Bare eyed step up training

[Ianknight]

So I got a bare eyed cockatoo not long ago and I’m trying to train him to step up but he only does it when he wants to go somewhere or wants on my shoulder( since he prefers not to fly) and he’s not motivated by treats enough to step on my finger but he loves scratches.... anyway when I put my finger up to his chest/foot area he puts his head down to block me(like he wants scratches) and if I push through it he will give me a nippy bite so anyone have any ideas to train him to step up,any help is appreciated.

 

[Betrisher]

Congratulations on your Corella! I've got one too and she's packed with personality and fun. Of course, being clever, she can also be a bit naughty and inventive about getting her own way. I don't care: Rosetta has brought me hours of pleasure and a lovely friendship with my beautiful girl.

You don't say how long you've had your bird. Sometimes, depending on his background, it can take a while to form a real bond, especially if the bird has come from an abusive or neglectful home. It can take a few weeks for the bird to settle in enough to even be calm when you take him out of his cage, so be patient.

The first thing is, don't try to force him to step up. If he doesn't want to, stop trying and leave him for a few minutes. Then try again. After three or four tries, give up. You'll need a lot of patience as a bird owner and this is a good place to start learning it. LOL! They don't always automatically do what we want them to.

You'll have a *lot* more success if you can hit on a treat he likes. I use sunflower seeds (which are absolutely *not* recommended in the normal diet, but which make good treats for occasional consumption). Other possibilities include bits of peanut (don't give whole nuts because they're *so* fatty) or almond, a nibble on a sprig of millet or natural grass seed head or even a nibble on some favourite fruit (my Beaks just adore dried pawpaw/papaya!)

Another idea is to try teaching him to target (search on YouTube for 'target training birds'). This saved my life! My Rosetta was beyond mad when she arrived and it was only by engaging her mind and attention with target training that we were finally able to connect. Of course, targetting has a few beneficial side effects: it enables you to put the bird exactly where you want it simply by pointing your stick. So you point to your wrist: birdie goes there. Point to the perch: birdie goes there. Point inside the cage: birdie is happily inside and you can shut the door. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Most birds will pick up targetting inside a single five-minute session, so long as you use a treat *every* time the bird gets it right and *never* give a treat if he gets it even slightly wrong. So, for example, if he touches or bites the middle of the stick, don't reward him. He only gets a treat for touching the end of the target stick. Corellas are highly, highly intelligent and your bird is capable of learning a great many tricks if you choose to teach him.

 

[Ianknight]

Thank you for the amazing info, I have had him two days but he is adjusting well he likes to climb out on my shoulder a lot and is very sweet, and while he likes treats he won’t do stuff for them and he is EXTREMELY scar d of foreign objects he is not used to especially sticks for some reason so I can’t target train him is thinking maybe I should wait some months before I start training to let him adjust?

 

[Betrisher]

Just a suggestion, but I'd try to dissuade him from climbing on your shoulder for now. If your bird is unsocialised and untrained, it can lead to some truly nasty and painful bites down the track. When you handle him, just quietly put him back on your wrist until he gets the message and stays there.

Since he's not responding to treats and is afraid of strange objects, I'd say he's feeling very new and nervous. If he's happy to sit still, why don't you just hold him for a while as you read or watch TV? If you read, then read aloud to him so he gets to know your voice and finds confidence in it. If not, then handle him for ten minutes or so at a time and just ask him to sit quietly on your wrist. Always move slowly and confidently around him and don't allow any loud or sudden noises or movements. Try to be alone with him during these times.

Watch him, too, for signs of fear or anger. You'll get to know each other very quickly and it won't be long before he's responding to you. I'd give him two or three weeks to feel entirely at home (it might take longer, but see how you go). To start, keep him in one part of the house and always work quietly and slowly with him. If you use a chopstick for target training, why don't you put a few in his cage so he can get used to them? See if you can wedge one across a corner so he gets to see and chew on it. If you leave them on the floor, he probably won't notice them.

Do keep asking questions (as they say on Sesame Street: it's the best way to find out what you want to know) - happy to help!

 

[HannahandSunny]

Great advice from Bertrisher!
My Corella. Sunny, learnt to step up by.. actually I don’t know how .. He just picked it up very quickly as he loves being carried around! I use the palm of my hand rather than just a finger as I recon that’s more tempting for them. Sunny got the hang of it when he was floor bound (unable to fly) and I’d put my hand in front of him and he’d casually Walk onto it. So that’s something you could try.
Sunny also presents me his head for scritches sometimes when I present him my hand to go on

 

[Ianknight]

Just a suggestion, but I'd try to dissuade him from climbing on your shoulder for now. If your bird is unsocialised and untrained, it can lead to some truly nasty and painful bites down the track. When you handle him, just quietly put him back on your wrist until he gets the message and stays there.

Since he's not responding to treats and is afraid of strange objects, I'd say he's feeling very new and nervous. If he's happy to sit still, why don't you just hold him for a while as you read or watch TV? If you read, then read aloud to him so he gets to know your voice and finds confidence in it. If not, then handle him for ten minutes or so at a time and just ask him to sit quietly on your wrist. Always move slowly and confidently around him and don't allow any loud or sudden noises or movements. Try to be alone with him during these times.

Watch him, too, for signs of fear or anger. You'll get to know each other very quickly and it won't be long before he's responding to you. I'd give him two or three weeks to feel entirely at home (it might take longer, but see how you go). To start, keep him in one part of the house and always work quietly and slowly with him. If you use a chopstick for target training, why don't you put a few in his cage so he can get used to them? See if you can wedge one across a corner so he gets to see and chew on it. If you leave them on the floor, he probably won't notice them.

Do keep asking questions (as they say on Sesame Street: it's the best way to find out what you want to know) - happy to help!

I tried it with a straw and he did fairly decent but it was a short session so I don’t stress him,he is still new but when I walk to the cage he walks up to the door and when I leave he screams lol he loves to be scratched and he steps up sometimes but only when he wants lol thank you for being so kind and answering my questions. I understand that this takes time it’s a marathon not a sprint

 

[jlockhart29]

You didn't say how old or any past he has or I missed it. I think the biggest thing is to let him settle
Hopefully he is on a primary pellet diet with fresh vegs and some fruit. Mine loves meat but only gets treat size when I'm having it. My wife says its sick when I feed her chicken!lol Most parrots on a seed restricted diet will walk threw the flames of hades for a almond sliver or pecan crumb. I keep a jar of cut up nuts by Aerial's portable perch in the house. Everytime she flies back to "poo poo" she gets a nut hence housebroken Corella. Use the little treats to teach all kinds of tricks and behaviors. All creatures including us have our crutch. With a little time you will find his.

 

[Ianknight]

You didn't say how old or any past he has or I missed it. I think the biggest thing is to let him settle
Hopefully he is on a primary pellet diet with fresh vegs and some fruit. Mine loves meat but only gets treat size when I'm having it. My wife says its sick when I feed her chicken!lol Most parrots on a seed restricted diet will walk threw the flames of hades for a almond sliver or pecan crumb. I keep a jar of cut up nuts by Aerial's portable perch in the house. Everytime she flies back to "poo poo" she gets a nut hence housebroken Corella. Use the little treats to teach all kinds of tricks and behaviors. All creatures including us have our crutch. With a little time you will find his.

His owners treated him well and he is one year old, they gave me a diet of seeds nuts and pellets but I’m gonna switch him to just pellets for treating purposes how do you housetrain your corella

 

[jlockhart29]

You didn't say how old or any past he has or I missed it. I think the biggest thing is to let him settle
Hopefully he is on a primary pellet diet with fresh vegs and some fruit. Mine loves meat but only gets treat size when I'm having it. My wife says its sick when I feed her chicken!lol Most parrots on a seed restricted diet will walk threw the flames of hades for a almond sliver or pecan crumb. I keep a jar of cut up nuts by Aerial's portable perch in the house. Everytime she flies back to "poo poo" she gets a nut hence housebroken Corella. Use the little treats to teach all kinds of tricks and behaviors. All creatures including us have our crutch. With a little time you will find his.

His owners treated him well and he is one year old, they gave me a diet of seeds nuts and pellets but I’m gonna switch him to just pellets for treating purposes how do you housetrain your corella

First thing is get him off the seed and nuts except as treats and a couple times a week he can have a "helping" of them. They need to be a high value to work. I've trained everything from fish, ferrets, horses, cats, birds and dogs. My present is a GSD I'm proud to say I trained myself from a pup with a Schutzhund 3 FH2 title on him. Only a few in the US with both. Doesn't matter what the animal is really training comes down to reward and pressure breaking the behavior down into the smallest steps then chaining them together. People want to go straight from A to Z and forget all the stuff in the middle. This confuses the subject and frustrates the teacher. One can ether shape an action such as drawing a dog onto the sit position with food and rewarding or capturing an action such as anticipating when pup is fixing to go to the bathroom, taking him out, waiting till he goes and rewarding. Too is no different. To really work he needs to be flighted so he has the ability to leave your shoulder or where ever and fly back to his perch to go. I have a styrofoam plate I can change out under her portable perch. Ok Too is nuts for nuts. Will do anything for them. He's in his cage. Wait till he poops and let him out. I know Aerial has about a 10 to 15 minute window. At about the 8 or 9 minute mark I put her on the perch an keep her there by interacting with her nut at the ready but she doesn't know it yet. As soon as you see him start to squat say "poo poo" or what ever your que is. As soon as he goes instant nut and I mean instant not 10 seconds later at this stage. Have him on your arm right by the perch and as soon as you see the sign he's fixing to go kind of move your arm to keep him off balance and set him on the perch. He'll go almost instantly and nut. The trick is to anticipate and have him on the perch when he goes and instant reward with the que word. Along with the nut she gets a happy good girl and a neck scratch. The bird learns to associate the que, nut and position (perch). Aerial is so funny sometimes she will fly back to her perch and squat making that little squeal she does when she goes but want do anything trying to trick me for a nut!lol Being a bird their minds are easily distracted and the que "need to go Poo Poo" when it's been awhile prevents accidents. Now there are times she is just lazy. Not much as she's probably 95% but there are times. Will probably catch flack for this but once a command is learned and after 6 or so years I know it is then I expect it to be followed. If she starts getting lazy and I catch her, note catch her not after the fact, then I sling her off and raise my voice at her while making a swatting motion at her and say NO! The swatting in not to hit her at all just to add some stress as with her I have found just the NO is not enough and the 95% will soon be 75%!lol Every animal has different level of reward/stress and a good trainer will recognize this and adjust. What's needed for little Aerial is COMPLETELY different than what my Czech born GSD needs trust me! Also after he has bonded and adjusted since he is still young I would start exposing him to a multiple of environments. I'll find a link to King aluminum travel cage I can't say enough about for a Corella size bird. Take him for car rides, short at first, let him sleep on the floor with you in it some. Watch you do yard work, visit a friend and let him loose in a room once he knows the command PEN, ect. Never force him. If you see him getting stressed than back up a few steps. Remember ABCDE... not AZ. Aerial is just as happy at home in her cage as at an Air BB in New Orleans and since she is house broke the owner loves her. Good luck. They are wonderful companions for the right person. Just take it slow. You probably have the rest of your life to do this!

 

[jlockhart29]

https://kingscages.com/product/new-ats1719-aluminum-travel-cageavailable-in-all-colors/
Hears the link. You can look around and find it cheaper.