You mean THIS set back?? I'm about ready to throw in the towel.



Apparently I spoke too soon, life was good, I was handling Baby at the breeders house, I handled him at home, when we got home I took him out of the travel cage, petted him and gave head skritches for a bit, he jumped on the playstand, and then I took him off the playstand to put him in his normal cage for some "down" time after the big day. All was good.

Later last night I took him out of his cage, sat on the couch a few minutes and pet him and gave skritches again, then put him on the play stand to let him play for a while. When I went to get him off the playstand the pecker head bit me TWICE, I was not scared, nor nervous or anything when I went to get him off the playstand. I ended up getting the perches and playing the step up game, put him back in his cage and told him he was a bad bird. Now I'm just hoping my confidence didn't fly out the window. My hubby said that because I got the perches and made him step up on the perches instead of using my hands that I let him win, I don't know if this is true or not, but I sure hope I don't have to go back to square one.

I don't think so. I think getting the perches and having him do some step-ups was just the right thing to do. Letting him win would have been letting him stay there, which seems to be what he wanted. There's only one thing I would have changed in your approach. I would have praised him for doing the step-ups with the perches, and not told him he was a bad bird after doing the step-ups. You want him to know he's a good bird when he does what you want him to do. By the time you put him back in the cage, he had no idea you were scolding him for his behavior earlier, but he may have remembered the last thing he did, which was the step-ups, or he may have interpreted it as you scolding him for going into the cage. Not what you had in mind at all, but they live very much in the present, or what just happened. Best to ignore bad behavior (or perhaps a quick scowl and growl) and then praise and reward lavishly when he does what you want.

Nate you are 100% on target there. Long long ago, Sammie bit me, and I just lost it. I growled at him "STEP UP" and he did. Then I told him he was a bad bird, and put him in his cage. A friend of mine who did rescue for tons of years was quick to point out to me that I told him he was a bad bird for stepping up - how to confuse a bird in one easy lesson!!!

It's so easy to send the wrong message. One of the most valuable things I've ever learned (and I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember who wrote about it) was that when working with birds (particularly trying to get them to do something that isn't their idea), you have to learn to slow yourself down. That means your body, as in reactions, and your mind, as in knowing whether this is the right time to do or not do something, making sure you react correctly, or sometimes more appropriately, not at all. It's really kind of a "Zen" thing, where you try to be aware of everything that is happening, with the bird, with yourself, and with your surroundings. I learned early on that being in a hurry for a bird to do something is often a recipe for disaster. If I'm feeling impatient and want to get Quito into her cage right away, that's the one time she's going to want nothing to do with it, and make me follow her from perch to perch to perch, all through the house before relenting. She always steps-up, but she may not stay on my finger for long. If I approach it like its no big deal if she goes in now or next week, usually she'll ride my finger into the cage. When its time to step down in the cage, she'll usually have a little hissy-fit and try to gnaw my finger a bit. She gets ticked-off really easily, its a GCC thing!

I only tried to hurry getting Tausi to step-up and get him into the cage one time. It was after a particularly stressful day at work, and with the mood I was in, I had no business handling birds. When you present Tausi with your finger, he first wants to turn his head upside down so you can scritch his head for a minute. Then you say step-up, and he does. This time I just pushed into his chest and hurriedly told him to "step-up". It was the one and only time that he's really bitten me hard. Didn't break skin, but was sure enough to alert me to the fact that I was screwing up. I just turned away from him for a minute, mentally kicked myself in the butt and took time to slow myself down, then we tried it again the right way, and all was well.