Thanks so much for your patience. The only thing I see that you should change is to stop trying to get him to step up from inside his cage. In his mind, that's his territory and you are invading it. Don't worry, he won't always feel that strongly about it, after you have gotten him tamed totally down and you have his trust. Trust is a huge thing with birds. It must come first before we are able to even think about building a bond with them. I'm relieved to see that you are not comfortable attempting to do any trimming of flight feathers. It's far from being a straightforward procedure and done incorrectly by a novice, has too often ended up in serious injury for the bird, or worse. Personally, I'm not in favor of trimming flights and my entire flock of 9 assorted birds are fully flighted at all times. But I also know it's a very personal decision we each make for our birds, depending on several issues, including safety. What I can tell you is there are times, when working to tame and calm a bird, a minimum trim, just once, can work wonders. If they cannot get altitude, they become dependent on use to give them that "leg up". A huge help in building dependence and trust. I'll get more into that in a moment. What I suggest you do first, is to take him to another room in the house (neutral territory) and work with him there. I have a link I'll share with you about teaching the step up. Silly as this might sound, the best place to work with him is in a small area where he can't get away. Something like sitting on the bathroom floor with him. When working this way, we walk the thin line between being too aggressive, yet being consistent. Some folks work with small favorites as treat rewards. I do not because I don't want to end up having to carry treats in one hand, just to get my parrots to do what I ask. But again, that's a personal decision. In addition to getting away from the cage to work, it may also help to have him out of the presence of your Sennies. I don't know about yours, but I have one in my flock and he seems to have the same personality as all the other Sennies I'm acquainted with. I refer to mine as a Macaw in a midget suit. He has a huge ego, no small amount of "attitude", and a very strong "I'm the boss" personality. He even tries to intimidate my Macaw. So, maybe, him being in their presence makes him feel a bit intimidated. It's hard to say but is something to consider. Bottom line, a neutral area, and knowing he has your undivided attention can only help. It all comes down to patience, patience, more patience and consistency. Of course the more time you can spend each day working with him, the quicker it should happen. I try to make my "training" sessions last no more than about 15 minutes at a time, give them lots of breaks and make some in between time where you are just spending quality time with him. Do these sessions 3-4 times per day, well spread out over the day. But spend non training time with him as well. The "all work and no play" applies here as it does in other situations. He needs to be enjoying some of the time you spend with him and not dreading it because it is all work and no play. If you want to try a moderate trim, it is something you can learn to do yourself but you need either a good avian vet, or a very skilled bird groomer to teach you the first couple of times. It should never be the intention of a clip to take away the bird's ability to fly. That's dangerous. The goal is to only take away the ability to gain altitude. A properly trimmed bird will be able to glide 15-20 feet, gradually losing altitude, be able to keep a straight line throughout the glide and come to a perfect landing, totally in control. Both wings have to match exactly, after the trim. In addition to knowing how many feathers to trim, one must also be able to recognize blood feathers. Those are the ones that still have an active blood supply entering the shaft. If one of those is accidentally cut or ever gets broken, it's life threatening unless one knows exactly how to act immediately to remove the stub and stop the bleeding. If anyone starts to trim his fights for you and if they do something like just hold out a wing, and start to make one cut, across several flights at a time, immediately stop them, take your bird and go elsewhere. Proper trimming starts on the top, or leading edge of the wing, One feather at a time on each side it trimmed, the bird gets a "test fly" over a soft surface to judge his ability to gain altitude and to stay in control. Then one more on each side, and re test. Continue until the exact result is reached and stop clipping. I think that's about all I can tell you about the process but if anything is unclear or if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. I want you to be comfortable with the whole process. Let me know if you need anything else. Patricia
Click here: Teaching a Pet Parrot to Step Up
Click here: Broken Blood Feathers in Birds: First Aid and Removal
Life After Weaning - Your Companion Bird and You
http://www.petparrot.com/ParrotCareWingClipping.htm
Click here: wings
Click here: NCS - Clipping Cockatiel Wings, Nails and Beaks
Parrot C&onsultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.