You are welcome! I am copying and pasting a post I made on foreward-chaining task-analysis---It works for birds and it could help you. Google it, and google "thinning reinforcement" but here you go:
"You need to figure out what motivates him. Birds and people only do the bare minimum required to get their needs met. If his current behavior is meeting his emotional/physical needs, then he has no reason to go outside of his comfort zone. All behavior serves a purpose. For example, lets say you are hungry...if you could snap your fingers and get a chocolate cake, then why would you go through the trouble of making your own....You wouldn't unless you enjoyed baking. So....in your bird's case, you need to figure out what motivates him so that you can use that to shape his behavior.
He apparently does not want to be touched. The backing away etc is a form of escape behavior (he does it because this behavior allows him to escape from something he finds unpleasant or fears). Right now, the act of stepping up offers no pay-off to him and without incentive (intrinsic or extrinsic) he isn't going to do it. Before you read the next part of this, know that building trust and pairing your hands with positive consequences is the ultimate goal. You don't want to push him too hard or too fast, or you can damage trust and trust takes TIME. SO, remember that what I am about to say must take place over a long span of time, in conjunction with trust-building activities.
I am a big believer in ABA (for birds and humans)- it stands for Applied Behavior Analysis and it asserts (As I have stated) that all behaviors have a function or purpose. Most behavior falls into 1 of 4 categories:
1.Escape (to get away from someone, something, a task or a situation)
2.Tangibles (to get a preferred object/item)
3.Sensory (exp- eating when hungry, sleeping when tired, scratching when itchy)
4.Attention (good or bad----to get some form of attention from someone or everyone-- eye contact, vocalization, physical reaction etc)
When changing behavior, the idea is to find a more socially acceptable replacement behavior that meets the same function. So, if a bird bites to escape, you want to find a way to allow them to "escape" without biting.
In your case, it is a bit trickier, because although your bird is seeking escape, some of that escape may be motivated by fear, and fear is a weird thing because it is also sensory. It sounds like you have been working on building trust already and he trusts you enough to do some things, but not all things....
He obviously likes to get out of his cage (also a form of escape), so you might consider doing a forward chaining task analysis (with the reward of being let out).
List all of things you want him to do in order to step up (total task):
1. Attend to your presence
2. Respond to a command (e.g., "come here")
3. Walk towards a target within his cage (ultimately, your hand)
4. Respond to another command (e.g., "step up")
5. Step onto your hand
6. Stay on your hand when you move it out of the cage
7. Stay on your hand when you move it anywhere
This whole chain of events lists the breakdown of the whole task (stepping up).
The less competent he is at performing each step individually, the more you will have to break it down and the more you will have to provide rewards.
In the teaching phase, you want to start with the first step. Basically, walk over, say, "come here" and place your hand (or a stick in the location you want him to go). If he even takes a single step towards the target, reward (let him out) ***see my note below (final paragraph) on adding food rewards in addition to letting him out***. If he moves away, do not reward. You only want to reward progress. One he is consistently taking 1-2 steps toward stepping toward your hand, you will want to have him move even closer (3-4 steps toward your hand) before providing the reward. When I say consistently, I mean that he shows the correct response across multiple trials --hours apart (and usually, over multiple days).
You don't want to reward for skills you know he has already mastered..For instance, if you say, "come here" and 3 days in a row, your bird walks all the way over to your hand (possible mastery), you would not reward if on the 4th day he only takes 2 steps toward your hand. Instead, you would take a break/walk away and then return, restarting the task with your initial command of, "come here"--only rewarding if he walks all the way over to your hand (as he has already shown he can do this).
Once your bird is consistently walking over to your hand, you want to add the next step----which is stepping up. You will always begin the task at the start of the chain, but, over time (as step mastery is achieved) the reward will be held off until he shows obvious progress toward the next step in the chain....SO...he walks over every time you say, "come here" (steps 1-3) but then he climbs away. No reward, as he has shown no additional progress and he already mastered that first part. Try again---"come here", he walks over, then maybe he taps your hand with one foot---REWARD IMMEDIATELY for this action, as it is progress toward your ultimate goal. From that point forward, in order to get rewarded, he must walk over when you say "come here" and touch your hand (even slightly).
When he shows he can do that repeatedly---over multiple trials, you will add the next element----maybe, putting his whole foot on your hand. Again, "come here"; he walks over; he brushes your hand with his beak (hold off on reward)..you want forward progress....this continues until you have a bird that has memorized the entire chain. Once he has the whole chain down and has mastered all steps, he will be getting his reward when you physically take him out of the cage with your hand.
Does that sort of make sense?
Look up "forward chaining" task analysis...
***Also---even though he is working for escape, you can incorporate additional rewards into the system. SO, lets say he has a favorite treat....You can use that to motivate him to take those initial steps toward your hand...Hold the treat in one hand and use your other hand as the target. If you hold the treat off to the side (closer to the target) and he steps towards the treat, he is also technically stepping toward your hand, which means you would reward (by giving him the treat if he wants it, and/or letting him out)---this would be if you were just working on mastering the first 3 steps of the total task. Eventually, you would move the treat closer and closer to the target (your other hand) and hold off on giving it to him (and/or letting him out) until he gradually moved closer and closer to the target."
