Touch Training

[Phlox]

Iris is terrified of being touched at all, and I'm have zero luck getting her over it. I think her previous owners were a little afraid of her, to be honest. She's not a biter, but I don't want to get bitten either, so I'm at a loss as to how to condition her to accept touching, even just to groom her and so forth, not to pet her if she decides not to like it.

With a little bird, I just do it because their bites aren't a problem and usually they end up loving it. Would you suggest trying to touch her with the towel or something like that? I've tried some stick training and she's terrified of that to the point of just total hysteria, but she steps up like a sweetie, even right out of her cage, so I have let that go for now.

How do you suggest go about trying to train her to accept touching?

 

[Birdman666]

I don't use the towel for touch training. This is something we did to rehab "the biters" as well. It's a basic training for those birds that simply don't tolerate being touched.

This is a five to ten minute exercise. The first few times you do this, the bird will recoil in horror at the sight of it. It's normal. If that happens don't worry about it. Cut the lesson short and try again the next day. Consistency is the key. Gradually over time, anywhere from two weeks to two months, the bird will "get it."

The two perch method of touch training involves just that. Using two sticks (I've had a lot of success with popsicle sticks, and with those wooden BBQ squewers because these are not something the bird normally sees as threatening.)

STEP ONE: You basically take the bird to a neutral training perch. Instead of attempting to touch them with your fingers, you introduce them to the popsicle stick, or skewer. Let them see it. Let them beak it. Play with them with it. Get them comfortable with it. Then, try and touch them with the item as you play. (BARK! GROWL! THE HORROR!) Okay, back off...

Lesson over for the day. Give the bird praise and a treat.

LESSON TWO: Same deal, only this time more touching is involved. Keep that up until the bird allows the object to touch. Start with the feet, the chest. Try to scratch the head with it. Run it down the bird's back.

LESSON THREE: Now you make a concerted effort to touch the bird all over, particularly in places where the bird doesn't like to be touched. (This is desensitization training after all!) Keep this up until the bird accepts it.

LESSON FOUR: Once he is completely comfortable being touched with the stick, gradually move your fingers down the stick. (Especially where he lets you scratch his head with it. Once he starts enjoying it, he won't realize it's your fingers until... HEY! WHAT THE... HEY, THAT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY NICE... )

Gradually keep this up until you no longer need the sticks...

Don't rush it. Go at the bird's pace. Even if you make little or no progress for the first few weeks, or the first month or so...

Eventually you will for 98% of the birds out there. Once in a great while, the bird simply won't accept being touched, but usually this works.

Good luck!

 

[NiRD]

I suggest looking into pressure training, or a technique called giving into pressure. I would elaborate but I am heading to a show.

 

[Birdman666]

I suggest looking into pressure training, or a technique called giving into pressure. I would elaborate but I am heading to a show.

Not familiar with that one, or maybe I am and we just called it something different. I hope you will come back to this and elaborate.

 

[NiRD]

Pressure is how prey items communicate dominance and submission in their natural habitats. Surprisingly, most of the time they don't actually have to make physical contact. Pressure isn't about physical contact, it's putting pressure on and taking it off the animal to manipulate body position.

Now before anybody gets worked up, it isn't stressful or scary, even though it sounds harsh. Instead, it is slowly building up your bird's tolerance to pressure, and teaching communication to both bird and handler.

Now before you begin, I want you to recognize the first signs that your bird may be uncomfortable, before it bites, yells, moves away. Birds are fluent in the art of subtlety, so we must be, too. What signs does your bird give you that it's uncomfortable? Does it close his eyes? Look away from you? Lean away? In order to become successful at pressure training, you must pay attention to these things.

Start where your bird is comfortable. It can be in a cage, door open or closed. It could be on a perchm. Anywhere. Start by slowly and meaningfully move your hand close to the bird. It has to be slow, because you want to catch that exact moment where the bird starts to feel uncomfortable, yet not far enough that your bird moves away.

When you find that sweet spot, just rest there for a while. Your bird will eventually ease up, and those early tension signs will fade. This is your bird giving into pressure. When your bird relaxes, take your hand away and stop the exercise for a little while. This is you releasing the pressure. Repeat in several sessions a day. Warning, it's a long process, but it increases the bird's comfort level.

After many repeats, you will begin to notice that your bird is no longer uncomfortable at that distance, and you can decrease your distance to the bird. Same thing. Wait until your bird gives into pressure, then release the pressure.

 

[Birdman666]

What happens if the bird doesn't move away?

I mean I've worked with a bunch that would let you get to the point where your fingers were in range. They never backed off, or backed down. They just bit once you were within range.

The Ruby mac used to deliberately lower her head, and do the poofy head feather, while giving you those "pathetic bird" looks begging you to scratch her head. It was an evil bird trick. The second you fell for it, she went after your finger! "Birdie practical jokes." Your turn to yell and dance!

 

[NiRD]

Of your bird moves away then you are going too far. You don't want it to move away.

A bird bites for several reasons. Sometimes it bites to play, sometimes it bites before it's uncomfortable. If it bites for the second reason, it bites as a last resort. There are many subtle cues it will Gove off before biting. Some of them are leaning, raising its feathers or flattening them, pinning pupils, looking away, turning its head. If your bird bites, it's telling you that you aren't listening to it.

If your bird is biting for the first reason, then this formula won't work.

 

[Birdman666]

Of your bird moves away then you are going too far. You don't want it to move away.

A bird bites for several reasons. Sometimes it bites to play, sometimes it bites before it's uncomfortable. If it bites for the second reason, it bites as a last resort. There are many subtle cues it will Gove off before biting. Some of them are leaning, raising its feathers or flattening them, pinning pupils, looking away, turning its head. If your bird bites, it's telling you that you aren't listening to it.

If your bird is biting for the first reason, then this formula won't work.

I DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT... NOT ALWAYS!

For more than half a decade, I rehabbed "the biters." (I've worked with around 350 birds, not counting my own.) This I'm fairly well trained to speak on intelligently:

There is the normal fight or flight reaction which is fear biting;

There is birdie manipulation/practical jokes (My Ruby)

There is "I DON'T WANT TO!"

There is "I'm mad at you" biting. (You locked me up too long!)

There are tantrums. (Toddler emotional melt down. I AM REALLY UPSET RIGHT NOW!)

There are hormonal biting. (I'm horny and grumpy. Don't touch)

There are territorial intrusion issues. (Get out of here!!!)

There are hoarding/possessive issues. (That's MINE!!!)

There is displacement biting. (If you can't bite the one you want to bite, bite
the one you're with!)

There is jealous/overbonding biting. (He's MINE!/Get away from him/You're not my person!)

Worse, there is MATE AGGRESSION bird on human (overbonding a step further. Power and control. Do what I say, I'm your mate! Obey me! Don't make me hurt you!)

There is the bird "looking out for you, trying to protect you by warning you of danger" biting (You're too close to that scarey thing! Hey stupid wake up, it's gonna get you!)

There is accidental biting (i.e. playing too rough/All I was trying to do was hold on, but I don't know my own strength, so I hurt you... i.e. Woody almost taking my finger off holding onto my finger when I was scratching his head.)

There is "amazon overload" biting. (Altered states)

Then there are large toos and sennies that have lots of 'tude and MPD. Otherwise known as "BECAUSE I CAN" biting. (PSYCHO BIRD!)

I could go on, but this is already starting to sound like Bubba in the "shrimp" scene from Forest Gump. So, I will stop now.

My point is it isn't always a simple generalization, and they don't always warn you... in fact, ala my Ruby, sometimes they deliberately DON'T warn you. Cuz they secretly want to see you dance and shout. "That never gets old! It's so funny when they do that!"

 

[NiRD]

And most of those fall in the discomfort category. It's called simplifying for the sake of the post.