dunno, really ... patience, persistence & COMPETITION, i think!! and, oh yeah, CLIPPED WINGS!! after he settled in here (emotionally), i never let him out of his cage unless he stepped up onto my finger ... he had a REALLY weird issue with human hands when i got him ... had been fully flighted at his foster home & wuz around other foster birdies ... he STILL won't go near my left hand because i trained him with the right one ... i just let him know that he could trust me by being consistent & i took the nips & still take them when he gets skeert ... like the shower thing ... that's new to him, so he'll get a little shaky sometimes, but i don't let him go anywhere if he doesn't step up first & ride to his destination ... it works for us ... that's his favorite two words, too ... rofl ... STEP UUUP (think SC Lowcountry accent) ... too funny.
also, when Gina became ill & passed, he wuz JUST beginning to be a social butterfly, then he became withdrawn & friskie ... flight feathers coming in & couldn't fly high, but could fly far & would NOT stay with me ... fly right away from me ... then came Max ... VERY social Cockatoo ... i had the vet clip Willie's wings & show me how to keep them clipped & he's fine now ... he sees Max doing something with me & he gets that glimmer in his eye ... "hmmmm, that might be nice" ... so i just let him watch 'til i think that he's ready to try & off we go ... i just don't rush him ... i keep his wings clipped & he gets pi$$ed & he gets over it. 'course i hafta do that when DaddyCakes ain't in the house, cuz he thinks i'm torturing him ... like i couldn't use the xtra pair of hands, right?
i really just think that i've been blessed with an extraordinarily wonderful fid, who never knew how nice human contact could be.

awww, shucks ... he wuvs his mommy!!
huggles,
Wren
