What am I getting myself into...

[Jeans]

So apparently she was biting because she was higher than me... Once I got her down (she was sitting on a carrier on top of the rat cage so I just brought down the whole carrier) and asked her to step up, she hopped on happily. How do I fix this??


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[Jeans]

Sorry for the multiple posts on here but as i work with her i find things i need help with and i can't find any of the info online.

She was sitting on her tree/playstand and I was wearing thin gloves (I feel safer with new animals who I know have nippy pasts) and she was chirping and dancing with me and when I asked her to step up she would use her beak to pull my finger to her stomach to step up.

I felt confident because she had done it about 10 times. So I took the glove off and tried. As I approached she reached out and nipped hard. It did not draw blood but it was a warning for sure. I waited for her to let go (only a second or so) and then put the glove off and put her in her cage.

What would be the correct behavior on my end and how do I handle this? She lets me pet her without a glove on but apparently not stepping up without one.

She had been singing and trying to make kissing sounds only seconds before.


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[OutlawedSpirit]

That is exactly what she does! Or she will fly to another place. I don't think she was ever hit because she has has the same owners for years and they were very kind to the bird physically and would never have hit her.


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It wouldn't even of had to be an intentional thing. I would imagine that if she ever had a perch fall, it could produce the same reaction. Perch falling = unsecured perch not safe.

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[MonicaMc]

She was probably biting because she didn't want to move from where she was at, not because she was "higher" than you. It's more than that.

Height = safety. The higher the bird is, the better chance they have at seeing danger approach. It's a comfort thing.

Being down low, the bird may feel vulnerable, because they can't see danger coming as well as if they were higher. This vulnerability should *NEVER* be used in training as a means to teach a bird to step up.

Not to say that it "can't" be used, just not in that way. Rather, you teach the bird to step up from a variety of locations, and when they step up, they get a reward.



I have three birds who will step up for me at any height! At least two of them will even climb down to the floor to me! The others, well, they don't, but then again they aren't tame and friendly like these 3 particular birds, and that's something I'm ok with! And even though *all* the birds are flighted, 3 of the lesser tame/friendly birds (one came to me *very* skittish) will still come to my hands to eat food.

 

[Jeans]

She was probably biting because she didn't want to move from where she was at, not because she was "higher" than you. It's more than that.

Height = safety. The higher the bird is, the better chance they have at seeing danger approach. It's a comfort thing.

Being down low, the bird may feel vulnerable, because they can't see danger coming as well as if they were higher. This vulnerability should *NEVER* be used in training as a means to teach a bird to step up.

Not to say that it "can't" be used, just not in that way. Rather, you teach the bird to step up from a variety of locations, and when they step up, they get a reward.



I have three birds who will step up for me at any height! At least two of them will even climb down to the floor to me! The others, well, they don't, but then again they aren't tame and friendly like these 3 particular birds, and that's something I'm ok with! And even though *all* the birds are flighted, 3 of the lesser tame/friendly birds (one came to me *very* skittish) will still come to my hands to eat food.

Well how did you teach that? She does get a reward for stepping up but when she was up high she really did not care. I did not use her vulnerability to train. I simply needed to moved her and that was the simplest way! I will try not to do again, thank you.


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[MonicaMc]

A lot of people use the vulnerability of birds being low to "teach" them to step up. Well, the bird only steps up from down low, it doesn't teach them to step up from anywhere else. If they are lucky, the bird may learn to step up from other locations.


The reward when she's up high may not be a high enough reward for her to move. Teach her to come to you at a location where she will succeed. Reward, reward, reward! Be sure to practice this behavior in a variety of locations and at slightly different heights. As she becomes reliable with the behavior, you can then try at lower and higher heights.


The reward can be anything from food, treats, scritches, verbal praise, a toy.... anything the bird is willing to work for.



What you need to do is to generalize the behavior. You might say that what a bird learns in "school" stays in "school", unless you generalize that behavior everywhere that you can. The more generalized that behavior comes, the more the bird is willing to do that behavior, even in strange, new places.



If you can, for now, try to avoid letting her get higher than you until she has learned to generalize. If she does, you may need to try some higher reward treats, toys or whatever. Worse case, you may need to get higher, but it doesn't help if you always have to be higher than her to get her to step up. You want her to learn to come down.

 

[Jeans]

Thank you! I will continue to do step up in strange places and regular places!


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