Step up mishap. Need advice.

[SmallFeather]

Hi all! I recently adopted a Timneh African grey and have run into a problem. Aries is incredibly smart and he is already excelling in target training. After training and his evening chop, it was time to go back into his cage for his bed time. When I offered my toweled arm for him to step up onto, he bit it and refused to step up. I offered him a treat to step up and he bit the towel again. I was unsure of what to do as I didn't want him to associate biting with staying out of cage, so I just kept my arm there. He bit the towel probably a dozen times and then finally stepped up. I gave him a large reward for doing so and put him away without anymore issues. Did I do the right thing? Did I reinforce biting or did I scare him? I really want to form a wonderful relationship with him and am afraid I may have damaged that and set us back. What should I do when I need him to step up but he doesn't want to? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[sunnysmom]

My guess is he didn't like the towel. Will he not step up on your hand? If you're nervous about that, you can have him step up on a perch. A lot of birds associate towels with being held for nail clippings, medicine, etc and are fearful of them. Just a guess on m part.

 

[SmallFeather]

He is fearful of hands and will bite them. He will only step up on a towel so far. He has been stepping up fine onto the same towel for the last few days. I haven't tried a perch, but I will certainly try that. Could it be possible he just wanted to stay out?

 

[Imogena]

I have Timneh as well. For almost half a year we have been together now. I have similar situation to yours. Edgar also sometimes refuses to step-up especially when he knows that he will go to his cage, and it happens mostly at the evening before his bed time. He would bite my fingers then. What I do is give him just five more minutes (this is time for myself to calm down) and start again. I show him reward and ask again. Also during the day I ask him to step-up many times (with reward or not) and put him back to what he was doing, so he doesn't associate stepping up only with going to his cage. I usually bribe him, although not every time.
What I noticed is that he has some phases. There are times when he will just not cooperate. Fortunately those are quite rare, last about two days and are over. Edgar is back to his usual cooperating self. I know that I have to be patient and just wait through the phase.
The key is being calm (that's why when I feel I'm going to lose my nerves, I sit down and wait a while). I just have to be patient. Sometimes I have to repeat "Please, Edgar, step up for me" several times. I also noticed that when he is agitated it is no point in asking him. It is better to wait and ask when he is calmer. This way he is associating stepping up with calmness and good energy. When Edgar's chest feathers are shaking I know that I will gain nothing, so I'm not even trying.
Now, after long time of training he steps up almost automaticaly which was my aim from the very beginning. Works most of the times (except of those phases I mentioned, which I have to wait through).

 

[SmallFeather]

@Imogena That's really helpful. Thank you!