Green Cheek Doesn't Understand Step Up

[julesk]

Hi all,

A week ago I bought a wonderful little green cheek conure. He had been hand reared, but left alone in the pet shop for 5 months. The shop people told me he wasn't tameable, but I knew he was special :)

I took him home and with almost no training, he is a great bird. Loves everyone he meets, even the dogs, eats off your hand, loves to be touched on the beak, feet, chest, back, tail and neck, flies out of his cage of an evening to be with us and generally is awesome.

However, he doesn't understand how to step up. I've tried many things. Using treats to bribe him, using target training, t-perches... He isn't scared of hands, he loves them, but for some reason he won't step on them. You can push on his belly all you like but he won't lift a foot.

I hate having to catch him with both hands to get him back in his cage, and he doesn't like it either, even though he doesn't make a fuss. I don't want to have to keep doing this incase he starts to fear my hands.

Any ideas for a bird that just won't step up?

Thank you :)
~Jules

[Sorechia]

I have heard a little about the clicker training. That might work. I know nothing about it though maybe someone else can help with that. What kills me is the pet store people telling you that the conure is "untameable" !!! Just a baby and they already gave up! Glad you got that little one!

[jenseits]

I don't think birds are necessarily naturally programmed just to "understand" what step up means. There really is no equivalent in nature (birds don't ask each other to step up), so it's a matter of figuring out how to shape that behavior.

You can keep trying to lure him up on your hand and see if he learns that way, you can place him on your hand/arm to get him used to the idea that that's a place he can perch, or you can use clicker training to shape the behavior. It sounds like he just doesn't understand what you want yet.

If he lets you touch and handle him, and he doesn't mind a perch pushing into him, then he sounds like he's a great temperament and will be easy to work with. Take your time, be patient, and just work with him to get him to understand what you want.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[julesk]

Originally Posted by Sorechia

I have heard a little about the clicker training. That might work. I know nothing about it though maybe someone else can help with that. What kills me is the pet store people telling you that the conure is "untameable" !!! Just a baby and they already gave up! Glad you got that little one!

hehe Yeah! Me too :) He is awesome. He's out now playing with one of our cockatiels on the back on a couch.

Thanks for your reply!

[julesk]

Originally Posted by jenseits

I don't think birds are necessarily naturally programmed just to "understand" what step up means. There really is no equivalent in nature (birds don't ask each other to step up), so it's a matter of figuring out how to shape that behavior.

You can keep trying to lure him up on your hand and see if he learns that way, you can place him on your hand/arm to get him used to the idea that that's a place he can perch, or you can use clicker training to shape the behavior. It sounds like he just doesn't understand what you want yet.

If he lets you touch and handle him, and he doesn't mind a perch pushing into him, then he sounds like he's a great temperament and will be easy to work with. Take your time, be patient, and just work with him to get him to understand what you want.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Yeah, I've been trying all those things without luck, but it has only been a week :) I'll keep going and hopefully he'll get it. We're trying to show him one of our cockatiels stepping up and perching too, to give him an idea.

But yes, he does have a great nature. I'm just scared I'll break him :S

Thank you!

[NotEnoughTime]

I'm with jenseits.

Present your finger on a regular basis. Eventually - sometime - with enough patience - he will put a foot on a finger... It may not be a step-up but it would be worth a parrot party!!! After a few of those he will get the idea...

A "lure" such as a seed treat dangled in front of him... just out of reach... which causes him to "step up" to get the treat is also a great way to go...

jenseits - everytime I read your posts I get the feeling you've had a good deal of behavioural psychology training! Mine was from some twenty or more years ago and it is soooo refreshing to read your posts!!

[jenseits]

Wow, thanks NotEnoughTime. I'm flattered! I don't have any psychology training (aside from a couple of intro psych classes in college), but I like to try to see things from the bird's point of view, to step back and try to understand the bigger picture of what's going on in an interaction. The only "training" I have is being subscribed to the Bird Click list, which deals with the application of operant conditioning, and having read a couple books on clicker training.

I see working with birds like trying to communicate with someone in a foreign language... simply saying things louder doesn't make them any more understandable, so we need to think about non-language ways to communicate the ideas we want to get across.

The somewhat ironic thing, however, is that I'm really not very good with people =) lol

[NotEnoughTime]

Originally Posted by jenseits

The somewhat ironic thing, however, is that I'm really not very good with people =) lol

some people say the same about me :-) Perhaps I am a bit direct at times... Anyway - I found your links worth following, you use the "lingo" appropriately, and I think people should listen to your advice even if they don't agree...

[hollyhawkz]

Hey, did you know that there is a forum just for us conure owners. A Green Cheek Conure, and a Parrotlet are two very different species. Look for all us conures owners under Conures. Hope to see you there!