What Next?

[Charlie83]

Hi All,

I have a new GCC who is approximately 11 months old. I was able to hold him at the store where I purchased him for about 30 minutes, though he was definitely a little scared. Now that we're home he is settling in nicely and will even run up to the cage bars to come say hi. However, he is deathly afraid of stepping up. He will take treats from my hand while it's inside the cage, which I do a few times each day while talking to him. So what's the next step?

I had a rescue cockatoo I had to hand train, but even he wasn't as afraid of fingers as this little guy.

 

[drj130]

When I got Pat and started teaching him to step up, I used a long plastic spoon. You can use that or something similar.
I'm sure the others will chip in soon.

 

[Ducatimom]

You could try using a wooden dowel. Get him to step up onto that then inch your hand closer once he's confident with that, rinse and repeat. Until you have him stepping up onto your hand.