Step up!

[LinnieLife]

Parrot ownership sure has been a hoot! No pun intended!
Anyway, Ive had my linnie for almost a year now and I've spent almost everyday trying to bond with her. Her cage doors are almost always open (as long as I'm in the room of course) and she comes out of the cage and sits on the door of her cage. She also learned how to mimic some whistles! also she has a little hanging perch out in the living room i sometimes put her on, But the thing is she still isn't quite fond of me & she will only step up if she sees millet on the other side of my hand! Any who, Since I've been doing this for quite a while i just wanted to know if you guys have any advice for step-up training & how i can get closer to her!

 

[Shinobi]

You need a training treat and a clicker.
I found Henry's training treat by putting five different foods on a plate and watch which one Henry ate first I used sunflower seeds, corn kernels, pine nuts, grapes and balls of millet. This would become Henry's training treat and I removed this food item from Henry diet. Whatever your bird picks, it must not be part of the bird’s diet otherwise it defeats the purpose of being a training treat. Henry picked sunflower seeds.

Next I use a clicker to identify the desired behaviour, plus training treats and praise to reinforce that desired behaviour. It's no secret, you just need to spend time interacting and training with your bird.

The clicker is the bridge between you and your bird and you use that bridge to highlight the bird’s desired behaviour to your bird.

I put Henry on his play gym 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 perch 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 Henry". if after 15 to 20 seconds Henry hadn't stepped up onto my left hand I would remove the sunflower seed from his sight. but leave my left hand there.

Wait 20 seconds and reshow the treat. (this might take more than one go.) When Henry stepped up onto my left hand and took the sunflower seed I would click the clicker at the same time. Then I return Henry back to the play gym Tell him to step down, reward with a sunflower seed and click the clicker at the same time, then repeat the cycle. Henry now steps up and down without training treats and this was achieved in less then a week.

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.

 

[LinnieLife]

@Shinobi Thank you! i will definitely do that. But as she is a linnie is it possible she will never really become "Hand tame"? Ive heard linnies are very naturally hand-shy and sometimes don't ever want to bond with you. Is that true? just askin' cause we've kind of hit a wall in training

 

[Monica]

Use more treats/millet.

Don't let the idea that linnies being naturally hand-shy hold you back from working with Pixel. Just take it as the fact that she needs more time to get accustomed to humans.

She wont step up without the use of millet? Then so be it! As long as she learns that good things come from you, she can learn to trust you!

 

[LinnieLife]

@Monica Thank you! I just didn't want her to get fat from all this millet, thats all!

 

[Monica]

You could use her regular food as well!

I've even used pellets as a "reward", although, chances are, the reward itself could have been eating from my hand, even though what I had was not something that could be considered a "treat" by normal standards... aka "contrafreeloading."


Or try and find other things she enjoys and use those, too!

 

[LinnieLife]

@Monica She likes sunflower seeds & little bits of almond, I doubt she'd take pellets as a treat haha! Thanks again!

 

[Monica]

Here's an older thread of mine which goes into more details about what I did.


"Self-Tamed" Cockatiels | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[MilliesMom]

I am having the same training issue with my Linnie. Sweet Pickle is very shy and fearful of everything. Just adopted her about 2 months ago so still early. She is only 4 and a half months old. I sit beside her cage and read out loud, sing and hum but very little interest in me as she just gets anxious and runs back and forth all around her cage. She seems to be eating pellets and millet but offer fresh fruits and veggies daily. I am home all day with her and also have a rescue Blue Fronted Amazon who I have re-trained. As I know it is still early days yet it is still super frustrating that she is terrified. Any suggestions would be great for me. This is my first post...Thanks

 

[Monica]

Hi MilliesMom!

First and foremost, try and figure out Sweet Pickle's favorite treats. Use those when you are near her. It can be as simple as dropping the treat in the cage as you walk by. You do not need to stand and watch!

If she's anxious when you are near the cage, then you are too close. Back off. Try and make sure she has a way to "hide" so she can feel more at ease. If you come near the cage and it looks like she's looking for a way to escape or starting to inch away, then stop. Wait for her to calm down some, and retreat. Try not looking directly at her, either. If she's calm, you can try getting closer again, but stop once she starts to look away. If calm, back up again.

Basically, it's trying to teach her that she has choices and you are willing to "listen".


Lot of great training information in the links in this thread!

Free Training Resources | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[MilliesMom]

Thanks Monica,

I will begin this today. She likes the tiny black sunflower seeds so I will use those. I just took the little tent out which she used to hide behind but has never been in. Great tips and will keep you posted.

Sheryl