Scared to step up but not other things that involve hands

[brittani299]

Sorry for all the posts but they are all different so I made different posts. Tiki my bfa is only scared to hands/ arms when it cones to stepping up. He will take food from hands and he loves to be scratched. He says come here when he wants scratched and puts his head towards you . But he doesn't at all want picked up. Is there anyway to get to over his fear of being picked up?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Well, I think it's GREAT that you can pet him, give him scritches and food from your hand already. That is one giant step into the right direction.

Have you tried getting him to step up onto a perch? It could be a dowel, a rope perch, a natural small branch, whatever you have handy.

Once he steps up and out on a perch, you could try to carry him to the quietest part of your home, and speak softly and sweetly to him. Then offer him your hand OR arm and ask him to step off the perch and onto your hand/arm.

Amazon often do better with training when they are away from their cage.

Lastly, never apologize for questions.

 

[brittani299]

He is actually deathly afraid of sticks of any kind! I am not sure if any of his previous owners hurt him with one. I tried it several different times and he runs away and hides. Poor guy . I tried rope too and got the same reaction. I even tried putting a treat by the stick so he would see that it isn't going to hurt him and he still doesn't want anything to do with it. I just thought it was weird that he doesn't have a fear of hands with feeding or petting just with stepping up. Also thanks for helping me

 

[JerseyWendy]

In that case, I'd continue with the petting and scratching and the food.

Will he let you pet his legs? Rub his feet?

If so, I think he will very soon just lift up a foot and try to step onto you. If not, work your way into gently touching his feet until he's comfortable with it.

A VERY wise man taught me that it's a good idea to leave an Amazon wanting for MORE lovin'. So keep the petting session short, have him longing for more when you stop. (That wise man is our "henpecked")

 

[brittani299]

I haven't tried petting his feet I will try that. I will let you know how that goes

 

[brittani299]

Ok he doesn't want his feet touched. I slowly went to them and he ran away. He is so funny. You can tell he wants love. He goes to the opening and reaches for you but when you come by he either runs away or only wants to be pet.

 

[Betrisher]

This is not the video I meant to recommend, but it has the technique in it. Barbara Heidenreich has a neat trick of luring a bird off its perch and onto her hand. She does it here with a male GangGang Cockatoo. It might work for Tiki?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe0pW5v7vOs&list=TLphYET0fgiKSDJ4u3uaYleakvDerah18G]Parrot Training Clips from Parrot Care & Training Seminar - YouTube[/ame]

 

[henpecked]

I'm not sure it's a fear of hands. More likely a fear of losing control over his situation because your moving him away from is "safe" spot. Practice the step up, step down with out moving him away from his cage. Don't let "step up" mean I'm taking you away or i'm going to cuddle/pet you. Have him step up and quickly back down to his cage/perch. Reward and praise him, it's more of a trust issue at this point. If he really trusted you and wanted to go with you he'd step up. It will take some time and patience to gain that trust.

 

[brittani299]

You are so right. Today we got him to get away from the cage. (That took forever) once he was away from it we took him to another room. He was pretty scared of it so I talked to him and told him what a good boy he was. He wasn't afraid of me then. He did step up a few different times in my hands and was fine with it. So like you said it sounds like a trust issue so I just need to work with him a lot right? He is pretty much a great bird other then that. He doesn't bite. Which I thought I would get bit a billion times and have never been so far. He doesn't scream. He does talk a lot though which is fine he says funny things that make no sense.

 

[henpecked]

Sounds like your doing a great job with him, I'm sure he''ll be going all around with you in no time.

 

[Motogordo]

Well, I think it's GREAT that you can pet him, give him scritches and food from your hand already. That is one giant step into the right direction.

Have you tried getting him to step up onto a perch? It could be a dowel, a rope perch, a natural small branch, whatever you have handy.

Once he steps up and out on a perch, you could try to carry him to the quietest part of your home, and speak softly and sweetly to him. Then offer him your hand OR arm and ask him to step off the perch and onto your hand/arm.

Amazon often do better with training when they are away from their cage.

Lastly, never apologize for questions.

Jan. 20 ,2014
I totally agree with Wendy about taking the bird away from the cage area and into another part of the house where it is quiet. I find that the bird stand works well in another room where they are not distracted by the other birds nor do they see their cage.

 

[Empath]

i went to a parrot behaviour seminar and one thing the presenter pointed out was that the birds motivation plays a large role in their behaviour. if he has no motivation to step up, or his motivation is more about staying in the cage then you'll have trouble.

i imagine if you took him to a strange place, his motivation all of a sudden will change to encourage him to come to you (i.e. step up) due to uncertainty of where he is. i know with some of my birds, when they want to come out of the cage they'll happily step up, but when play times over the motivation to go back into their cage isnt strong so they run and try and stay out