Training

How To Teach Your Parrot To Step Up – Beginners Guide To Parrot Training/Taming

Often times many people forget that step up is a trick and needs to be treated with as much time and patience as you would teaching your parrot other tricks.

Steps

Your first task before you take on teaching a bird to step up is to target train learn The Foundation Of Trick Training For Parrots! – How To Start – Optimal Avian  Once you have your bird happily targeting around your next step is to start introducing the step up.

  1. Target your parrot to a training stand
  2. Place your finger 4inches (or more if they seem uncomfortable) away from the bird in the step up cue position.
  3. Place your target stick on the side of your finger that has the parrot pointing at the parrot close enough to where they need to reach to target but not so close to your finger that they are frightened, as they get comfortable with this start slowly targeting closer and closer to your finger.
  4. Once that is easy you can place your target stick pointing at your parrot on the other side of your finger so they must reach over your finger, as this becomes easier make them reach further and further
  5. If your bird seems accepting of your finger move your finger closer so there is enough room for your bird to hop to your finger (if the bird starts giving you body language that they aren’t happy that means that they are not ready for this step.)
  6. You then want to place your target stick pointing the bird on the other side of your finger to where they must go onto your finger to reach the target stick.
  7. Place your bird back on the perch and give them a few treats or their favourite treat for a job well done!
  8. Your next steps is to just slowly increase the time the bird stands on your finger.

Important to Remember:

Please remember this could be a very long process, It could take weeks, or even months so please be patient and go slow, its easier to go slow than to rush and then have to retrain a behaviour.

Forcing a parrot to step up by pressing into its chest bone makes this a forced behaviour rather than the enjoyed behaviour it could be. Giving your parrot no choice is going to cause a fear response and can some times lead to aggression, so take your time, be patient. There is no rush!

Goodluck training!