My little 5 month old quaker Yoshi has recently develped a new "trick" that is less than thrilling to me and his daddy! Any time he's on top of his cage, he will NOT come down! If I try to gently take him off or ask him to step up, he just grabs on for dear life and there is no convincing him to come down. I'm not sure how to correct this behavior and was hoping some of you might have suggestions?

The only thing I can suggest is repetition.......repeat, repeat and don't give up. Take him to another unfamiliar room and practice step ups, maybe he doesn't quite have that down pat yet. Just a thought. I am sure others will be around to suggest more ideas.

You need to be taller/higher than he is...get a step stool and step up on it yourself. Then ask him to step up and stay above his eye level That will make a big difference I bet.

Both of those suggestions are good - I would be taller than your QP and keep repeating the exercise. I would also add another element - when your bird DOES step up - offer a small treat. Kermit LOVES cheerios, so one cheerio upon a successful step-up will reinforce the good behaviour.

Oh, I'm glad someone asked this! My QP Ollie does the same thing. It's really frustrating when he does it INSIDE his cage. I'll be trying to get him off and he'll just get a death-grip on the side. We've had 5-minute-long standoffs before, and I'm not even exaggerating! He's definitely got a stubborn streak a mile wide.

connie and sandi covered that pretty well i know some of louie's stands are taller than we are when he's at the apex, and i have to get the stool and get taller. once i'm up there, and sometimes all i have to do is simply put one foot on the stool, he changes his tune right away.

as far as the standoffs that occur when inside the cage, louie isn't normally willing to step up from inside his cage either lately. so i open his door a little bit and he will climb over to the door. once he's on the door, i open it all the way and he climbs up to the top of the door. he gets some scritches and kisses, then off we go. if your bird is clinging to the side of the cage, i would try to coax him out or encourage him to come to the door to step up. in all honesty, tho, learning that step up is not an option when asked is an important skill for you both to master because in an emergency you might not have the luxury of him taking his sweet time.

kris

ahhh these stubborn birds! cricket sometimes decides he wants to be in charge and refuses to step up. this is when i WILL not let him get away with it. i push my fingers slowly and gently against his belly until he is forced to step up. when he does he gets lots of kisses.

now, when he's clinging to the side of the cage its a little more difficult. sometimes he yells for me to "Come here!" and then doesn't want to step up. i start counting like you would with a 2 year old.

ONE... step up (usually no reaction)
TWO... step up (he usually growls or snaps at me)
THREE... step up (he either steps up or i walk away)

i'm waiting for him to start counting with me... that's really going to piss me off lol

LOL kris! wait til he counts with you then laughs!

kris

Well, my fix for the death grip...I pry his little feet right off the cage bars! We no longer have this problem because he knows Mom WILL get him dowm

I've got a green cheek that doesn't "obey" but I think it's out of fear and lack of early socialization more than stubbornness. I just get a tiny piece of papaya and she comes running! Then when she jumps into my hand, she gets the treat!!

I'm trying to teach the birds to get into their cages themselves at "night night" time. I'm using papaya.

Good to hear that someone else is alittle more "adamant" about their chickens behavior. I've read alot of advice and have learnd alot too...and I guess I was lucky as Skye has never "learned" to bite hard, or not obey with step up. When he clings to his perch or cage I too insist with my fingers gently pushing his off balance, or by putting fingers in front of and behind him, so he has no choice. We rarely have a disagrrement about stepping up.

OMG Kris-does he actually growl? Hahahahaha. Too funny. QQ likes to say ooooooga ooooga ooooooooga bob his head like a chicken, raise his "shoulders" and lift one foot.......But growling.......hahahahaha

I had trouble with this when I first got Phoenix. He would decide he didn't want to leave the top of his cage, and would grab on with his feet, and if needed, his beak, so that he wouldn't have to leave. Quick solution I found was my roomate had a small clicking device(not exactly sure what they are "officially" for but this one he got from my states seat belt enforcement program) that he wasn't very fond of, so whenever he wouldn't step off the top of his cage I would give it a click and he would instantly hop up. Haven't had that problem or had to use the clicker in a long time now.

As for not stepping up while in the cage, Phoenix still does that occasionally now, mostly when he is tired(either was sleeping or about to sleep) and when he does that I usually just leave him be. I'll leave the door open and if he wants to come out he will.