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Oh Flock - Berry going on her back! (ep 1)
🕑 Added 2022-12-09 16:00:07 +0000 UTCI've been wanting to train Blueberry, my budgie, to go on her back like I've trained my medium and large birds... but I've not really known where to start with her because of her size.
Of all places, on our recent road trip she was the most receptive! She was really attached to me and constantly inquiring about interacting with me and so I thought it was a good time to just try it and see where my starting point was. Because I've trained A LOT of handling things (going through a tube, going through my hand, being able to put my hand OVER her which is so important to do before attempting this IMO, etc) it allowed me to get away with this on my first try... so unexpected!!!
I don't know if it was obvious to you guys but her hesitant step up at the end and flying a bit was telling me she likely was not enjoying this training and that it likely is way outside her comfort zone so it will be something I have to be careful about over-training and ensure I only work on it minimally with high value rewards. In this case I was using her blueberry seed mix as a reward but in the future when I have access to better treats, I'd likely want to switch to spray millet and/or her original seed mix which was incredibly high value.
Comments
Holly Honish
Got it. Thank you so much!
BirdTricks
It may be that you need to start with a smaller approximation of "calm while I move my fingers a little" and that builds to moving to removing your fingers
Holly Honish
Understandable. I just don't know how to teach her to let go without scaring the crap out of her.
BirdTricks
You just need to feel that part out and take it slow as it makes them feel very vulnerable to let go. Sometimes you can just go for it and sometimes you need to teach them to let go one foot or toe at a time.
Holly Honish
I've been meaning to ask since I saw the video on YouTube. My conure will flip on her back in my hand but, how do you get them to let go of your finger?
