Finger problems

[Comafly]

Hey everyone. Been a while since I posted. I've had my eclectus Coda for almost a year now - she was 7 months when I got her. Things have been awesome, and she is the friendliest, most easy going bird I've ever met. She steps up without hesitation - and waves, spins, & flies to me on command. She's also happy to hang off my finger upside down.

However, she still is not fond of me petting her, or putting my hands around her back/neck area, and has even gotten a little worse over month or so. Again, she's not afraid - she runs to my hand when I open her cage, and she steps up without me even saying anything (which I do my best to avoid). But if I try to pet her in any way she will grab my finger and clamp down - not a bite, but squeezes enough that she's obviously not cool with what I'm doing. If she doesn't clamp down, she will just grab my finger and then step up on to it instead. If I don't let her step up or clamp down, she will growl at my finger being near her.

Until now I've just gotten used to the idea she doesn't like being petted, but I've ordered a harness for her, and I'll need to be able to handle her a little more, and put my hands around her body and lift her wings. But whenever I even try to put my hand near her, she goes to step up, and if I don't let her step up, she squeezes my finger or growls.

I'm not really sure how I can get her to stop grabbing my finger, or stop stepping up when I don't want her to, without ultimately teaching her I don't want her to step up. Any and all advice is welcome!

 

[Weezerj]

My Illigers macaw wasn't too fond of me touching him either. I include a tickle under the wing during step up training and progressed to head/neck scratches.

While he can still be wary of my fingers, we have progressed to it being OK, and even an occasional "find daddy for scratches".

...a little be each day seems to be what works for us. Some people are lucky to get that cuddle bug from the get go, but more likely seems to be the need to work at this. I am sure that the different species also play into this, but I am far from any kind of expert.

 

[SilverSage]

Since you know she doesn't like being touched, you need to think of a way to reward her for accepting the touch that she doesn't like. Make it worth it for her to allow it. Treats, toys, attention, figure out what her favorite thing is, and use it. Start with an area like her head or feet that you are allowed to touch, and then slowly work your way up. Every time you move a little farther, reward her for letting you. Be patient, move slowly. It will likely take several months.

 

[obeck]

I don't really know about ever being able to pet her. I know my boy doesn't like it and I can live with that. I do mess with his wings though. He tolerates that. Try for treat training. That's how I got him to tolerate the wings. Distractions are great, and nothing distracts my boy like a treat.

 

[StacyO]

Hi, I'm chiming in for the first time & apologize now if I'm breaking any rules by kinda going off subject. I've read & read so many threads on this forum and learned tons of reassuring, helpful info. This thread is another area I can relate to since I don't have a cuddle-bug, either. I have a four-month-old male baby, Rafiki, who is doing well considering we are learning together. So many training suggestions start with "offering them a treat." Rafiki & I obviously need "Eclectus 101" because he won't take food from me. He is a great eater so I've tried offering him foods I've seen him eat eagerly & I've set food next to him, hoping he will take it. Other than time, any other suggestions to get a baby to take a treat? Thank you.

 

[SilverSage]

Hi Stacy, since your question is new and different, I suggest you start a new thread about it. You can go to the forums tab at the top, and choose "training" or "eclectus" and click on that, and then at the top there should be a "new thread" button or something similar which will allow you to ask the whole forum your question

 

[Comafly]

The thing is I can't touch other parts of her and then reward her for letting me, because the moment my hand goes near her she tries to step up, and if I push my hand to her neck or behind her head she will turn and grab it.

I've only been rewarding her for stepping up when I say step up, trying to get across the idea I only want her to step up when I say it, but I've been doing that for months and it doesn't seem to be making any difference - she still just always wants to step up :/

 

[Comafly]

So I tried to approach this a little more pragmatically than I have been. I took a step back, broke down the problem in to logic blocks, and then went from there (A technique I use for programming hahah).

The first issue is that she is using her beak to stop me from communicating what I'd like her to do. That is just an immediate roadblock. So if I want to progress, I need to sort that out. But how do you get a bird to stop using its beak to grab you? By putting something in it! Distract her, so that instead of using her beak to stop me, she is using it for something she enjoys. The easiest way to do this: treats!

But, Coda can shell a sunflower seed in less than a second. That isn't going to hold her for long. I touch her neck for a moment before she's swallowed the thing and grabbing my finger, and I don't want her to associate the reward with that. So instead of giving her the treat, I hold it tight between my fingers with just the tip sticking out, so she needs to burrow in, grab it, and pull it out. Trying this, she can comfortably burrow after the seed for more than 10 seconds, which is perfect.

Going from there, I hold my finger up in front of her, hold the seed in the other so she can see it, and say "scratches". Put the seed within her reach, let her grab it, and then move my other finger in to scratch the side of her neck. This is so she KNOWS when I am going to touch her, she has a word to associate with the action and will not be surprised or unsure about what I am going to do. And it worked! She was immediately comfortable with that exchange, didn't grab my finger, and didn't growl. So that's perfect. I can now work from there, progressing to longer scratches, going around the back of her neck, and eventually trying it without treats.

Apologies for the wall of text, but if anyone is ever looking for some help on this, hopefully this post will point them in the right direction

 

[SilverSage]

Perfect! Problem solving skills excellent job. Keep it up!

 

[camo]

FlyingFreeNJ was asking about being more hands on last week, I have been having success with Pebbles and Gizmo with distracting them with food, and after your post, I decided I would do some small clips to demonstrate.

As it turns out it sounds like you have a good plan, but as the clips are done, I figured it couldn't hurt to put them up.

Before I started this technique, Pebbles would fly away startled if I put my hand up to pat her, and Gizmo would definitely bite me if I put my hand on his stomach. Pebbles now without food just moves away as I pat her and Gizmo will allow me to pat his back mostly, but not his stomach, he will reach to bite without the food, but it is not a committed bite. You can still see at the end of Gizmo the distraction is short.

[ame="https://youtu.be/_Bv1JFQNYkM"]20150113 035604 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://youtu.be/2QBfB0iineY"]Pebbles food distraction - YouTube[/ame]

Will this result in me being able to completely handle my birds without resistance, I don't think so, but time will tell, the aim is, if I need to hold them in an emergency it will not be fear just annoyance.

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[Comafly]

I appreciate the clips! I always love to see how other people interact with their birds. It looks like they trust you quite a bit, Camo. Who knows what the future might hold if you keep that up - could be months or years down the line, but you never know how their personalities might change. All the best!

Just as a small update, I spent maybe 15 minutes yesterday, 15 minutes this morning, and then another 15 minutes earlier in the evening, and even that has made an ENORMOUS difference to Coda's attitude towards my fingers. Now she even closes her eyes and seems to enjoy the scratching - but she still wants that treat for it haha.

 

[Taw5106]

Birdman gave me some advice that has really helped. My Venus uses her beak to balance herself like grabbing my finger to step up, but when I first got her she was rather rough in how she would grab my finger or lung at me. His advice was to use two fingers, place one on each side of her beak and gently push her back. This works, it didn't take her long to get the message, and she steps up still. Cracks me up when she grabs my finger then pulls it closer to her so she can step up. When I do this I say no. She hasn't been as aggressive and she doesn't apply so much pressure. Now the only time uses her beak on me is when we play beak and fingers, a little rough housing, lol.

I used this on my GCA and he got the message quickly, and my cousin's conure. It's a great technique and has worked for me.