Something I have noticed and wanted to post here is that when Cleo gives me trouble about stepping up, which is usually on days ending in y, if I distract her beak with a most excellent treat FIRST, then put my OTHER hand down and cue stepup, she's more apt to not bite. She grumbles some, but she will stepup. But, it has to be something that is large enough to sort of "occupy" her face/beak or she'll work around it and snag me.
I've been working off of the same piece of sliced American cheese for a few days now for stepups. haha. I just wrap the end back up and stick it back in the fridge. She only gets a nibble.
Also, until she gets really downright happy to stepup like she is when she is in the neutral room, this whole thing has to be quick. No negotiations. Cheese in left hand, approach bird, cheese in face, other hand under breast while cueing stepup, prayers to God, then lift her up.
If she rides all the way to the destination, she gets a nip of cheese. If she abandons hands at any point, she just gets a GOOD JOB.
Trick there is to set it up to make travel points shorter where she associates getting cheese with staying on my hand. I'm still working on that. I need to travel her just a few feet successfully on my hand to the cage and treat her, then lengthen my travel distance until she understands "if I ride all the way, I get the cheese nibble".
Just food (haha, pardon the pun) for thought. I have every faith that she'l travel really good on my hand one day. She likes my hand. She told me so.
Mark

In regards to distractions, something I noticed this morning was worth posting.
Cleo was on her tree, it was time to "go home" to the cage. I went to the fridge, got the sainted cheese slice out and started unwrapping it and walking towards her on the tree.
As soon as she saw it, she ran. Why? Cause she now associates that cheese, her treat with "OH NO, he's gonna stick that in my face and make me do that stepup thing again."
I got her to stepup with that distraction, actually she fluttered off then and I got her on the handperch easily, then transferred her back to my hand.
But, I got her to stepup, then got her back home, offered her the cheese and she didn't want it.
I'm now faced with the fact that she has associated her treat with something she doesn't really WANT to do. She has gotten pretty comfortable with being ON my hand once she's there. IT's that initial stepup from a COMMON place, her tree, cage or a kitchen chair where she sits and watches us cook/eat that gives her the heebie jeebies about stepping up. She stepsup fine in a neutral room.
So, I took the cheese back in a few minutes and offered it, without a condition and she loved it. I'll have to give her that reassuarance that the cheese is unconditional.
I might try offering an unsalted pnut in it's shell to occupy the beak while she learns that stepup is ok.
Mark

This was interesting Mark. Cleo is one smart girl. Maybe she gets a little nervous while in that common place because there's action going on, movement, things happening around her. I'm sure she likes to watch though, but maybe asking her to do something during that time makes her skiddish.

I don't know, just guessing but this is definitely interesting.

Yea, Wendy your right...she is a lil nervous there in the kitchen. She loves it though. LOL.it's funny. She'll get off the chair and just come over to your plate on the table and want what you got.
But, the stepups push her. It's a narrow bridge to walk with her. I want her to CONSISTENTLY stepup, no matter where she is. Not just if she is in the mood. So, I do a little bit of stepup in the kitchen, but mostly somewhere else.
Yea, she is a smart girl. That maybe part of my problem.

She'll eventually do it Mark, I know she will. I think once she gets totally comfortable by way of checking things out on her own, like what you've got on your plate, etc., she'll be all yours. I have no doubt!

Just a question, when your walking with her perched on your hand how are you holding her and where is your arm? And When in the kitchen, if the kitchen has a window and it is time for her to step up and leave the kitchen, try having everyone leave the kitchen except you wait a minute than turn off the light, (hoping that you have a window and it is not to dark) this should get rid of the nerves and calm her a bit, and than ask her to step up. If that doesn't work, and you just leave the kitchen and leave her by herself,(watching from afar of course) what does she do? Does she look for someone to "rescue" her? Or go about her business? Like a child that tries to run from you in a store, chances are if you walk a way the child starts to follow, I wonder if the same thing will happen with Cloe? If she looks for a rescue that might work to your advantage?

When I walk with her, she's UP HIGH and she is on my wrist/hand..basically at this point, wherever she'll sit long enough to get to the goal. haha. I'm singing Hail Mary's all the way to where we go to confirm to her that she's done a good thing. Sometimes she'll scream AWEEE loudly which is sort of her reply to my "GOOD JOB!!"
As for walking away, reminds me of my two year old son. Like Cleo he is very strong willed. I walked away from him for 15 minutes when he was two in the Lowes lawnmower section and he could have cared less. He hopped on every lawnmower like I was with him. The other guys there finally started laughing at me peeking over gas cans to check on him and he was mowing...with no concern that I wasn't there.
So, yes, I do walk away and she screams sometimes, but when offered a hand to steupup on , she flips upside down on the barstool top and scales down below. So I have to get the perch and she's fine with that.
But you did hit upon something I might try. Since she likes me so much, and doesnt' like my wife, I might leave the kitchen, then ask my sweet wife to go in and stand remotely close to the chair and then I come in to "rescue" her. Then, build on that. She'll eventually get it.
Good idea.. Good thoughts for us all!!
Mark

Eve had a problem staying on my hand when I walked with him with my hand up. It made him nervous and fly off of me. So I started doing the opposite, I held him on my arm, and low at my waist/chest and placed him so he was facing my chest for balance, and it was hard for him to fly backwards to get off of me from that position. So when at first he got nervous I would slow down my walk and tell him it was ok, put my arm over his back to help stabilize him. Eventually he got comfortable enough to not need my hand on his back. But I still walk with him this way. For vasa's it has to do with their darn tail, so wide that when stationary on your arm and you being to walk it throws them off balance. I don't know if this will help or not. I only just started reading this thread, so I don't know if Cleo will bite you if you try this or not, but it is an interesting read, and I'm sure with time you will get there.

Hey, you know what, that's a great suggestion, maybe not raise her up as high. I can tell you that she will eat me if I put the other hand on her back or perceive it as a threat and fly off.
I do walk with her facing me, but, haha, she has gotten to where she banks and flies a 180 to where she wants to go anyway sometimes. Then, other times she rides very nicely.
I'll try holding her down and see what that does.
Good brainstorming going on here.
Thanks!
Mark

As you know Mark, Harley isn't great at stepups either. But once he's there, and we do this with Maple too, we hold them on our hand, and put our thumb over their toes (it started so they couldn't walk up our arm to our shoulder, Maple used to love to do that). Anyway, now, if I try to walk around with either of them without holding their toes you can tell they are nervous, they feel unstable. But if we are holding their toes I could run about in circles like the Tasmanian devil and they'd just sit there. I'm not sure if Cleo would allow this or not....she might have a fit and amputate your thumb...just throwing in what works for us to get them from A to B.