Clicker training IRN

[sahil112]

Hey guys

So i have tried to follow the sticky on clicker training for about a week know and I am still not really getting anywhere...

I have 2 birds, male and female. Have had them for about 7-8 weeks now.

Male was apparently tamed and female was not but female seems much more calm than the male.

So i have been trying the clicker training for a week now and cant really get past the first bit. I have made progress i think like most of the time i can walk up to the cage know and they wont jump or grab the cage, they will just sit there but sometimes they still jump back in fear etc. I don;t think it helps much that i put my hand in their cage everyday to replace water and fresh food etc. They always jump around and run to the bottom of the cage very fast as soon as they see me openeing the cage door.

So how can i help them to help me? Do i just carry on with clicker training and over time with patience they will hopefully become calm? Also when i can walk up to their cage fully should i still click? Should i also give them a treat or no?

Once they are comfortable with me just walking up to their cage and I can move on to the next step, should i offer the millet spray through the cage by standing up or sitting down? I feel like if i do any of those things they will get scared again and run off to the back of the cage...

Any advice or help will be appreciated. Apologies for the bad english and lengthy post.

Thanks

 

[Anansi]

No apologies necessary. Your post was just fine.

It sounds to me like they are both still afraid of you. It will likely take a lot longer than one week to overcome their fear of you. Main thing here is to work on earning their trust. Don't push them. Let them set the pace.

The fact that there are two of them in the cage will make your job harder, btw. But have patience. Patience and persistence will have the best chance of eventually winning them over. My advice? Sit by the cage. As close as you can get without spooking them. Talk soothingly to them. Read to them. Establish a routine. Routines will help them cope with your "intrusions" into their cage when you need to change their bowls.

In addition, try bribing them with treats. Don't open the cage for this. Not yet. Just through the cage bars. You want to build an association in their minds between you and yummy treats. Might take some time, though. At first, they may not even be willing to take anything from your hands... even through the bars. You'll have to earn that trust.

Once they'll comfortably take food from your hands, you can resume clicker training in earnest. Click every time they accept food from you. This is you building a different association, now. Click=treats. Consistency is key. But remember, you can't put the cart in front of the horse. Gain their trust through the bars. Don't rush them. Give them time to come around.

 

[Scottj]

I am new to the bird world but have a good grasp now on clicker training birds.

I would think introducing a clicker to 2 birds at the same time would be very difficult if not next to impossible. Unless the only thing you were ever going to teach is click equals reward. Even then one bird might understand click=reward and the other learns click=reward for him not me=kill him and steal reward, or some such thing. For good results you would need to click train the birds
individually away from each other. The idea with the clicker ultimately is to "capture" a good behavior and reward your bird for it. 2 birds at once they will never get it and it would be more confusing than anything. Once each bird is clicker trained you could likely work with one in proximity of the other as long as you were clearly addressing one bird.

I am a new bird owner and am having great results with clicker training but exact timing of the click is critical.