to this:
About 2 weeks ago he started picking at his wing feathers, now he can't get any lift to fly up. I think it was out of jealousy of our 7 1/2 month old baby girl. I've had the bird for roughly ten years and he's never done anything like this before. He also gave me a rather malicious bite around the time picking began.
Once I noticed the problem, I added some news toys and shoe laces to his cage and have been giving him extra attention when possible - though without rewarding the bad habit. I've also added the ladder up to his cage so he can get himself back home on his own from the ol' futon. My son is on the lookout if the conure ever gets down on the floor, he knows to call for me so I can scoop the bird up.
I was never able to train him to "step up" onto my hand, he would always bite to hurt. What I would do is to gently lift him by the tail and slide my fingers under his claws out of beak-range. Now all I have to do is put my hand behind him and he steps up backwards onto my finger.
For his sake, at least the cats aren't around any more now that he can't escape a pouncin'.
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