Caitlin Bird
07-18-2013, 11:59 AM
After fostering Jojo the Moluccan Cockatoo for a month this Summer he has finally stepped up and liked it!
This Summer I wanted to train a bird for Florida Parrot Rescue. I asked my foster coordinator if they had any "difficult" birds that may be hard to adopt out or are at risk for permanent sanctuary placement, someone who needs a little rehabbing. Jojo was that bird. He is an older Moluccan Cockatoo that is somewhere in his 30's. He was described as being shy. When I went to see him and observe how he was interacted with "shy" translated into being fearful of stepping up onto hands, perches, showing fearful body language when someone walked by, and frantically flying into a person's arms if a stick was brandished at him. Not pretty.
I agreed to foster Jojo and for the first day and a half he was so frightened (http://sequentialpsittacine.blogspot.com/2013/06/jojos-first-24-hours_14.html) the only way I could walk past his cage was to lower myself to the ground, place my hands and knees on the ground and crawl past his cage! Poor guy!
Well all that is ancient history! Thanks largely to target training he no longer cowers when someone picks up a stick and I can even open his cage to put the stick in without any averse effects.
This morning Jojo and I started training as usual and then took a half hour break and then resumed. As usual I targeted him to the perch I was holding and after doing a few reps I moved the target farther back along the perch to see if he would step up. HE DID! :nyah: He got a big jackpot for that and when he was finished I targeted him off the perch, reinforced, and asked him to go back onto the perch again and he did so! We did this several more times and ended the session before he I asked him to go much farther, I wanted him to be comfortable and to end the session on a good note!
I wish I had photos! It's hard when your hands are full with a perch, target and food! Acccck! Still, progress is progress and worth celebrating!
:D
This Summer I wanted to train a bird for Florida Parrot Rescue. I asked my foster coordinator if they had any "difficult" birds that may be hard to adopt out or are at risk for permanent sanctuary placement, someone who needs a little rehabbing. Jojo was that bird. He is an older Moluccan Cockatoo that is somewhere in his 30's. He was described as being shy. When I went to see him and observe how he was interacted with "shy" translated into being fearful of stepping up onto hands, perches, showing fearful body language when someone walked by, and frantically flying into a person's arms if a stick was brandished at him. Not pretty.
I agreed to foster Jojo and for the first day and a half he was so frightened (http://sequentialpsittacine.blogspot.com/2013/06/jojos-first-24-hours_14.html) the only way I could walk past his cage was to lower myself to the ground, place my hands and knees on the ground and crawl past his cage! Poor guy!
Well all that is ancient history! Thanks largely to target training he no longer cowers when someone picks up a stick and I can even open his cage to put the stick in without any averse effects.
This morning Jojo and I started training as usual and then took a half hour break and then resumed. As usual I targeted him to the perch I was holding and after doing a few reps I moved the target farther back along the perch to see if he would step up. HE DID! :nyah: He got a big jackpot for that and when he was finished I targeted him off the perch, reinforced, and asked him to go back onto the perch again and he did so! We did this several more times and ended the session before he I asked him to go much farther, I wanted him to be comfortable and to end the session on a good note!
I wish I had photos! It's hard when your hands are full with a perch, target and food! Acccck! Still, progress is progress and worth celebrating!
:D