Amazon step-up help

Joseph_Arno

New member
Jun 27, 2018
2
0
Hello, I have been trying to train my Blue Fronted amazon to step up onto my hand for over a year now, he is a very special case, due to his previous experiences, he hates handheld purches, so I've been training him to step up directly on my hand from the cage top, this parrot isn't scared of me, I pet his head through the cage all the time, hes not scared of my hand and he is target trained, he follows the stick everywhere, naturally ive been placing my hand infront of him with the stick on the other side, we are at a point where he succesfully puts one foot on my hand and leans over it for the stick, here in lies my problem, after weve been doing this one foot thing for months, naturally we have to move on to the next step, moving the stick farther away so he has to step up completley, right? One problem however, when he cant reach the stick with one foot on my hand, he gets aggressive and attacks my hand, biting and pulling as if saying "get this hand out of here and give me my treat!", when this happens, I endure the pain and slowly move my hand away until he has to let it go, and then start with the one foot thing all over again... I have looked everywhere on the internet,I have read 3 books, I have never seen a parrot like this one, I love the little guy but he has been such a pain in the ass it gets harder and harder to bare with him everyday... I am desperate and just want a companion pet but what I have right now just refuses to accept any form of training, he does not know that hands are for stepping up and I cant get him to understand that. I need serious help, I dont want to give up on him, but I grow tired... :green:
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
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2
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Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
Instead of having him step up onto your hand, what about stepping up onto your arm instead?

You say you are training this behavior from the cage step. Are you physically asking him to step up where by placing his weight onto your hand would cause a shift in balance? Or are you bracing your hand against/on the cage while asking for the behavior?
 
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Joseph_Arno

New member
Jun 27, 2018
2
0
  • Thread Starter
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Instead of having him step up onto your hand, what about stepping up onto your arm instead?

You say you are training this behavior from the cage step. Are you physically asking him to step up where by placing his weight onto your hand would cause a shift in balance? Or are you bracing your hand against/on the cage while asking for the behavior?

I have not tried the arm thing yet, but it might be worth looking into.

As for the hand thing, im not leaning against the cage but my arm is very stiff and there is no shift in balance when he steps a single foot onto it.
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
It might help to try bracing your arm against the cage so it's less of a physical step up... kind of like going from carpet to linoleum, there's definitely change in flooring but the difference is minor.

Alternatively, resting hand on top of cage to see if that helps.
 

ChrisYNA

New member
Jul 3, 2018
71
1
NJ, USA
Parrots
A Yellow-Naped Amazon girl, named Kuba
Hello, I have been trying to train my Blue Fronted amazon to step up onto my hand for over a year now, he is a very special case, due to his previous experiences, he hates handheld purches, so I've been training him to step up directly on my hand from the cage top, this parrot isn't scared of me, I pet his head through the cage all the time, hes not scared of my hand and he is target trained, he follows the stick everywhere, naturally ive been placing my hand infront of him with the stick on the other side, we are at a point where he succesfully puts one foot on my hand and leans over it for the stick, here in lies my problem, after weve been doing this one foot thing for months, naturally we have to move on to the next step, moving the stick farther away so he has to step up completley, right? One problem however, when he cant reach the stick with one foot on my hand, he gets aggressive and attacks my hand, biting and pulling as if saying "get this hand out of here and give me my treat!", when this happens, I endure the pain and slowly move my hand away until he has to let it go, and then start with the one foot thing all over again... I have looked everywhere on the internet,I have read 3 books, I have never seen a parrot like this one, I love the little guy but he has been such a pain in the ass it gets harder and harder to bare with him everyday... I am desperate and just want a companion pet but what I have right now just refuses to accept any form of training, he does not know that hands are for stepping up and I cant get him to understand that. I need serious help, I dont want to give up on him, but I grow tired... :green:


Why are you petting him through the cage and waving a stick in his face? I'm not sure he trusts you. I would open the cage, let him out and form a bond. Allow him to step on your forearm, yes. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation, but something doesn't seem right there. I'd suggest stop doing things on a formula. Just because some trainers use a stick, doesn't mean it's right for your bird. He may be afraid of the thing and, with that, you.

And it's been a year now? That in itself is saying something is wrong there.

You may want to desensitize him to your hand by feeding him from your fingers... a nut or whatever he likes.

I would also say, don't focus on "training". Form an emotional bond first.
 
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noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
will he play on top of his cage if you open it? I know then there is the risk of him not wanting to go back in, but getting him out of the cage could be a good step if this is partly cage aggression.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Also- when I first got mine from a new home (also afraid of sticks and hand-help perches, as well as my hands), I would have to let her come out and then just wait for her to go back in on her own to eat etc. If I dimmed the lights at night, she would go inside to go to bed within a relatively short span of time, but I made sure that if I let her out, I had time to wait for her to go back in herself. She now is a totally different bird, but it took months.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Just to clarify-- I don't think this sounds super aggressive, but he may be afraid to leave the cage, so letting him out (if you can do so safely) was just a possible suggestion to get him a bit outside of his comfort zone without taking all of his control away. You know your bird better than I do, so...
 

ChrisYNA

New member
Jul 3, 2018
71
1
NJ, USA
Parrots
A Yellow-Naped Amazon girl, named Kuba
When I got my Amazon, she was afraid to even get off the cage by herself for probably 3 months and I can only guess she wasn't allowed much freedom by the original owner. I still remember her taking those first few walks off the cage, onto the floor, through the hallway, and into the kitchen. All slow and careful like she was unsure of herself. Eventually, she started flying out of the room, into the kitchen, back and forth, and all over the house. A confident bird is a happy bird, but that goes for everybody.
 
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ChrisYNA

New member
Jul 3, 2018
71
1
NJ, USA
Parrots
A Yellow-Naped Amazon girl, named Kuba
will he play on top of his cage if you open it? I know then there is the risk of him not wanting to go back in, but getting him out of the cage could be a good step if this is partly cage aggression.


Yeah, I'd just leave the cage open the whole day. I don't even close my bird's (permanently fixed it so the doors don't close). She doesn't like being locked in and that's that. I only put her in the first 2 weeks I had her (as per instructions since this is my first bird and I had no idea what a bird is except for something that flies and craps all over the place), then she let me know she hates it (screaming, etc), so ooooook, I left it open one night and she was happy the next day. Mine doesn't even sleep in the cage. She has 2 food and 2 water bowls in there, but that's as much as she uses the cage for the most part.

I would recommend to the original poster and anyone else to treat their bird as an individual, meaning, a thinking and emotional creature just like any person. If the bird won't step up on the hand or the stick, it's probably afraid (something from the past, perhaps). But a year is a very long time. Something's not right.
 

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