a word, TREATS. Find out what the absolute favorite is, and then that is ONLY given during training of any kind. Once you hav that, it's a matter of enticing her onto your finger, while giving the UP or STEPUP command. Only reward when there is improvement, so if shemoves to your finger , treat. if she puts one foot on to the finger, treat. reward immediately when the action is positive, thats important so she knows why she was given the treat. never say No, instead us positive words like aw you can do this better, that kind of thing, if she fails,but dont reward failures. If she's ha;f as smart as most parrots, this will take like a week maybe, and you have started a positive training track in her mind 'if it do this, i get a reward' , so other things like potty training and tricks are possible. Congrats and she is beautiful.

 

[Terry57]

Congratulations! Skittles is a beauty!
I agree with Al's advice, bet she will be stepping up in no time

 

[Skittles2016]

In a word, TREATS. Find out what the absolute favorite is, and then that is ONLY given during training of any kind. Once you hav that, it's a matter of enticing her onto your finger, while giving the UP or STEPUP command. Only reward when there is improvement, so if shemoves to your finger , treat. if she puts one foot on to the finger, treat. reward immediately when the action is positive, thats important so she knows why she was given the treat. never say No, instead us positive words like aw you can do this better, that kind of thing, if she fails,but dont reward failures. If she's ha;f as smart as most parrots, this will take like a week maybe, and you have started a positive training track in her mind 'if it do this, i get a reward' , so other things like potty training and tricks are possible. Congrats and she is beautiful.

Thank you so much for this wonderful help! Well I have bought some lafeber nutri berry treats in hope of using those as a training treats. I will have plenty of time with her, so like you said hopefully this should take a week. She gave me quite a hard nip earlier but I think she's just a bit nervous of new surroundings and I made sure not to react, and i will definitely only use positive reinforcement. I'll let you know how it all goes, I'm sure she'll be great! I'm looking toward to building a great bond with her, I just want her to know I'm here to love and care for her

 

[Terry57]

My GCC will do anything for safflower seeds

 

[Skittles2016]

My GCC will do anything for safflower seeds

Oo, I have some of those too! I will start properly tomorrow, now she's had a day to adjust and calm down a little!

 

[Kentuckienne]

She's adorable.

 

[wrench13]

Important too, is to work at the parrots pace not yours. Our expectations in working with parrots are immaterial to them, some parrots settle in in a week or less! Some take more or MUCH more.
Sounds like your doing well though. Relax, parrots live a LONGtime and so will you hopefully, so a week or 5 is not long in persective.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

My Sunconures best friend is a Green cheek

 

[Skittles2016]

Important too, is to work at the parrots pace not yours. Our expectations in working with parrots are immaterial to them, some parrots settle in in a week or less! Some take more or MUCH more.
Sounds like your doing well though. Relax, parrots live a LONGtime and so will you hopefully, so a week or 5 is not long in persective.

Thanks, I will. I know it's hard, she doesn't seem interested in lifting a foot onto my hand at all, she'll stretch her neck best she can to reach the great and that is all. But it is the first day so I shan't worry too much

 

[Skittles2016]

well I have two slightly purple fingers now from two big bites buuuut just now she perched on my finger so there's progress! There's been lots of praise so I will just continue with that! Really happy

 

[Skittles2016]

Thought i'd come back to my first post with skittles as it's now our 'one month anniversary' haha
Basically just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped me build a good bond with my skittles, and also in training! I now have a birdy who WANTS to step up without expecting a treat and will fly after me then hover her little leg in the air. I'm so glad I chose her and I think she chose me, she was the one that climbed to the front of the cage to have a scratch when me and my dad went to look. Through the stress and many bite marks still on my fingers it was all worth it, and now I'm going to start thinking about teaching her some little tricks to make things more interesting for her!!
Here's a silly picture of me and skits sat on my finger (which for me is a very proud moment considering a month ago she didn't know what to do when a finger was placed in front of her, except bite it!)