Stepping up - is it time?

[Hrund]

Hello everyone

 

My 6 year old TAG does not know how to step up. I´ve been reading about stepping up on this forum and everyone is talking about how vital it is. I´ve only had him for 6 days, he is pretty scared because he hasn´t been handled much in his life. He lets us touch him in his cage but growls the whole time. We let him out every evening and he is pretty happy about that and goes out of the cage himself. He sometimes lets us touch him outside the cage too but always growls a little.

Both yesterday and today we tried the step up with him using a perch that is in his cage. He just becomes extremely upset and doesn´t get it. At the most he puts one foot on the perch. We cheer him on and have tried to give him dried banana which he loves but he won´t take it. I´m wondering if maybe it´s just way too soon to be teaching him this? Should we just leave him alone and wait until he is completely used to us? We don´t even try to get him to step on our hands because he is so afraid.

[lovemyGreys]

I would personally wait a little before trying to teach the "step up " 6 days is such a short time for him to adjust to a new home & owners.just take each day as it comes,don't have too high expectations of him at the moment in time.Let him gain some confidence & trust in you.Time & patience will reap you the rewards in the long run

[Tycos_mom]

Oh yes if you've only had him 6 days its way to soon. I have had my grey for 10 months and she's a rescue. with rescues you have to wait for them to come to you. don't try step ups from inside the cage if your going to try at all wait until he's out of his cage and then try to step him up onto a perch. then take him to nutural ground away from his cage where he can't see it like the bedroom or bathroom. I prefer the bathroom because it small and the can't go to far just make sure you close the toilet and shower curtian. Then you can work on step up training talk sweet to him always tell him exactly what you re doing before you do it. if you want to give him a beak rub or a kiss on his beak say to him can I touch your beak, or can I give you a scritch or can you step up. then everytime say step up like he practicing walking up stairs. and don't forget lots and lots of praise if he does it right. don't over do training only work with him for about 10 to 15 minutes maximun 2or 3 times a day until he's comfortable with you and good luck.

[siobha9]

The others have given you excellent advise. The only thing I would like to add is that you have made incredible progress with him already, and it would be better to build on that in the short term. Leave the step up for when he is more confident and comfortable around you;)

[judygram]

I agree that 6 days is not nearly enough time for a 6 year old grey to be comfortable in his new surroundings. Take everything slow and easy, the step ups will be easier to teach when he trusts you and only time and lots of patience will achieve that.

[BaxtersMom]

I agree with the others. I would wait untill he's more comfortable with you guys but it sounds like he is really coming along great so far.

 

Baxter didn't know how to step up either and getting him out of his cage or back in was terrifying for him because I had to grab him and that wasn't helping the trust issue much. I got my directions from a grey book. It said to teach him outside and away from his cage. It said to have him perch on your hand and have him step up on the other hand over and over. Each time say "step up step up" so he will learn the command. It said to do this 2 or 3 times a day for about 10 minutes each session. The book said it should only take a few days for them to catch on. By the second day Baxter knew exactly what to do and I do believe it even helped him trust me more. It worked great for us. Baxter wasn't a scared bird when he came to us so it may take Nokkvi a little longer. Life is so much easier now that he knows step up. I first tried the stick perch approach too but that only scared Baxter more. He would run from it but it may work for you especially if he's already put a foot on it.

 

Only other thing to tell you about our learning sessions was and I don't know if it was right or wrong way to go about it but I had to grab Baxter to get him out of his cage the first couple times we did step up lessons. He screamed and squaked when I grabbed him but settled right down once I had him out of his cage and I gave him a few minutes to calm down and started the step up stuff. I did give him little breaks in between too but he really caught on fast. You will know when the time is right to start teaching him step up. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week or maybe next month but it will happen. Good luck with it. Keep us posted.

 

Oh by the way Baxter flew off his cage again and onto the couch all by himself. He's getting better:)

[Hrund]

Great to hear about Baxter and his progress, I love to read about him . I read in an older post that he is grumpy in the morning. I wonder if these birds are that way generally? Nökkvi is like that, I just talk to him a bit in the morning but leave him alone otherwise, he is much sweeter in the evenings.

[pmaholm]

Refund was the same way when we got him. we've had him for almost 2 months now (I think? time does fly) he still will not let us touch anywhere but his beak but steps up pretty well now. He used to growl every time we did anything and now he just does it when we irritate him. What helped him a lot was to get him away from the cage and have about an hour of one on one time per day where we just went into the bathroom and sat on the floor with him. Joey is the total opposite of Refund and is really outgoing and would step up on my hand from inside her cage from day one. Then again she thinks fingers and toes are chew toys too. Hang in there I'm sure Nökkvi will come around. Also we tried to give as many food items that Refund liked by hand it seemed to help the trust, he still won't take anything if he's irritated. But we're making progress.

 

-Patrick

[matt314159]

I'm certainly no authority on this, and I'm sure people disagree, but I don't think i would recommend using a stick to try to get him to step up. i would wait until he's ready and then steel myself to getting bit, and use my hand. Something about the personal touch seems to be reassuring to my birds, anyway. Approaching them with a stick/perch is more than likely to frighten them more than just your hand.

 

Again, just my $.02, but that's how i would probably approach it. But regardless, wait until he's ready.

[dblhelix]

Hi Hrund,

 

I agree with most of what others have said here, good advice. Also great work you are doing with your new family member. I would add that its really never "too early" to start trying to teach, condition, engage the birds but it certainly may be too early to expect them to respond as you may ultimately like. Since parrots are such long lived animals, there are some things that may take them some time to adjust to...like a new home, new owners, new sights, smells, toys, furniture etc etc. They are all individuals for sure and some may take to new things w/o any issue, but most require at least a month to stabilize in a new home with new owners before they are really ready to start showing their personality and prepared to learn about you!

 

So, I would say its never too early, but don't set the initial expectations too high. Be calm, patient and consistent and it will reward you 1000 times over! Also I would steer away from the stick approach if you can. Just take your time as once the bird trusts you it will be much less prone to biting (though it still happens from time to time with any bird).

 

Keep up posted.

[judygram]

I think Patrick had the best tidbit of advice, take the bird away from the cage, go to a neutral room and work on the step up training, they do better when they get away from the safety of the cage.

[Hrund]

Thanks for the good advice everyone .

We got Nökkvi to go to the bathroom earlier and were there with him, both me and my boyfriend. He went into a corner and growled at us. He seems to be less afraid of me than my boyfriend so he left the bathroom and I was alone with Nökkvi. I had a carrot and touched him with it and also with my hand. He bit me for the first time, twice on my hand not too hard and once really hard on my finger. When he bit my finger I couldn´t help it and jerked back but I brought my hand right back and didn´t take it away until he was quiet so I hope I didn´t ruin anything.

I decided to try the step up and as he wasn´t to happy with my hand I used a stick from his cage. I got him to step up on it and praised him like crazy, he seemed so happy, fluffed him self all upp and started preening. He let me scratch his chest and also did this thing that he sometimes does with me, kind of like yawning but more with his neck. I´m not sure if it´s regurgicating since nothing comes up and perhaps it´s too soon for him to be in love with me :laugh: .

Well anyway he was very happy and we stayed toghether for a while then I decided it was enough for now and walked with him to this playground on his cage and got him to step up from there. I´m very happy with this and tomorrow my boyfriend is going to try this again in the bathroom, I hope he will do as good for him.<br><br>Post edited by: Hrund, at: 2008/08/31 00:44

[BaxtersMom]

The first bite is the toughest and the most shocking:ohmy: I have given the advice not to make a big deal when they bite but Baxter bit me the other night while we were playing with toys and I let out a good loud holler :laugh: Couldn't help it. I was surprised and It hurt!! He hasn't bitten me in a long time and it caught me off guard. I think he was just so excited about the toys.

 

I think taking them away from the cage is a very good idea. Baxter seems to depend on me more when we are away from the cage and knows I am the one who will take him back there.

 

You said that Nokkvi was upset when your boyfriend was around so he left and things got better and you said he would try sitting and training with him tomorrow but it really sounds like he has chosen you for his number 1 person. They say they most greys are one person birds and I think that is true in Baxters case. Nokkvi might not respond to your boyfriend like he does to you. Baxter will tolerate my husband and he will step up for him and take crackers but isn't really interested in him messing with him much. Baxter talks freely around me but he doesn't hardly talk at all when my husband is around. I have been taking short videos when he does his talking so he can see. It's sad because I want my husband to enjoy him as much as me but Baxter just sits like a good bird on a perch and says and does nothing really when he's around. But I am thankful & proud that Baxter chose me:) It sounds like you guys are doing very well with him. Baxter is still a little grumpy in the mornings but not as bad as he was. I think it was the newness of everything and he wasn't ready to be nice untill he was sure of things. He has "trained" me to leave him alone untill he is ready too. It's working for us, too. I train him on some things and he trains me on some things. We have mutual understandings now:silly:

 

Here's Baxters latest cute thing:

 

Baxter made a noise like someone knocking yesterday. My dog went nuts and started barking at the door like crazy and wouldn't stop. Finally Baxter said "knock it off" but Jackson kept on Barking. Jackson barks in 3s. A few minutes later Baxter barked back at him "Woof Woof Woof". LOL:woohoo: It has only happened once so far. I hope he does it again. Luckily, I had the tape rolling and got that one on tape!

[Hrund]

LOL that´s funny, your poor dog really fell for it :laugh: . Baxter sounds so amazing, I hope that Nökkvi will some day talk but if he doesn´t then that´s fine too.

We let Nökkvi out again today and he went to the bathroom on his own and I went after him and after a while got him step up on the stick and then sat with him for some time and he let me touch his chest again. We are letting him out again now and I´m curious to see if he will go on his own to the bathroom or not. This is so much fun and he is such a sweet guy.

One thing makes me wonder a bit. He is less afraid of me than my boyfriend but the whistles more to my boyfriend. I´ve never been able to whistle myself so I can´t answer him but my boyfriend can maybe that explains it. I really hope that he will like both of us, it would be so nice.