Hand-shy GCC

[OtterKin]

Hello all.
I just got a 3 month old GCC almost a week ago from a bird fair (I know, I thought I was going there just to look! ). S/he joins my cockatiel, linnie, and two budgies in the family. While it was a a bit of an impulse buy based on connection, I have been researching GCC's for a year and it wasn't completely out of left field. During my research, I never came across someone talking about a tame GCC being hand-shy. Now I'm in that predicament! Squirrel isn't nippy (at least not yet), and is still settling in of course, but I'm struggling with getting Squirrel to step onto my hand. He tries to avoid it, most of the time. He's very cuddly, loves to snuggle up against my neck, but just doesn't like hands! He was hand-raised, and I didn't get this impression when I spent a good hour and a half with him at the bird fair. Thoughts?

 

[friedsoup]

He's being coy and its all new for him, Offer him a treat across the hand you want him to step up on.

 

[OtterKin]

Thanks, I'll have to get an easy treat to offer him. He goes for all food at first, so that's good. He's currently mumbling in my ear.

 

[johnmat]

I am on the same boat right now. I just got Sun conure 2 days ago and she is really shy right now.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Try keeping him in his cage. And just get a chair and rest your wrist on the door of the cage letting your hang hand there. Don't move it. Just keep your hand in the cage. First start with maybe 1-2 mins, then 3-4 etc. several times a day. This helped when I brought ChiChi home. And treats always help! With any handling issues! And of course, patience!

 

[OtterKin]

Thank you guys!
I want to revise my original statement. He will come out of his cage, a little hesitantly onto my hand but not hesitant to come out at all. He likes scritches, and when exploring will approach my hand. Whenever I go to ask him to step up, that's when he gets anxious.

So patience and time? I can do that. And treats.

 

[WindyRed]

Given what you've just said, that he gets anxious about stepping up, that's what I'd clue in on working on. It sounds to me as if he's insecure about something associated with the step-up command. I'd guess its that he doesn't feel secure while he's perched wherever he's perched while you're transporting him from point A to point B - but that's just a guess.

I'd start by spending LOTS of time having him step up on to your finger (or hand, whichever he can get the best hold on), and once he steps up, don't move your hand. Let him stand there very comfortably, then tell him to step off. You can treat him with food treats, click and treat, verbal praise, or scritches - whichever you want. Ultimately, the reward for him is that your hand wont be moving and then he gets to get off, so other treats aren't really necessary. The goal is for him to understand that, for now at least, stepping up isn't going to involve movement. All he needs to do is be totally comfortable stepping onto your finger. Do this several times a day for 2-3 days.
*When he hops onto your finger without any hesitation, the next step is to move your finger very slowly and very steadily a distance of 4-6 inches before you let him hop off. Keep talking to him the whole time, just like you were before. Again, do this several times a day for two - three days until he's comfortable with the short distance.
*When he's comfortable with the short distance, it's time to begin varying the distances between 6-10 inches and 2-3 feet. Always always always move slow and steady, and always have him facing you and talking to him while you're moving him.

In time, I expect you'll have him stepping up and moving him around the house like an old pro. You just need to help him build his confidence up again. If you need to move him around quickly in the meantime, I'd suggest getting him out of the cage and snuggling him up to your chest, giving him a towel to hold on to when moving him around, or something similar. That way you won't take a chance of losing any ground you're gaining with the above steps you're taking.

I hope some of this helps - and that I'm not totally and completely off base with my thoughts and ideas!

Good luck and let us know if any of this sounds right, wrong, or if you need anything else!

 

[OtterKin]

Thanks for the great advice! Very helpful. I will start working with him on that right away, though at the moment he's exploring on his own for the first time since I got him, so I'll let him continue for a little while.

 

[WindyRed]

You're most welcome! I'm glad to help any time... and I think that letting him explore is a fabulous idea! Tomorrow is soon enough to start with the other stuff.

 

[OtterKin]

Ok, so I'm already spotting an issue with this plan. He won't step up! He will take a bath in our hands, but trying to get him to step up (or catch him for anything) is like ring around the rosie and I'm either making it worse or turning it into a game, can't really tell which at this point. He doesn't like sticks either, he attacks them (thankfully he doesn't do that to hands). When he does occasionally step up on his own, he just runs up my arm. Any attempt to stop him turns into the previous issue.

 

[WindyRed]

Will he step up when he's in his cage?

 

[OtterKin]

Sometimes...but only if I really coax him. Then he only views it as a way to run to my shoulder.

 

[VictoriaVague]

My MBC is a bit like this. He's snuggly, loves scritches, steps up when he wants to but quite often, if a hand comes near him he flaps one of his wings to protect himself, makes his grumpy sounds and hunches down or bites. It makes me sad as I'd never hurt him.

 

[OtterKin]

Well, unless this is just a weird mood, the switch has flipped. He has stepped up this evening already a few times. Doesn't sit still on my hand, but at least he stepped up! Won't jump for joy until I try it from shoulder, and it lasts a few days, but it tells me there's hope! We had our first hand wrestle tonight. He was being gently mouthy and climbing all over my hands and burrowing in them, so I flipped him over and tickled him. He liked it. . So sweet.
If he continues not to step up from here, I think it will just be him being a brat and wanting his own way. I don't think he's hand-shy anymore.

 

[OtterKin]

yep nope, he still doesn't want to step up. Just wants to hand wrestle and snuggle. I am so confused.

 

[WindyRed]

They really are stinkers, aren't they? Goodness knows why we end up loving them so much!

I've been puzzling over how to describe the solution to you and I can't figure out how to do it. I tried to take a video showing you with my birds, but of course they just stepped up, sat on my finger and looked at me like, "OK Mom, now what?"

However, as fate would have it, I decided yesterday to get a new bird and I'm picking him/her up today. If I remember correctly from our one interaction a few weeks ago, aside from being a little, er... rough with his/her beak, this bird likes to run up my shoulder as well. SO! I'm thinking that s/he may provide the perfect opportunity for me to demonstrate how to solve that little problem.

Keep a watch on this thread - it may be a couple of days before I get that vid posted, but in the meantime, just keep being patient, loving and sweet. At the rate I'm moving and with the progress you've already made, you may solve that problem all on your own! See how good you are? Some people are just meant to be conure moms. :21:

 

[OtterKin]

Awesome! That will be very helpful, can't wait. Have fun with your new little one today, is it another GCC?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

my sun conure didn't like to step up when in her cage. she was never 'cage aggressive' but 'cage disobedient' (haha). as soon as i had her away from her cage, i'd say 'step up' and she did it. so then we would practice the ladder thing of 'step up, step up, step up' over and over and i'd say 'good girl' and things were fine. But i generally had to take her out of her cage before she would do it.

 

[OtterKin]

Alice, my cockatiel, is like that. She'll only step up from her cage with a stick, after that she'll step onto anything!
This is different though, Squirrel won't step up really anywhere, even though he does not appear to be scared of hands. When he does step up, it's very hesitantly.

 

[WindyRed]

Otterkin - yes, Lola is a GCC. As I work with her a little bit more at home, I don't think she's simply hesitant to step up, I don't believe she was ever *taught* to do so. It's hard for me to believe that someone can have a bird and not teach them the basics of how to behave.

Actually, I bought Lola to be a momma bird. I'm looking for her boyfriend right now. They're my entree into breeding my favorite of all birds in the world. The story I received on her was only that she's a girl, she's a biter, and her parents couldn't keep her anymore. I'm waiting on her DNA results to confirm her gender, but I believe she is a girl. She certainly looks like one. As for her being a biter? LOL! I'm not sure who she's bitten, but she seems like one of the most gentle birds I've interacted with. She's not even what I'd call "beaky." I know we're "honeymooning" right now, but she's been fine with me so far and this is a bird who doesn't know me that I'm grabbing over her back to pull her out of her cage to work with her. If I don't get bitten then, I don't know when I will! LOL!

She surely does prefer shoulders though, so I'll probably try and get a video for you tomorrow. There's too much going on at my house today to even try to get it done before then. In the meantime, like I said earlier - keep on hanging in there! I'll try to help as long as you'll let me and I can keep coming up with new ideas!