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Advice for ornery Eckie
- Thread starter Atomiklan
- Start date
Well I may have figured out a way to instantly get my foot in the door. I removed the treat puzzle from her cage and just finished making her usual fresh breakfast. I also removed her ladder. Now she must step up to get her breakfast and she must step up now to go back into the cage. She almost immediately stepped up when she was ready for breakfast.
Yup, she stepped up just fine when she wanted to go back. Of course, this is not necessarily correcting the actual problem since she is stepping up not on demand, but because she wants to bridge a gap, but I'll take it! The more I can have these positive interactions the better. I'll keep doing this for a few days to see if things improve.
Side note, I am SOOOOOO glad I made this shield HAHAHAHA!!! It is working so well! Without it I would be looking like a Jackson Pollock right now HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Yup, she stepped up just fine when she wanted to go back. Of course, this is not necessarily correcting the actual problem since she is stepping up not on demand, but because she wants to bridge a gap, but I'll take it! The more I can have these positive interactions the better. I'll keep doing this for a few days to see if things improve.
Side note, I am SOOOOOO glad I made this shield HAHAHAHA!!! It is working so well! Without it I would be looking like a Jackson Pollock right now HAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Yes! Good job. 
All you need are positive interactions, wash rinse repeat.
That shield is cool. So was your idea about the skewers, I am anxious to see what you come up with (although the cheap-os really are ok, for this use).
You need to meet this guy, I bet you 2 would set the world on fire together.... Mark Schack Breeding Cage | M&M Cage Company
All you need are positive interactions, wash rinse repeat.That shield is cool. So was your idea about the skewers, I am anxious to see what you come up with (although the cheap-os really are ok, for this use).
You need to meet this guy, I bet you 2 would set the world on fire together.... Mark Schack Breeding Cage | M&M Cage Company
Thanks!Yes! Good job.
Thanks again! I don't have any thoughts just yet, but I'll jump on that project eventually.
Wow yup! That site has ALL the telltale signs of an engineer. Is he on the forums?
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Yes he is an engineer. He is on another forum I visit occasionally, that is how we met. Very nice guy.
The engineer thing.
My dad, 1st hubby, current hubby, and daughter are all engineers. Then there's me: author, violinist, artist. Talk about black sheep!
My dad, 1st hubby, current hubby, and daughter are all engineers. Then there's me: author, violinist, artist. Talk about black sheep!
She has been doing a lot better since originally posting. Taking away the ladder and that outside perch seemed to have made a HUGE difference. Getting her to come out now for her breakfast and dinner and making her step up to bridge the gap to the table is making a huge difference. Still have a lot of work to do. I have stopped (for the time being) trying to get her to step up in the cage. Right now I am just focusing all my attention on the times she is willing to step up and capitalizing on that positive experience.
Yay! That is good to hear. They are all different, little puzzles we have to work out.
I have taught Henry to step up and down from both inside and outside the cage. while people feel that's it's good to allow their birds free-range within their home, I personally like to be able to get Henry in and out of his cage when needed and without causing any stress to Henry. I used a clicker and treating treats to achieve this.
I would put Henry on his T-stand and gave him a sunflower seed and click the clicker. This indicates that training has started.
Then in my right hand I held the clicker and the sunflower seed. The set up was the clicker in the palm with my middle finger on the button and the sunflower seed held between my thumb and index finger.
With my left hand I made a pistol, so my finger was parallel to the T-stand and about 3 cm away. Then I would bring my right hand up behind my left hand and show Henry the sunflower seed and say, "step up". if after 15 to 20 seconds Henry hadn't stepped up onto my left hand I would remove the sunflower seed from his sight.
Wait 20 seconds and reshow the treat. When Henry stepped up onto my left hand and took the sunflower seed I would click the clicker at the same time.
Then to teach him to step down, with henry still on my left hand I would bring it parallel to the T-stand and about 3 cm away. Then with a sunflower seed in my right again, I would bring my right hand up So the T-stand is between my left and right hands.
show Henry the sunflower seed and say, "step down". if after 15 to 20 seconds Henry hadn't stepped down onto the T-stand I would remove the sunflower seed from his sight.
Wait 20 seconds and reshow the treat. When Henry stepped down from my left hand, onto the T-stand and took the sunflower seed I would click the clicker at the same time.
The advice I can give is
1 move slowly around the bird
2 let the bird come to you.
3 Don't force the bird to do anything that it doesn't want to do.
4 make the trust building and bonding sessions (training) fun
5 end all training sessions on a positive.
6 patience.
Remember food is a great motivator.
I would put Henry on his T-stand and gave him a sunflower seed and click the clicker. This indicates that training has started.
Then in my right hand I held the clicker and the sunflower seed. The set up was the clicker in the palm with my middle finger on the button and the sunflower seed held between my thumb and index finger.
With my left hand I made a pistol, so my finger was parallel to the T-stand and about 3 cm away. Then I would bring my right hand up behind my left hand and show Henry the sunflower seed and say, "step up". if after 15 to 20 seconds Henry hadn't stepped up onto my left hand I would remove the sunflower seed from his sight.
Wait 20 seconds and reshow the treat. When Henry stepped up onto my left hand and took the sunflower seed I would click the clicker at the same time.
Then to teach him to step down, with henry still on my left hand I would bring it parallel to the T-stand and about 3 cm away. Then with a sunflower seed in my right again, I would bring my right hand up So the T-stand is between my left and right hands.
show Henry the sunflower seed and say, "step down". if after 15 to 20 seconds Henry hadn't stepped down onto the T-stand I would remove the sunflower seed from his sight.
Wait 20 seconds and reshow the treat. When Henry stepped down from my left hand, onto the T-stand and took the sunflower seed I would click the clicker at the same time.
The advice I can give is
1 move slowly around the bird
2 let the bird come to you.
3 Don't force the bird to do anything that it doesn't want to do.
4 make the trust building and bonding sessions (training) fun
5 end all training sessions on a positive.
6 patience.
Remember food is a great motivator.
