redbird wrote:hey guys,
hope you might be able to help out.
Have had Red for 3 weeks. she will come out and back into cage on a stick and is taking food from hands now.
Have been trying to get her to step up onto my hand but she just keeps biting. i dont move away when she does, so not to teach her any bad habits.. but i have one hand down and the other with a treat and she just bites or leans over the hand im trying to get her to step on to... or she`ll just retreat.
any help would be much appreciated
cheers, Ian
Hi Ian,
My girl had the same problem when she was very young, and I was first trying to teach her to step up. You are right in not moving away from her when she bites, as she will learn that biting makes you go away when she wants you to if you give in to her behavior.
The trick to curbing the biting is to stay firm but fair with your bird, don't ever provide her with a reaction when she bites, as this opens up a whole new can of worms - of bad habits!
Are you trying to get her to step up onto your hand or your finger? Often it's easier to teach birds step up onto the finger, but IRN's have an adversity to hand which can make this difficult.
As part of their breed IRN's can be aggressive and scared of our hands, so it's important to understand that her behavior towards you is normal... Although, can't be accepted any further.
Often birds get confused with the 'step up' command, so try nudging her lower belly and saying clearly 'Step Up', when you want her to perform this action.
Hope this helps!
