Step Up Issue

[kfinklea1]

Our pionus is a little over a year old and for a good while he was doing great at step up. However we are now having issue with getting him to step up. When we ask him tp step up he either just stand there or walks away. He loves almonds so we have been using them as a reward for stepping up when asked. Is there anything else we should be doing?

 

[bill_e]

If you're trying to get him to step up from a perch, try lowering your finger so it's more of a step over than up.

 

[Teddscau]

When I trained Noah, I made sure that "step up" had a strong history of reinforcement. Noah almost always steps up for me, even if he's doing something really fun or eating something yummy. From day one of step up training, I made sure step up = fun. Whenever he steps up for me, he knows he's going to train, get a treat, play with a plastic bag, sing and play with water, etc.

Also, I find that Noah prefers stepping up onto my forearm. He would only step up onto a perch or my forearm, and it was months before he'd step up onto my finger. While hands and fingers can be "good", they can also be "bad", and most birds realize this, so they can be hesitant to go near your hands (yet they have no trouble trying to stick their head in your mouth -_-). See if he steps up more reliably when you offer him your forearm.

 

[Vilatus]

Maybe you should try starting it from scratch. Rub his belly and encourage him to lift his foot onto you, and make sure you praise him.

I'm in the process of retraining my tiel to do the same thing, and its only been a few days and she's understanding much better. I find they "forget" it if you use it to do something they don't want. (In my tiel's case, it was going to the cage)

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Try luring him onto your hand with the treat, or target training him.

 

[Teddscau]

Target training is the best way to get a bird to step up. By using target training, you're clearly communicating what you want (follow the target onto my finger/arm), the bird is in control the whole time (if the bird isn't comfortable because you're moving to fast, then they won't step up and you know to go slower), they know they're going to be rewarded (touch the target stick and you get a treat), and you aren't using an aversive (jabbing them in the tummy with your finger to force them to step up). I used targeting to train Noah to step up, and he steps up for me 99% of the time without hesitation.