I went through your taming tag and it didn't help much. I've had a cockatiel for about two months, and we're pretty close (as in, he interacts with me frequently and preens me). However, whenever I try to get him to step up on command (or stroke him), he becomes uncomfortable and steps away, usually hissing at me. I don't understand why, since occasionally he gets on my hands willingly. Do you have any idea what I can do about this?
It takes time to build up the trust necessary for these things, if youâre constantly trying to stroke him (most birds actually donât like being touched) or commanding him to step up and he doesnât want to, heâs going to tell you ânoâ through his body language, in this instance hissing.  The more you push those things, the more you try to touch him or force a step up, the less lenient heâs going to be and there will be more reason to be fearful.  Stop trying to touch him and push his boundaries and break it down to smaller steps to properly teach him the basics and start building a relationship.  You want him to associate stepping up with positivity, treats, all sorts of fun things, not being chased around, displeasured, or uncomfortable.
Target training is a good place to start to help show a bird that your hands are positive experiences and target training is great for teaching step up because you can encourage the bird to move to a designated location without force. A proper step up should look like this, notice how I offer her my hand and she makes the decision to step up, I donât push in to her, stepping up is a question more than it is a command. This post goes over an alternate way to teach step up that birds tend to take to very well as you can progress in smaller increments.
Stepping up is completely their decision, if they donât want to step up itâs because theyâre having more fun where they are than they think they can have on your hand.Â
- Courtney (flock-talk)
