Training after Stepping Up?

[Ecclesiarch]

Hi,

I own a moustache parrot (almost 2 weeks now!) and I have taught him to step up, or at least I believe that it is stepping up. When I put my hand directly in front of him, he sometimes steps up with only one foot and sometimes steps up with both feet. I fed him a lot of treats at first in order to develop a positive association, yet now he seems addicted to food. He only does anything for food, but will step up (for food). He normally ignores me if I don't have snacks.

What are the next steps in order to develop a bond with him and get him to be close to me without the treats? He steps up but then steps back down almost immediately if I don't give a snack. But then he steps back up, probably because he wants to try again for a treat.

He resides on an open perch, by the way, and not in a closed cage.


P.S.
He seems to not like me when I don't have food. What can I do about that? It seems like that unless I have food, I cannot convince him with anything.

 

[Von1983]

Welcome to the forum!

You've only had your bird 2 weeks....he will need a lot longer than that to bond with you! Keep doing what you are doing and talk, talk, talk.....

It is a long road ahead for you both....no need to rush.

Have you taken him to an AV for a check? Also, if he does not have a cage, where does he eat/sleep etc? Are his wings clipped?

I've just never heard of a companion without a home cage....

 

[brandi28]

I agree it will take a lot longer to form a bond. I have an amazon parrot, and It took me almost 7 months to get her to take food from me and almost a year to get her to let me remove her from her cage. The key to a bond is to not rush, let him form the bond on his time. I suggest eating by his cage and if he wants a bite of your food offer him some. If you sit beside him and ignore him he will EVENTUALLY start coming to you and if he tries to play with your hair LET HIM that is VERY important.
Just TAKE YOUR TIME and GIVE HIM SPACE AND TIME THAT HE NEEDS. I just adopted an IRN and although I am VERY lucky with him and am gaining his trust very quickly, I am letting HIM set the terms and come to me. I of course offer him food and TALK to him as much as possible. Spending roughly 9 hours a day with him just talking and being next to his cage.

I suggest getting him a cage, if you don't want him left in it then just use it when he sleeps or when he is left alone. It is very important to have a "safe" place for him to be. If you truly don't want a cage and you have a spare room you can turn a room into an home for him. I have seen this done. Good luck and CONGRADS

 

[antoinette]

Hi and congrat's on your new fid
Unfortunately giving him treats each and every time you wanted him to step up, was an error on your part. He has now become accustomed to stepping up AND getting a treat each time. Perhaps try this, when you approach him, say uppies and give him a kiss. He may refuse to step up at first, continue with a kiss kiss. Keep repeating this, say uppies and then kiss kiss. Eventually when he realizes that there is no treat, such as food, he will probably begin to step up. When he does step up, give him a kiss kiss and praise him over and over again.
Good luck

 

[Ecclesiarch]

Thanks for the welcomes and for the advice. I'll continue what I'm doing and lay off the treats for a bit until he gets used to the step ups. Thanks again.

 

[Dbittner54]

One way to get the bird to not depend on treats is to do something called Fixed-Interval conditioning. Slowly start giving him a treat every 2 step-ups. Then every 4, then every 6, so on and so forth. This will eventually get him to a point where he doesn't know when he will get the treat but will still do so in hopes for one!