Strange Behavior from my M2

[TeresaB]

Kim~

I have a question. I have had difficulty for about a month now with getting my M2 to step-up and get her out of her cage. I have never had any problems with her stepping-up when asked. Now if a friend comes by, she will step-up no problem. I have the same routine for her because I do work full time and she comes out every afternoon. But, after asking her to step-up several times and she doesn't, I have to gently pry her feet from the perch. Once she's out, she's fine. I am the one that cares for her and gives her all the attention. I was just wondering what your thoughts were about her behavior, or what I may be doing that is causing this behavior. :eusa_wall

[KimBear]

Sometimes parrots go through periods where they are just more stubborn than usual. This may be what's happening here. Or, it might be that without realizing it, you or someone else in the home has given mixed signals in the past and your Moluccan is losing the connection between "up" and what you want her to do. For example, if sometimes you just let her out of the cage by opening the door and letting her wander out on her own, she may have decided that "up" doesn't mean much with regards to getting out. Even if you don't know for sure why she's doing this, the best approach is to be consistant and re-establish "UP" as a command that, among other things, lets her come out of the cage.

There are a couple of things you can do. One is to NOT let her out if she won't step up. Ask three times, and if she won't step up, close the door and walk away. Try again a bit later. You may feel like you're being mean, but she needs to learn that in order to "earn" out-of-cage time, she has to step up.

The other thing to work on is having her step up when she's out of the cage. At various, random times, go to her and have her step up from hand to hand. It only has to be a few times--it's just a little drill, not an extended training session. Do these little exercises when she's sitting quietly, when she's playing, and so on. Praise her enthusiastically and maybe even offer her a small food treat to help seal that link between "up" and good consequences.

See if this helps. If not, you may have other "issues" involved, and might need a consut, especially if you see any other signs that she's lost some of her training. You don't want this kind of thing to get out of hand, so getting it under control early is a good idea.

My "booklet" Taking the Mystery out of Parrot Behavior , which is available on my website (www.kimbear.com) goes over some of the basics of training principles and how the work. It might help give you some ideas of things to work on to help your Moluccan remain easy to handle.

[TeresaB]

Thank you Kim. Once she is out of the cage, she'll step-up whenever I ask her to. So instead of me making her come out, I'll try what you suggested and just close the door if she won't step up, after three times and then come back later and try again.