My bird is boycotting his cage!

[jelandusn]

Sorry, but this is probably going to be long... My bird refuses to go back in his cage!! I've tried everything I can think of but he keeps grabbing onto the top of the door and climbing up. At first I could just try 3-4 times in a row and he'd finally let me put him in. Then even that didn't work, so I tried training him to do it. I'd say inside and put a treat in his cage. He would gladly go inside for the treat and when he did I'd say good. I wouldn't always do this when it was time to close the door. In fact, most of the time he would be able to come right back out. That worked for a while but he stopped going in while I was standing there so I would give him a big treat and while his beak was full put him inside. This worked twice then he figured out he could still keep the treat in his mouth and grab onto the top of the door and climb up. I hate to admit it, but I am not smarter than an african grey!!! He has won. I leave him out 24 hours a day now but I'm pretty worried. There's so much he can get into. So far he just stays on his cage and goes inside to eat and take naps but at night he sleeps on top. I'm sure that part of the problem is that his cage is small. It isn't a big problem because he spends all day out and only goes in to nap and for the night and when I go out somewhere which isn't that often. Another problem is that my husband was in the hospital for a week. In Korea there are no set visiting hours so you can come and stay for however long you want. I spent all of my time in the hospital with him and only came back twice a day to take the dogs out and play with Kakashi, my bird, so he went from being out most of the day to only being out 1 hour in the morning and 1 in the evening. Is there any advice? I can't get a bigger cage. The cage I have is the biggest I can find here. Does anyone have a cage free bird? Is it even safe to do this?
Jonetta

[too&me]

When dogs share the house it is not a good idea. To have an unsupervised bird loose all day is not safe for the bird. It would only take one bite through an electric cord to have a dead bird. We will put our heads together and come up with some retraining ideas. It does sound like the change in schedules set this behavior off and it only takes one or two reinforcements for Kakashi to retrain you. The most direct method would be to only give a treat inside the cage or to towel him and return him to the cage consistently every time you want him inside. More help and ideas to follow from our other clever members.

[Chrissy and Flock]

Sometimes Cassie does not want to go back into her cage, I don't even try to bribe her anymore I get the towel and put her in. After she has been in there about 10 minutes I give her a treat....

[jelandusn]

First of all, I'd like to say thanks for the advise, but, I also have to be a little rude. I know everyone means well, but to assume that I'm irresponsible and putting my bird in danger is insulting. I realize that there are a lot of people who don't know what they're doing when mixing different species together, but I do. There are some animals that you CAN NOT do this with, and I've had a couple of animals like that, but there are also animals that can live in harmony with no problems. The animals that I've had with high prey drives would never be allowed anywhere near Kakashi's room. If my dogs had such a prey drive, I would not have gotten a bird in the first place. My dogs are definitely not animals with high prey drives. Nor do they have any form of aggression. Even when our crazy neighbor came into our house and yelled at us the dogs did nothing. When she hit my husband after yelling for a good 5 minutes they did absolutely nothing at all. I wish they had bit her or at least barked at her but that's just not in their nature. Kakashi on the other hand will bite the dogs if given the chance so he's the real reason I don't let them interact. They are allowed in the same room together when I'm there. Anyway, I'm going to just say I know what I'm doing. I've had cats and dogs and birds and rabbits all living together. The cat, dog and rabbit all slept with me in the same bed and there was never a problem with the predators. In fact, my rabbit was the bully and the one that couldn't be left alone with any animals. I don't put my bird in dangerous situations when it comes to the dogs. When no one is around, they are put in their kennels and Kakashi goes in his room with the door closed. It has always been this way even when he was put away in a cage. If someone were to escape from the kennel or cage they would have to figure out how to open doors in order to get together unsupervised. I don't even leave the dogs alone together because you never know when a dog fight will break out and I'd like to be there if it happens. So, please, I know your heart is in the right place, but please don't bring up how 'dangerous' my dogs are. Not everyone is irresponsible and not every dog is a bird killer. My dogs are not aggressive at all. Even when scared and cornered they don't fight. Even so, I don't leave them alone together and I don't let them interact with each other. I know they probably wouldn't do anything, but I will never trust them completely. I know they are animals and have instincts and I treat them as such. They're not my babies they're dogs and I don't underestimate them. You may not agree with birds and dogs being together so let's just agree to disagree.

[jelandusn]

And I forgot to mention that I tried toweling him but he completely panicked. He honestly was petrified. I don't know much of his background so I don't think I want to do this to him again unless it's an absolute emergency. Besides, I couldn't get him off the top of the cage. Since he was so scared he grabbed on so tight and would not let go. I was worried I'd hurt him or traumatize him if I forced the issue. As it is, when no one's around I do unplug everything. I know there are metals in wires that could make him sick but that's the best I can do right now. He's not much of a chewer anyway. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to get him in the cage? Should I just wait a little while until our routine is back to normal and try it again?

[Chrissy and Flock]

Is it possible he may have done something to hurt himself in the cage and that may be why he doesn't want to go in there.

[too&me]

Not trying to hurt your feeling but since we cannot see how you do thing in your home we have to mention any dangers that we can think of as many people read these posts and we do stress safety here. Not meant as an attack just a simple straight forward attempt to help you. Understand your wish to move him safely with out injury hope some more people come along with further ideas.

[Dot]

And I forgot to mention that I tried toweling him but he completely panicked. He honestly was petrified. I don't know much of his background so I don't think I want to do this to him again unless it's an absolute emergency. Besides, I couldn't get him off the top of the cage. Since he was so scared he grabbed on so tight and would not let go. I was worried I'd hurt him or traumatize him if I forced the issue. As it is, when no one's around I do unplug everything. I know there are metals in wires that could make him sick but that's the best I can do right now. He's not much of a chewer anyway. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to get him in the cage? Should I just wait a little while until our routine is back to normal and try it again?

Well, the towel was my only thought. Is there any way you can make going to bed in the cage a game?

I have a friend who started a game when her macaw started acting like that. They play "What is Kirb's favorite food." She then lists all of his favorite foods, including manila ice cream. For each one Kirby pins his eyes and says, "Em, good." She saves pine nuts for last. Then she says, "You know, Kirbs, I think there are some pine nuts in your cage. Do you want to go hunt for them?" He leans toward the cage ready to go hunt for pine nuts (which she earlier hid in the cage.) You might try something like that.

[Uncle]

Jonetta,

I recommend you get the book "The Parrot Problem Solver". You can get it along with several other excellent training materials at www.goodbirdinc.com (http://www.goodbirdinc.com)

[jelandusn]

Thanks so much for the replies. I'm happy to say that Kakashi is back using his cage! I think he just needed time to realize I would be around like before. We've been back to the old routine for almost a week now so he knows I will be back early in the morning to let him out and will go into his cage at night now. I'm so relieved. I may or may not train him to be toweled. I understand the benefits, but I think it just causes way too much stress. He honestly freaked out. He did the same when I tried to stick train him. He very rarely panics like that even with new things so I think when he panics he's reminded of a bad experience. I can, however, use gloves with only a little problem so I'll get him used to gloves. I need to do something because I'm going to visit the US for a couple of weeks and my husband is scared to touch him. Not to mention the fact that he would bite him if given the chance. I'll probably end up taking him to be boarded because I don't think I feel confident having my hubby watch him. But thanks again everyone! Oh and about the dog thing. Sorry that I came across a little sensitive. Would it be possible to make a sticky about the danger of dogs and birds? That way, if someone has a question about something else they won't have to listen to a lecture about dogs and birds. I totally understand the need to educate so maybe having a sticky would be the way that is least likely to offend someone.

[Uncle]

Hi Jonetta,

To put perspective on why parrots behave and respond certain ways, it helps to understand that parrots have a long history. They have been around for over 65 million years. They were here when dinosaurs roamed the earth. They survived when 98% of all living creatures died out.

To make their survival story even more marvelous - they are prey animals which means predators eat them. So, we would think that a small frail animal such as a parrot would not stand a chance to survive against even the tiniest predator - except to understand that parrots possess extreme intelligence. Some scientists have concluded that parrots are next to humans in the smarts department.

These intellectual smarts in parrots have been honed for millions of years and what we have in our homes today is a product of their hard-wiring for survival. Parrots are naturally cautious and even terrified of new things... some more so than others. It is not uncommon for an owner to proudly make or buy a new toy only to see their feathered friend go into panic mode at the sight of it. It is not recent events that make the parrot respond in such a manner - but their built-in, hard-wiring for survival.

Being wrapped up in a towel goes completely against everything inside a parrot's survival mind. To an "untrained" parrot it is certain death. Predators engulf their prey before the kill and then the meal. So - a companion parrot must be trained (desensitized) to being engulfed in a towel.

We too often put human qualities on the animals we keep. It is called anthropomorphism. Doing so prevents us from gaining understanding of animal behaviors. But when we know of the instincts and "normal" behaviors of our feathered and furry friends, then we can have a better and safer relationship with them all.

To put it simply... predators eat prey -- that is the nature of things. It is easy to identify a predator - their eyes are in the front of their head whereas preys' eyes are on the sides of their head. A predator hyper-focuses on things in front of them. Prey animals see things all around them and are always on the watch for things that are going to eat them for lunch. A dog chasing a ball is a lot of fun but it is more than fun for the dog - the ball that it so vigorously pounces on is in really a prey that has once again fallen victim to the mighty, hunting prowess of the canine species.

No matter how much we might think our furry friend is so mild mannered that it would never ever hurt our bird - nature is always in gear inside the animal minds. Dogs are domesticated but they will always remain a dog with all the doggy things inside their minds. They will always be a predator - that is the nature of things. And a parrot will always be a prey - that is also the nature of things. A dog's instincts (hard-wiring) can kick in within an instant if a bird happens to fall onto the floor. The bird tries to flee and the dog pounces. It can be disastrous - especially if the bird is clipped and cannot quickly get away.

I still recommend you get the book. In fact I recommend every parrot owner get that book. It is written by Barbara Heidenreich and she teaches us how to effectively use positive reinforcement training with parrots.

I hope this helped.

[Darryl Jones]

I don't know how large your cage door is but I have Rosie the Cockatoo that doesn't like to go into her cage either. I start in front of the door low and in one motion go into the cage and up. She grabs her boing that in in her cage and then I shut the door. Works everytime. Gaynor, one of My male cockatoos goes in backwards and he grabs a circle swing he has in his cage and I let him hang there until he reaches back
and finds his perch. Keeps me from being bit! Experiment and be consistant and you will find a way.