BTT - FF - Listen up!
Added 2020-12-15 19:00:02 +0000 UTCPart of our Foundational Failures series.
Comments
I loved the reminder about baby birds and just needing to help them do the step up rather than the way you handle adult birds. I needed that for sure as I've still got a baby bird.
PsyFi40
2023-11-28 04:52:51 +0000 UTCI'm again noticing strong correlations with positive dog training methods. My dogs get nearly all their food as reward to working with me when they are training, and even now, we do an entire day of random games that last a minute or two and the bowl never appears because they got all the kibble by working with me. I was already doing some that with my SC out of habit. With that said, the diet is very different so also following that information as best i can.
Rebecca Porter
2022-03-22 15:30:12 +0000 UTCHi Connie, sorry for the delayed reply. My pionus is very young, just 10 months old now. He can't fly away because he was clipped by the breeder. We are still waiting for his wing feathers to grow in. Since I posted, his biting while being carried has improved considerably. We now just have trouble in one area of the house that is a whole separate issue. Anyway, I started by giving him a treat for stepping up and also for not biting on the way. I would tell him, "Remember, no bite, get a nut." It didn't take long for him to understand. He already knew "get a nut." After a couple of weeks I could usually stop the biting by just saying, "Remember." If he did not stop biting I set him down on the floor to walk. He is also just learning the power of refusal, like a toddler who learns "No". I have indulged his obstinance. If he doesn't want to step up, I walk away. I walk away even when I know he actually wants to go and has been crying to go. He almost always has a change of heart if I come back in a minute or two and he never bites unless I detour or delay and frustrate him that way. The biting isn't much of an issue anymore. Like BirdTricks teaches, every interaction is a trick. I rewarded him for not biting and he learned. These days I only give random treats for nice setups and not biting while we are walking together. I usually reserve them for times when I can tell that he was frustrated and still didn't take it out on me. I expect things will improve a lot when he can fly to our destination himself. I feel like a lot of the biting was frustration over not being able to fly and us moving to slow. I'm not sure, but it sounds like your bird may be biting and flying away because he is afraid. Rewarding him for staying on your hand for increased periods of time and letting him eat the treat while on your hand might help.
Holden Kendrick
2021-04-10 09:00:12 +0000 UTCI have been looking forward to this subject because my green cheek goes in and out of deciding whether she’s going to step up or not. I do always try to either treat her or give her a big verbal “good girl” but unfortunately right now she has changed but a high reinforcement tree is for her. I put all the nuts in my pouch and she didn’t respond any of them. As a matter fact today she refused to do any touch training. I feel so bad that we’re going backwards so much.
Connie Muttart
2021-03-31 02:39:52 +0000 UTCHow are you working on That? I have a Indian ringneck that will gladly step up on my forearm and on my finger when he’s getting out of his cage only. All other times he bites my fingers and frantically flies away.
Connie Muttart
2021-03-31 02:32:02 +0000 UTCI really struggled with step up & my then-newly rehomed hand-phobic 15yr old caique. My turning point was watching JL work with Patty & Morgan. I told him that if Morgan could learn with her impaired foot, he could bloody well learn with his two perfect feet! Now we hardly even think when stepping up - it’s just natural. Tho I always have a treat in my pockets, to randomly reward. ☺️ xC
Carrie Stewart
2020-12-18 19:27:52 +0000 UTCThank you!
BirdTricks
2020-12-17 16:40:53 +0000 UTCThank you for taking the time to answer that! I've had my sun conures since they were twelve weeks and I feel I missed the transition and didn't realize they were in the cute baby phase because I didn't know any different and didn't know what baby behaviors to be looking for. Thanks again for your time! You guys are seriously killing it!!
Kelly Sanchez
2020-12-17 16:36:19 +0000 UTCThat's hard to answer in words vs demoing for me - ummm... I guess there's a transition period between you having to peel the baby off the floor and the day the baby offers the foot to let you know it understands what you want and from there the switch kinda moves over to permission based training as you work through when the baby wants to do things and when it doesn't.
BirdTricks
2020-12-17 16:31:28 +0000 UTCSo what are clues that they're out of it?
Kelly Sanchez
2020-12-17 16:27:36 +0000 UTCDepends on the species, the weaning process, and the behavior of that individual bird. The smaller the species, the faster they mature.
BirdTricks
2020-12-17 16:26:49 +0000 UTCYou mention it's different with baby birds... How long is a bird a "baby?" I assume, like dogs, different breeds are different so I'm curious about sun conures and macaws.
Kelly Sanchez
2020-12-17 16:21:22 +0000 UTCIf you can, and there's nothing for him to get into, you could also ignore him until he realizes no fun is happening down there. Have him fly/follow you into another room to change up the scene as well.
BirdTricks
2020-12-16 14:41:02 +0000 UTCI will add that lately Tiki is suffering from from “ground pigeon syndrome” (lol) and like Bondi, almost always requires a treat to get him off the ground. Recently he’s been repeatedly flying to the kitchen floor even after it’s freshly vacuumed and there’s nothing to forage for. Then he looks up at me like, “well aren’t I going to get a treat when you inevitably pick me up from down here?” and I realize he’s trained *me* because I’m being too predictable. So now I think I need to go back and figure out our A-B-C patterns and mix it up with random rewarding. If you guys have other suggestions, let me know!
Lauren Holder
2020-12-16 09:01:50 +0000 UTCAwww thanks guys for the shout out! I do highly recommend the "perma-treat pouch" approach, no matter how much I might get made fun of for it. You just never know when you need a treat at the ready. Plus it's awesome for capturing new and unexpectedly awesome behaviors while lounging on the couch :)
Lauren Holder
2020-12-16 02:17:33 +0000 UTCWe are doing well with the step up. A treat is needed sometimes if we really need for him to step up but he doesn't want to do it. I try to let it be a choice enough that he feels like he has some control. We are currently working on not biting fingers while being carried on a hand. He's getting better about it.
Holden Kendrick
2020-12-15 23:09:14 +0000 UTCI can understand why you drive home this issue. I'm stiiiiiill working with Fred on his step up. But he is a Too, so it's somewhat expected that it'll always be a thing. 😊 BTW. I love this series. Thanx. 💖
Kathy Surber
2020-12-15 20:40:13 +0000 UTCStill struggling to get to the step up as he has never stepped on a hand that I know of. A few times he has allowed himself to be rescued from the floor, but then immediately bites once he realizes he is on a hand! So frustrating for both of us 😢
Carmen Griggs
2020-12-15 20:33:28 +0000 UTCWith my Indian ringneck it has been 6 months and he still won’t step up without a high value treat!! However, he will step up on my shoulder and perch no problem!
Patricia Lynn
2020-12-15 20:17:48 +0000 UTC
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