Keeping confined until step up??

[drab911]

hello guys, sorry for all of the questions im just so confused right now, I feel like I am SOO far away from step up, so yesterday I used a towel and grabbed him and brought him out... I would release him on my arm and he would stand there for a while then run onto my shoulder and then fly to the budgie cage.... I kept repeating this a few times... however while he was in the towel he was biting quiet a bit..... I know this probably wasnt the proper thing to do but I had to give it a try.. anyways this morning I tried to get him onto my finger and he just keeps running away.. he seemed to enjoy his time out of the cage so do I not let him out until he gets on my finger or what do I do??? can I repeat this towel thing so he learns that its ok to sit on me etc????
thanks guys I just really dont wnat to mess this up!!

[charmedagain]

Using a towel to get him out of the cage is just like grabbing him which is giving him all the wrong signals.

Keep trying to get him to step up or what you can try is using a small perch or stick place that near to him and say step up this will teach him what the word means.

You can then get him out of the cage on this and place your hand near him hopefully he will get it that your not wanting to hurt him

Mike

[drab911]

Thanks mike, I thought long and hard at work last night and I totally agree with the hand thing.. so today I took a completly other approach,,, I am using a little stick and ive been able to step up onto it twice.. and then after he does that I put some millet in my hand and he eats it out of my hand.... when he is eating the millet he is SOO comfortable so i am hoping this will turn into him stepping onto my hand to eat it one day,... Is it better to do multiple 10 minute sessions a day or one really big long one>?? I am better at a lot of small sessions with him... am I on the right path now?? and should I wait until he is on my hand until I bring him out, instead of the stick cause i want to avoid having to catch him again hehe

[charmedagain]

Since he has stepped up on the stick and he has started eating millet from your hand this shows he is starting to trust you.

I would do multiple sessions with him rather than do it all at once as he may get bored and fed up and decide well i am not doing this no more.
You are doing everything correctly, Give it a few more days and he should step onto your hand no problem.

As for taking him out of the cage its best to do what you feel comftable with if you prefer to wait tilll he steps up on your hand with no problems than thats ok.

What i always say is put yourself in your birds place and think what would you want it to be done if your comftable the bird will be too.

Mike

[mchat]

I don't know if this helps but with the couple of cockatiel babies I have raised I have noticed that some will only get on my hand if its flat and others will only get on a finger if you put the rest of the fingers in a fist and sort of bed the finger away from it. Try different hand positions.

[drab911]

Thanks mike, I am definatly getting a better response out of Mavric now that I am not chasing him around the cage... Now the only thing i am worried about is the fact that the budgie cage is about 8 feet away from the parrotlets with a fish tank in the middle... he seems to be bonding to me but coudl the chirps from the budgies through him off?? I cant really put him in a nother room because I live in a basement suite and i dont want him all alone... anyways i think itll be ok just woudl like another oppionion thanks!

[charmedagain]

Sounds like everything is going well. If the sound of the other birds was throwing him off he would not be bonding with you.

Just keep at it the more time your training him the sooner he will learn to trust and come to you.

Mike