# Won't learn to step up



## chico's_chica (Mar 19, 2017)

Hi guys! Thanks for everyone who offered me advice in my forum http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=145681

I'm having some trouble teaching him to step-up. He'll only step up on my hand if he feels like it. When he flies out of the room and gets lost, he'll step up but only until his cage is in sight again, and then he'll fly off of my hand. When I try to get him to step up if he isn't lost/stuck he reacts hisses and stuff.

I used to think he was scared of hands, but I'm not sure anymore cause he seems to have no problem with hands if he's stuck, lost, or if they are offering him a blade of grass for chewing.
What should I do?

*Video:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARuLPEgGM0c


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## Dragona (Apr 2, 2017)

The thing is he "doesn't" want to be picked up. He feels content in his cage, and he won't let you bring it around. Mine was very similar, though he would stay with me on my shoulder when i got around, he bited pretty hard when we wanted to give him a new batch of seeds in the morning. We went around this click training him: when he heard the click food was on the go and he eventually stopped biting.

My advice would be to click train or to pole train (where you train your bird to follow a colored stick) him. It can lead to him voluntarily step on your finger, you just have to have something to bribe him with. My tiel just wanted dry breadsticks, yours could prefer sunflower seeds or fruits?

Even though it's not nice, try to leave him without food for one night/day (not too long, we don't want to starve the poor thing) and then in the morning when he's hungry, offer the training. Just 10m per day, 2-3 times a day. Everytime offer him food, and it will lead to something. An important thing is to do the training FAR from his cage, or he will wanna go home and nothing else, and get distracted. 
Place yourself in a nice calm room and arm yourself with patience. Lots of it.


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## chico's_chica (Mar 19, 2017)

Thank you very much! I'll try the clicker training and try to find some type of treat he likes. For the most part he doesn't especially like anything.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It takes time for them to become fully comfortable with it. He's willing to step up sometimes and that's a start. He'll gradually become more used to it and will start stepping up more often.


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## Amatiq (Jan 7, 2016)

It sounds like you are making good progress. It can take quite a while for 'tiels to trust you fully. 
Please don't withhold food from your bird to tempt it to come to you for the food. They're very smart, they'll know what you are doing and resent you for it. You might get the desired action, but in the long run it won't increase the bird's affection for you one bit.


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