natalie
New member
I really need some help
Holly is doing great, no doubt. She lets me pet her entire body, is talking, is bonding, feeds me... everything....BUT...she will only do this while on her cage .... she'll also do it away from her cage .... BUT...the problem is getting her from the cage.
She does not like the thought of leaving it and gets very aggressive as soon as she suspects you're going to try to remove her.
So, I've been using a dowel to teach her to step up on .... like I said before, I have to actually push her off balance in order to get her to step up....and all the while she is screaming at it and biting it as hard as she can, pushing it away... I can NOT attempt a step up with my arm while she is on her cage....only away from it.
She bit my arm hard the other day trying to get a step up from her cage door.
But if she is on the couch or anywhere else, she will step up nicely.
When I do have her away from the cage, she'll play a little, and chatter with me, likes to be pet....but she is also stressed and only wants her cage back. She leans toward it (even if we are in another room)...and is very nervous.
So how do I properly work on this? I can't teach her that being away from the cage is good, if it is a fight just to get her off of it. Putting her in at night (because she likes to sit on top of it) is still a fight because she won't step up from it.
She is fine once I have her....so, why the fight to get her? She obviously feels safe only when on her cage .... and I understand that I have to slowly show her she is safe when not on it.... but that requires time away from it, even if for only 5 minutes....BUT, I can't get her to willingly come away from it, and you aren't supposed to force them to do anything....
so, if someone understands this difficult issue, I need help with it.
Am I wrong in forcing her onto the dowel? .... what if there is a fire or other emergency and I HAVE to get her to step up??
I want a bird that will sit with me, so training her to leave the cage is very important to me. I don't mind doing it in stages and understand that importance....but I'm not sure where to start with a bird that will literally open my arm if I even look like I want her to step up on it. ...and she is really starting to HATE the dowel...in fact, I think it has gotten worse...she now knows that the dowel takes her away from the cage, so she attacks it....It was supposed to teach her to step up!! ...and she will refuse any kind of treat for being good. She only wants to be on that cage.
Advice would be wonderful right now. She is definately ready for more training.
Holly is doing great, no doubt. She lets me pet her entire body, is talking, is bonding, feeds me... everything....BUT...she will only do this while on her cage .... she'll also do it away from her cage .... BUT...the problem is getting her from the cage.
She does not like the thought of leaving it and gets very aggressive as soon as she suspects you're going to try to remove her.
So, I've been using a dowel to teach her to step up on .... like I said before, I have to actually push her off balance in order to get her to step up....and all the while she is screaming at it and biting it as hard as she can, pushing it away... I can NOT attempt a step up with my arm while she is on her cage....only away from it.
She bit my arm hard the other day trying to get a step up from her cage door.
But if she is on the couch or anywhere else, she will step up nicely.
When I do have her away from the cage, she'll play a little, and chatter with me, likes to be pet....but she is also stressed and only wants her cage back. She leans toward it (even if we are in another room)...and is very nervous.
So how do I properly work on this? I can't teach her that being away from the cage is good, if it is a fight just to get her off of it. Putting her in at night (because she likes to sit on top of it) is still a fight because she won't step up from it.
She is fine once I have her....so, why the fight to get her? She obviously feels safe only when on her cage .... and I understand that I have to slowly show her she is safe when not on it.... but that requires time away from it, even if for only 5 minutes....BUT, I can't get her to willingly come away from it, and you aren't supposed to force them to do anything....
so, if someone understands this difficult issue, I need help with it.
Am I wrong in forcing her onto the dowel? .... what if there is a fire or other emergency and I HAVE to get her to step up??
I want a bird that will sit with me, so training her to leave the cage is very important to me. I don't mind doing it in stages and understand that importance....but I'm not sure where to start with a bird that will literally open my arm if I even look like I want her to step up on it. ...and she is really starting to HATE the dowel...in fact, I think it has gotten worse...she now knows that the dowel takes her away from the cage, so she attacks it....It was supposed to teach her to step up!! ...and she will refuse any kind of treat for being good. She only wants to be on that cage.
Advice would be wonderful right now. She is definately ready for more training.
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