This is so awkward

[HusseinBerjaoui]

I've got a clicker so I can begin my training with Mango. The first day, I've been clicking everytime I gave him a treat, everything was normal.
But after two days, which makes it two days before now, I'm really not sure how my finger got into the cage and he bited it (friendly) and then I started strocking his head and neck. AND HE LIKED IT
Now everytime I approach he lowers his neck, so he can get touches. And when he wants me to change to position, he bites (again, friendly) my finger and turns his head to the other side of the finger. When I remove my finger he makes a sad sound.



So yesterday I've opened the cage door for him and made him step up on a stick so I could get him out. But I don't know what happened and he tried to fly from the stick (probably lost balance) so I've put it on the floor.
The step up traning wasn't so responsive, but he did stand on my hand to reach his treat.
What do you think has happened? He used to bite me the cage bars when I approach, now he's all nice !
I tried to connect the clicker to this whole thing, maybe since he is a re-homed bird (or at least that's what I've been told), his previous owner used to clicker train him and now he started re-getting tamed after hearing the clicks?
What do you think, and how should I proceed?

 

[weco]

Mango could have had clicker training in the past, but without knowing for sure, I would rather think that Mango has decided that you are not the big, bad person he first thought you were and since your first touching did not cause him to be eaten, he decided that he enjoys having you scratch his neck.....

When mango finally stood on your hand, another breakthrough was achieved.....birds much prefer solid surfaces, not wiggling ones or ones that may be shaking because the owner is afraid of having his hand bitten.....birds are very good at sensing that someone is nervous/scared, but if your hand is firm and not wiggling, a companion parrot will almost always step up for you.....you might be right & Mango lost his balance or the stick may have wiggled a little & he jumped off because it did not feel solid enough.....

My Patagonian will sometimes push my fingers/hand away if she doesn't want to step up for me.....she will do this with both a closed bead and sometimes with an open beak.....most of the time she pushes me away is after I have not let her do something she wants to do.....unlike you, Mango uses his beak to climb, hold things, eat, bite, feel, taste & drink.....you, on the other hand, use your fingers to do your feeling, climbing and holding.....while Mango has nerves in his feet, the nerves in his beak are much more developed and tell him much more about things than the nerves in his feet do.....

You and Mango have just made some great progress & he is starting to trust you, so just be sure you are always sturdy when either holding your hand/finger or a stick for him to step up on.....

 

[davisn456]

This is definitely some great news for you and Mango. It sounds like Mango's confidence and trust finally built up enough to be comfortable with you instead of being defensive. I expect that your progress with him will grow even faster now.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I love it when they put their heads down for scratches. It's like a big ol "scratch me" invitation. Sounds like you are making progress, thats wonderful. Continue to take it slow though, and reward reward reward that good behavior.

 

[Kalidasa]

Yay! things will start moving much more smoothly now. You might be better off just using your hand instead of stick, as been stated before they're a little unsteady. Since he's clipped anyway, it would be a good time to open the cage door and sit with him. Birds like to hang out on top if their cages, it may take a few days for him to figure out which way is in once he's out. But it's time to start working with him. He's young, he's clipped, and he's settled for a few months now. The right time is now.

 

[HusseinBerjaoui]

Thank you for the replies everyone !
Well yes, my hand isn't solid at all, in fact it's never steady.
I totally forgot about the rewarding thing, I must reward him for this.
One more thing, he does sometimes put his feet and wrap his fingers around my finger for seconds.. What does that mean? It hurts a bit since the nails aren't clipped. Are they fine or they should be clipped in order to be better held?

He never let me touch him when he's out of cage; no way! He makes the surprised sound when my hand gets closer, but what's really surprising is that he is not biting, never biting, as if he forgot how to do it at all, while he did it only days ago..
I'm happy with the progress both of us made, but everything happened suddenly, not progressively, and that's the thing making me wonder.. maybe because he is passing through a molt?

 

[MikeyTN]

I do agree with weco's post there! But I do have to add, sometimes it is easier for them to step up onto a stick then hands. For instance Dixie our LSC, she was forced to be picked up at one point, the first owner would grab her by her feet and yank her off her cage to get her to step up. Dixie absolutely hates hands going to her feet and refuse to step up but when I started the stick training she stepped up for me easily. Then we go from stick to hand. Plus the ones that bites badly, it is wise for them to step up to a stick rather then your arm. I did that the day we got Lola, she packs the bite that can potentially send you to ER.

You did mention in your other post that he's been molting but at the same time if you can give him scratches while he's in his cage, it would be short period before you can do the same thing while he's on your arm. Baby Steps!!!! Took me days before attempting to pet Lola. I used her as an example since she's the new comer. Cause I do train each bird a bit different depending on how they act.

 

[HusseinBerjaoui]

Stepping on a stick is already learned but that's if the stick isn't moving. Once I move it he gets worried.
He never accepts such stuff outside the cage; the things he doesn't fear inside the cage, scare him outside it. He did step on the stick to exit the cage (so it's kinda outside-ish) but then jumped as if he passed a hard test.
How can I apply the things I teach him inside the cage, when he's out? I feel he's never ready or maybe I'm the one who ain't.

 

[MikeyTN]

Like I've said, baby steps! Don't push it and gradually work towards on petting her and such.