Training to be examined

[joeparrilla5790]

Training to be examined/lay on back/etc

Hey guys,

So Ive come a long way with my baby conure, he is stepping up on command 100% of the time. My next step is to get him to allow me to hold him in my hand, pull out his wings, examine his nails, etc. He lets me pick him up without much of a problem, its just that he get restless and begins to wiggle and try to get out after 5 or so seconds. He will turn around and give my finger a nibble as a way to say "let me go". Its not an aggressive bite by any means, its just a soft beaking in hopes that Ill stop holding him.

My training method has gone like this:

Step up.
Then grab him and turn him upside down. Hold him even when he tries to get away and nibble. If he is being calm I will praise and scratch him which he loves. As soon as he begins to wiggle or bite Ill stop the scratching and say NO. Then I pick a moment when he has been particularly calm, I then turn him back over on his feet and give him his favorite treat. How does this sound? I just want to make sure I am not reinforcing the biting/wiggling at all.

My goal is also to get him to lie on his back without any support. I am not fully sure how to go about this, because as soon as I release my grip he attempts to turn himself over. I have seen people who are able to touch their birds all over, flip them upside down, pretty much have them allow you to put them in any position you want and get no response from them. How can I work towards this? It seems very beneficial for examinations as well as learning advanced tricks.

This video from here is a GREAT example of what I am working towards:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=95O4sS1gOU0"]Parrot trick training : play dead trick - YouTube[/ame]

 

[sarafigal]

I'm interested in responses to this, as well. My rehomed GCC will step up and likes head scratches, but I have not been able to handle his wings without a nip. I would love to hear first-hand from others how to proceed.

 

[MaraWentz]

I'm teaching Erin to lay on her back, so I just got her to trust me to the point I can stretch out her wings, preening her new feathers, pet her chest, neck, backs, feet, etc. I start by her all offer and end with petting her neck then air switch from petting her neck/chest to flip her on her back and allow hertohold on to one of my hands while I continue to pet her. I inlay do it for 45secs to a minute then give her a treat

 

[MonicaMc]

Re: Training to be examined/lay on back/etc

With Charlie, my mitred conure, I can lay him on his back in the palm of my hand and he'll clasp his feet together. I can also gently toss him into the air, and turn him around and he just lays there! Unfortunately, I didn't teach him to lay on his back, but when he was at his foster parents house, Charlie didn't want to stay on me, so his foster mum put him on his back in the palm of my hand so he'd 'stay put' for me. She had her head turned away, and I'm just staring at him. Then I think, how comfortable is he with being on his back? And I started to gently toss him in the air. His foster mum turns her head, see's what I'm doing and starts laughing!

So I understand what you're going for!


As far as how you are training, I don't feel as if that's a good approach. What you are doing is coercing him, or rather forcing him into doing something he doesn't want.

I would suggest getting your conure comfortable with your hand on his back while he's standing straight up. Also, get him comfortable with you slightly leaning him (you don't have to use your hand, just see if he's comfortable leaning back or going forward - easiest for you to have him go back but he may be more comfortable going forwards) and praise/treat him for being in a different position. Think of it as if he's hanging, upside down, but don't force him into that position, rather, get him comfortable by breaking it down into steps. Leaning back a little, leaning back a little further, a bit further, etc until he's upside down.

Once he is comfortable hanging upside down, you can then train him to accept your other hand beneath his body while still having his feet on your finger. Once he gets comfortable with this, you can then try getting him to release one foot and reward him, then release the other foot, and reward him.


In training, it's usually best to train an animal to perform a behavior because they want to, not because they are being forced into doing the behavior. They don't most often know what you *want* them to do, so you need to teach them in increments. Once it "clicks" in their brains, it gets simple!

 

[GuyG]

I'm honored that u chose my video
I had the exact same problems with Chief..as u can see in the video, they r all gone….

I think that the order of teaching should go like so:
Target
Wave
Turn around
Wings (my vocal commend is "who's the man")
Lie on his back
Bat
And only then- play dead

In this process u and your parrot r bonding and that is the best way to gain his trust and letting him understand that u only want what's best for him so biting and nibbling would b the last thing he'd do..

Now- wings trick:
The best thing to do is just touching his wings at the far edges then click and reward, by doing this it would b imposable for him to bite u.
After a day or two he would understand that u r not going to harm his wings and then u can start lifting the wings higher and higher and move your fingers closer to his head when u r lifting them.
!remember! when it comes to gaining full trust from your parrot it is your patience that's being tested, not your parrots'…

Lying on his back- Step 1
Hold the parrot close to your chest so that he would grab your shirt and then start (slightly!) lean forward -like taking a bow- then click and reward..understand that u need to let the parrot get used to that unfamiliar position..in his own pace- bow lower towards the ground until u r bowing like bowing should be

Step 2
Now instead of him grabbing your shirt- he would grab on to your index finger, for now nothing changes except that! he's still close to your chest and u r still supporting him (now with only one hand of curse).
Bow like u did up until now and when u c that he's ok with that- lean back up a few inch's but don't move your arms, now the parrot is lying on his back and the only support is your finger and your palm

Step 3
Now your goal Is to increase the distance between u and your parrot so that in the end u'll stand back up and he will remain in lying position..when u achieve that try turning him on he's back without bowing.

Step 4
The last step is of curse removing your finger..I don't think that it's possible not to get bitten during this process (the parrot wants something to grab on..it's a natural instinct) so try to release one or two of his fingers first (with your thumb) then sleek out your finger entirely (only from one leg), eventually he will release his leg on his own and then u release the other leg, now it's time to take a deep breath and smile, u just took the game to a whole other level….


That trick took my about 3 weeks, each step includes a lot of mini steps and a lot of repetition before going to the next step(or mini-step) because it's not a natural behavior for a parrot… so patience is the key