|
|
Post by zim on Dec 15, 2015 12:38:54 GMT -5
So after two weeks, I've finally made some progress with Yoshi on stepping up! If I put my finger up to his perch (while he's out of the cage) and say "step up!" he will place one foot onto my finger, for about 5 seconds. But then he expects a treat, of course!
I'm not really sure where I go from here, tho. We obviously need to work on getting him all the way up onto my finger, and I'm afraid if we just keep practicing the one foot and getting treats that he won't want to advance beyond that. At the same time, I'm worried that if I start withholding treats for this action, he will get discouraged and stop all together.
Any advice?
|
|
|
|
Post by Jan and Shah on Dec 15, 2015 15:36:36 GMT -5
To train Shah to step up, I just put my finger gently across the lower part of his chest (like a branch) and he automatically stepped up. He is not given food rewards but gets praised when he does things right. So, when he says "step up" and he steps up on to my finger, he says "good boy".
|
|
|
|
Post by zim on Dec 15, 2015 16:09:56 GMT -5
Hah, that's cute!
If I put my finger up against his chest, he scoots away. He's still not comfortable with that, I guess.
|
|
|
|
Post by julianna on Dec 16, 2015 13:55:45 GMT -5
Here is something from a book I have:
Step Up Practice.
With the right palm elevated, forearm perpendicular to the floor in a gesture similar to feeling for rain, fold your thumb into your palm and rotate your palm toward your face keeping your fingers together until the fingertips point toward the top of the wall to the left. Your palm now faces your chin. Place the QP on top of the top (index) finger. If the palm side of the index finger is the highest point on the hand, the bird's instinct to climb will keep it on the fingertip.
Since eye contact is an important part of this process, the bird must face you. If the bird is facing away from you while sitting on your hand, merely touching its tail with the other hand will usually stimulate it to turn around and face you.
With the index finger of the opposite hand (held in a mirror image of the hand the bird is on) gently touch the bird's thighs just below where they join the belly, maintain eye contact with the bird and say STEP UP clearly and distinctly. The bird should lift a foot, and place it on the finger.
At first it may be necessary to pry the little toes up to get that first foot on the front index finger. As you lower the back hand (the hand the bird was sitting on), the bird will complete the step up onto the front (top)hand.
Practice this exercise in unfamiliar territory, out of sight of the cage a couple of times a day for a minute or so each time. Always stop only after a successful completion of the command and give lots of praise.
|
|
|
|
Post by zim on Dec 16, 2015 20:42:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice, I did just that 2 times today. It seems to be working (but only if he is in the mood, lol).  |
|
|
|
Post by julianna on Dec 18, 2015 14:13:35 GMT -5
awww pretty little Yoshi. It appears he has many pin feathers and those can be very painful for the bird. Be careful when petting as this will probably hurt. I usually give my Oscar a few extra baths when he has so many pin feathers as it will help soften them up.
|
|
|
|
Post by zim on Dec 18, 2015 14:48:54 GMT -5
awww pretty little Yoshi. It appears he has many pin feathers and those can be very painful for the bird. Be careful when petting as this will probably hurt. I usually give my Oscar a few extra baths when he has so many pin feathers as it will help soften them up. I've tried helping him with those, he's still not wanting to let me tho. He loves scritches tho! I've also tried giving him a bath twice now. I used a Pyrex dish and put about 3/4 inch of water in it. He got down in it and waded around for a minute or two, got a drink, then jumped back up on the side and was done lol. |
|
|
|
Post by bruce on Dec 19, 2015 14:18:24 GMT -5
Yoshi looks so cute. I have never convinced my QP, Chuckie, to step up on command. He comes only when he wants to. If Yoshi will let you, once the pin feathers on his head and neck mature, you can gently rub off the sheath. If he won't, he may learn how to use the cage bars and perches to break them apart. Chuckie, who is making a racket of whistles and clucks as I am typing, will occasionally let me groom his head and neck. If I hit a sensitive area, he lets me know with a nip. For two weeks of effort, you have made a great deal of progress!
|
|
|
|
Post by beccilouise on Dec 19, 2015 15:59:36 GMT -5
I was going to suggest the same method that Julianna posted, as I read it somewhere. I was really lucky with Byron as the store I bought him from was full of girls who also own birds and they made him really tame, teaching him to step up so that he was already tame enough to ride on my shoulder before I got him home. Training him with other things though, it's been really important for us to complete training sessions away from his cage so he doesn't feel like he can just toodle off home whenever he jolly well fancies! I've never succeeded in a training session lasting longer than eight minutes and try to end on a positive note, with him completing the set task. Usually, this works, unless he has a mini tantrum, in which case I walk away and just come back later when he's less cross!
|
|
|
|
Post by rickygonzalez on Dec 20, 2015 1:43:09 GMT -5
Great job so far!!!! I can tell you with my bird I made a game out of step up... From one hand to the next if you put your free hand slightly higher than the hand he's on almost always they will step up.. Sonic and I do this daily and he seems to enjoy it. He now says step up when we're doing this along with you're a good boy when I stop... It's pretty funny. Also, I worked really hard with my bird on him letting me grab him. I do his nail trimming myself along with very minor beak shaping. I mention this because being able to hold him helped when he went through his first molt with me a few months back. He had a lot of pin feathers like Yoshi and at first he wouldn't let me help, until I held him and broke the first one then, he didn't want me to stop. I spent the next hour breaking pin feathers.... Lol, just remember, grabbing a bird, particularly from behind takes an awful lot of trust from the bird towards you so take it slow. Keep us posted on your progress, and awesome job so far!!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by zim on Dec 20, 2015 12:25:51 GMT -5
If Yoshi will let you, once the pin feathers on his head and neck mature, you can gently rub off the sheath. How do you tell when they are mature? |
|
|
|
Post by julianna on Dec 20, 2015 13:31:45 GMT -5
That is a tough question as it would be the same with humans... how do we tell? Mostly by age however I know some 25 year old folks who still act like 14... lol. A mature bird I think is around 2-3 years old. Maybe I can be corrected here.
|
|
|
|
Post by rickygonzalez on Dec 21, 2015 11:01:19 GMT -5
The easiest way to tell when the pin feathers are mature is, the top part of the feather will visible.
|
|
|
|
Post by zim on Dec 21, 2015 14:00:58 GMT -5
The easiest way to tell when the pin feathers are mature is, the top part of the feather will visible. Thanks! This is kind of what I was thinking. He's finally let me help him with a few of them, we are making progress! But after I've helped with a couple he decides that's enough and nips at me. |
|
|
|
Post by aaron on Dec 24, 2015 19:28:08 GMT -5
With Cupcake we often have to be fairly persistent with helping her with pin feathers... She only allows it when they are at the right stage, and when she is suitably calm. But she will typically allow it eventually if we keep trying. But sometimes it's nice to just give scritches without trying to get the pin feathers. She gets ansy if we always try. Gotta space it out  |
|
