Step Up Help for New Bird

[wareagle89]

Hello All! I have had my female sun conure named Phoenix for about 3 weeks now and she has settled in very well. She will be 1 on 25 AUG. She seems to be comfortable around me. When I sent next to her cage she climbs over the bars near me and she gets really silly as if trying to get my attention. She will hang upside down and even lay on her back on the bottom of the cage. When she see's me she also seems to get excited as she kind of flaps her wings slightly and calls to me. With all this to me it seems she is eager to interact, but she refuses to step up. She will take treats from my fingers and from the palm of my hand inside of her cage and eat the treat next to my hand and she doesn't act scared of my hand. However when I hold the treat away and have my hand in between her and the treat to try and get her to step up she very rarely will touch me with her foot and most of the time she will stretch her neck to the point she falls over against my hand or she will climb around the opening of the cage trying to get to the treat from other angles. I'm at a loss to be honestly. I bought her from parrot stars and they just advise me to give her more time, but Im seeing very little progress towards her stepping up.

I did a online consult with Landon from Bird Tricks and we talked for the entire 30 min consult and I feel like she cared and she answered my questions and we discussed diet. She felt pretty sure the reason my bird isnt stepping up is because the food motivation isnt strong enough. So she instructed me to feed the bird only twice a day. So I am to feed her one in the morning her chop and then remove after 3 hours and then in the afternoon her pellet mix (Intune and Tops.....I am planning on switching from Intune to Tropican Lifetime pellets) and remove after 3 hours. Prior to this I would feed her chop in the morning then remove after a few hours and she had access to her pellet mix all day. So I tried what she suggested I feed Phoenix in the morning and removed her food 3 hours later then in the afternoon I came to her to do our training session and she did seem way more desire to get her walnut treat to the point she kind of hooked my hand with her upper beak and pulled it closer to her and placed her foot on my hand. Then I found some articles on here that brought up some very big concerns about Bird Tricks methods and withholding food was one of the issues i read about and then I instantly felt so bad cause I think she may have been super hungry and probably hungry for awhile. I felt so bad that I might of just starved my bird. So I have stopped doing this and went back to her normal feeding plan, chop in the morning and pellet mix available all day.

Honestly I feel like she is motivated for her treats without withholding food cause she has climbed out of her cage and I was able to lure her back into her cage with a walnut. So I have went back to just trying to get her to reach for the treat and hope one day she decides to step up on my hand. Sometimes she touches my hand with her foot, but most days its just disappointment for me. I just want to hold her that way I can take her around with me and we can hang and play. I'll remain patient cause honestly I can see her bubbly personality just from her mannerisms in her cage and I know when we get to the point she steps up shes going to be an awesome bird. So if anyone has any advice or tips that would be able to help me to get her over the stepping up hump please let me know.

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Iluvbirds~]

Maybe try this.
It really helped for my birds.

But firstly, it depends on how old your sun conure is
Because, the older it is the more time it will take to gain its trust.

First, Hand feed it some treats for a few days, and when it start's stepping up onto your hand to eat. You can strart training.
Also, if it is not stepping up, maybe try teaching it to fly to you.

But, I only have experience with budgerigars, so I'm not really sure if this will still help. But give it a try!

 

[erynez888]

Stepping up can sometimes just take time, especially with young birds-they’re little characters with their own pace. From what you say, she’s interested but maybe not quite ready to fully trust that step-up yet.

I’d keep offering treats at the edge of your hand like you’re doing, and maybe try holding your finger just inside the cage opening so she can get used to stepping on it without feeling trapped. No rush on the food withholding - it’s great you’re listening to your gut there. Birds are smart and sometimes they just need a bit more hangout time with gentle encouragement.

 

[Respect]

Yeah, I’m not a fan of food withholding. Fresh foods like chop should be taken a way after a few hours to avoid spoilage, but I like my bird to have access to his pellets and seeds all day. Even with constant food access, he’s plenty motivated by the right treats.

Instead, you might want to try training before giving her her morning chop, or in between taking her chop away and giving her pellets. You might also want to try different treats — lots of conures seem to go nuts for safflower and sunflower seeds.

Make sure that when you ask for the step-up, that your finger(s) are slightly above where she’s perched so that she has to literally step up.

You also might need to stay still for quite a bit while she figures things out. Sometimes my boy takes a few seconds to step up while he thinks about it; and if your bird is trying to figure it out for the first time, she may need some time to think it out too. Even if she tries stretching to reach the treat, give her a moment to realize she can’t get to it that way. I did step-up training with my bird while he was on top of his cage, so that he couldn’t climb close enough to get the treat without stepping up.

Wishing you luck!