Help needed with taming!

[Abtin]

Hello everyone,
Hope y’all are enjoying your Monday.
So recently I’ve been working on my brand new lovie (Blue) and can’t express how impressed and proud I am of Blue’s confidence and progress. I am on the stage of teaching him step up and down.
He’s doing an amazing job when we’re going through it inside of the cage. However whenever I bring him out, he kind of seem to get over excited and rather fly around (which I would too)

any suggestions on how I can make it easier for both of us to ace this taming process outside of cage and have him follow commands?

Thank you
A

 

[Lady Jane]

I would just let him enjoy the flying, it's good exercise. He will eventually land, most likely on the cage. Remember to have millet handy. You two will be together many years so there is no hurry.

 

[Abtin]

I would just let him enjoy the flying, it's good exercise. He will eventually land, most likely on the cage. Remember to have millet handy. You two will be together many years so there is no hurry.

He definitely does come back to cage but “step up” has no meaning to him like how he responds to it right away in cage. I definitely agree with the experience. That is why I bring him out but I do know every tame bird will jump on a finger front of its chest no matter where and I want blue to be there eventually and definitely not rushing. Just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing

 

[Lady Jane]

In the early stages of teaching step up the bird needs a treat reward after doing the step up whether inside or outside the cage. Good luck.

 

[Abtin]

In the early stages of teaching step up the bird needs a treat reward after doing the step up whether inside or outside the cage. Good luck.

Yes I’ve been treating him everytime with Millets but outside of the cage Millets are not as interesting

 

[Lady Jane]

Then let him out more often so he gets used to freedom.

 

[Peachfaced]

Personally, I'd let him! Flight exercise is excellent for him and will help him burn off extra energy. Let him do his thing, and when he's more calm, then you can work with step up/step down and other new tricks.

 

[M_Riddly]

Target training works well for this. Some of my birds won't "step up" but if I target them to where they have to step up on my hand/arm they have absolutely no problem. Targeting can also help if your bird is like "maybe I wana stay out longer than you want me to" and you have to go somewhere. Just use a chopstick and a clicker. Also, sometimes millet isn't the best training treat when it's on the branch. (Idk if it's called a branch or something else) Some of my birds would get frustrated because I would only let them have a bite and pull the branch away. I use white millet that I get in a bag that is already off the branch. Or, I use to. At the moment, I'm using walnut bits. All my birds noticed Leo was getting walnut bits and they decided they wanted what he was having so I had to make them a couple treat containers full of even smaller walnut bits. I also use pine nut bits for my birds too. Just something to consider. If your bird is ok with the millet on the branch, then cool. Walnut bits are just, from what I've experienced, less messy because they just eat it and don't have to shell it like with seeds.

 

[Lady Jane]

Its called a millet spray. Good treat ideas in the post above.

 

[M_Riddly]

No I know what it's called. I just meant the stick part. I was trying to use a specific term. Like the whole thing is spray millet. The leftover stick I was just calling it a branch. Branch might be to big of a term now that I think about it. I guess it's just a stick. Lol. I just remembered that sometimes I use black oil sunflower seeds as a special jackpot reward because they are bigger than my usual sized treat and my birds love them a ton.

 

[Peachfaced]

No I know what it's called. I just meant the stick part. I was trying to use a specific term. Like the whole thing is spray millet. The leftover stick I was just calling it a branch. Branch might be to big of a term now that I think about it. I guess it's just a stick. Lol. I just remembered that sometimes I use black oil sunflower seeds as a special jackpot reward because they are bigger than my usual sized treat and my birds love them a ton.

I just call them twigs or sticks if there's no millet clusters left on them.

 

[TikiMyn]

Never force your bird. My birds are '100% tame(I don't really believe in using the word tame to describe them, we just trust each other) but definitely don't step up whenever I want them too. Most of the time they do, but sometimes I need to let them know they will get a treat to get them to step up, recall, stop whatever they are doing etc. Look into some positive reinforcement training, really easy to do and you see results really quickly in my experience. Basically, make it amazing to comply with your requests. If he even approaches you, make it fun with treats and attention, if he enjoys that. If you (accidentally) scare him, back off. You can wear some millet spray on you shoulder to encourage him to fly there. Offer a bowl of food near where you are to encourage him to approach you. Have toys lying close to you too, to entice him.
Congrats on your lovie, what is his name?
Here are some great and free training resources: Free Training Resources | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[BlueDoraBarry]

This may or may not seem odd, but can I target train my IRN using my finger?

 

[Peachfaced]

This may or may not seem odd, but can I target train my IRN using my finger?

It's much easier to do it using a separate instrument (a chopstick will work), especially if your bird is nervous around hands.

 

[BlueDoraBarry]

@Peachfaced but do you think it will work? I don't have any hand-held perches or any safe branches I could use, and she's only ever avoided the "step up" hand pose.

Thanks in advance!:fairy3:

 

[Peachfaced]

The only way to find out is to try.

 

[SagaRue]

On the topic of millet and training cockatiels I have got a 7 month old cockatiel he lets me put my hand in the cage he won't come over to it but he refuses to eat any kind of treat from my hand through the bars in the cage is there any advice on how I can encourage it because I can't do any reward training if the bird will not take Rewards

 

[Fuzzy]

@Peachfaced but do you think it will work? I don't have any hand-held perches or any safe branches I could use, and she's only ever avoided the "step up" hand pose.

Thanks in advance!:fairy3:

Yes, you can teach a bird to target any part of their body to any item, including your finger.

If you want to teach her to step up on a hand held perch, get one that is similar to the perches already in her cage so it isn't too unfamiliar. You may still have to desensitize her to it as a perch waving around looks different to one screwed onto the bars of the cage. With Ollie I actually used a multi stemmed perch that was inside his cage to teach him to step up onto. With Kobe I use a folded rope perch as he is used to rope perches in his cage.

 

[Fuzzy]

On the topic of millet and training cockatiels I have got a 7 month old cockatiel he lets me put my hand in the cage he won't come over to it but he refuses to eat any kind of treat from my hand through the bars in the cage is there any advice on how I can encourage it because I can't do any reward training if the bird will not take Rewards

Welcome SagaRue. Does your cockatiel like millet spray if tied to the side of the cage and you not touching it? If so, try holding one end of a long section and offer him the other end (even through the cage bars if he is more comfortable). That way he doesn't have to get too close to your fingers. Then you can gradually shorten the pieces you are offering over days or even weeks. Go as fast or slow as he is comfortable with. If he doesn't like millet spray, what foods does he like? If you can, start with something big like perhaps a large slice of apple, and like the millet spray, you can over time make the pieces smaller and smaller. Or you could try offering him a little bowl of seed from your hands.