Friday night I let lil’ Stewie out of his cage for the first time. He was quite timid and adorable to watch him checking everything out. At one point he got startled and jumped off the cage to land on the floor. For a split second I was worried that he’d scamper underneath the couch, making it impossible for me to catch him (keep in mind he’s till not trained to step up onto my finger). Much to my delight, his first instinct was to try to fly to his cage. Unfortunately, with his wings clipped, he couldn’t get enough lift to get from the floor onto his cage. So I put his little wooden ladder on the side of the cage so he could climb up. Stewie made a beeline for the door and climbed back inside.

On Saturday, I let him out of his cage again. Based on his behavior the night before I thought he’d stay really calm, but as soon as he climbed to the top of the cage, he tried to fly out the window (which was closed). Luckily it was slow going since his wings were clipped and he didn’t hit the glass hard — he managed to glide into a plant where I was able to scoop him up.
And then… miracle of miracles, the little bugger did some “step ups” for me. And this whole time he was pretending he didn’t know how. Stewie somehow conned me into giving him treats for things as simple as venturing out onto a handheld perch, and this whole time he knew how to do step ups. Now I just him to do that when he has more of a choice (i.e., not just when he’s already on my finger, but when he has the option to walk away). We’re not quite there yet.