what do i do?

[greystar]

a few hours ago i was gettingt Star out of his cage and placed him outside the cage, beside me. Anyway, i just moved a little away from him, Suddenly he flew up towards me and decided to change direction, went up and hit the wall and flew towards the glass garden door and landed. I managed to convince him back to the cage with some oranges. i examined him , to see if there was any bleeding but thank God there wasn't any.

 

I really dont want him to do this again, fly and bang his head. I called my vet he said, best thing is wing clipping , but i am believe that all birds should fly and i dont want Star to have a bad experience, too.

 

I really need help, Star understands the step up command on my arm ,but i have to tempt him with oranges with my free one, is this right?

 

Can you gret lovers help, has this happened to you with your babies?

 

thanks

[Jane08]

This is very common with babies, ours had a few accidents hitting windows, misjudging a flight and making a crash landing. It's no reason to clip a bird as very shortly Star will learn to control his body and then you will amazed at the things he can do and these accidents will be very rare.

 

One thing is when they have a crash is not to run over to them flapping, upset and grabbing them. This will make things worse. Try to stay calm.

 

This is no problem tempting him with an orange, a reward for stepping up is a good way to teach them.

[greystar]

thanks Jane08 , i felt relieved :laugh: , but if Star does it again i should just remain calm , but i guess i am just scared he might hurt himslef... when do they normally get the hang of flying ?

[Eckobird]

I agree with Jane, there is no reason for you to clip his wings. He will learn how to fly very good. How old is he? Ecko is 6 months old and he can fly very good but he still doesn't fly perfect, he used to crash but now he hardly ever crashes. You should put stickers on the glass door so Star knows that something is there in case he does it again.

[greystar]

hi caitb2007 , star is six months old, and after his crash landing ( since its his first time ) he doent let me bring hom out of his cage even if i have his favourite treat. I even leave his treat infont of his cage, assuming he is scared of me , coz of what happened but still he wont go out of his cage...

 

How can i get him out of his cage?, Star has only been with me 4 days and a half.

 

How did Ecko try his frist flying steps? what do you do ? do you just let him out on his own will or do you do the step up?

 

Thanks

[Eckobird]

Oh Star won't step up to you? What is he doing, biting you? He is still getting use to you, its only been 4 days you gotta give a lot more time, it can take months for them to really feel at home. He is also probably very scared from the crash, he might also be blaming you for it but he should get over it. Ecko never gives me problems about stepping up, especially from his cage. He is always anxious to get out of his cage, he always flies around when he first gets out. When he first flew it was only a couple of feet but he would practice a lot to get better. He would hold onto the rug and flap flap flap. One day he let go and took off flying. He got better and better at it as the days went by.

[chimaysmommy]

He's probably feeling a bit apprehensive after his crash...he doesn't understand what happened or why, plus his surroundings aren't completely familiar yet. If he won't come out of his cage, don't force it. You can sit in front of the cage with the door open and just talk to him, maybe give him treats inside the cage with no expectation of stepping up or coming out. Eventually he'll get his bearings again and come out of the cage.

 

Bribes of food/treat in exchange for a step up is just fine...ha ha. When Chimay is in the midst of exploration in the apartment and I need him to step up he doesn't always want to comply so I do bribe him with a pine nut. He's just having too much fun and doesn't want to stop his exploring.

 

As far as the crash landings go, they will happen as Star gets the hang of flying and landing successfully. Chimay came to us clipped from our breeder, and we are allowing his flights to grow back (I never intended for him to be clipped). We've had several crash landings, but even clipped he is still learning to "glide" very well. He even made a successful perch-type-landing on our apartment stairs railing! It will come, but in the meantime I agree with Caitlin--stickies on the windows to help him realize that there is a window in the way and any other precaution you can take to ensure his safety as he's learning to fly well.

[JillyBeanz]

We used to keep the blinds and curtains drawn until Harvey realised it wasn't such a good idea to fly into them. The breeder had promised that they were like "helicopters" and could judge their landings brilliantly. Like you, we had a few near misses, Harvey's not clipped and I don't intend getting him clipped. He learned really quickly that flying into the window wasn't a good idea - and like the breeder said - a helicopter he is!

[danmcq]

The others all gave good advice and comments.

 

Just leave the cage door open and let him explore and learn the lay-out of your home, good perching places, bad perching places (like lamps that will fall over) and how to gain good fight control and coordination.

 

He will get over the crashing and also the distrust of you soon. Babies are very resilient and adaptive. Relax and enjoy you new Grey! :-)

[Luvparrots]

Relax you have only had Star a short time. I'm sure he is just regrouping and getting use to his new surroundings. When I got my Ana Grey at 4 months old, I took her around to all the windows, glass doors and mirrors and just tapped them so she could see that they were solid. I also have decals on my patio door and larger windows. I occasionally remind her of the windows once in awhile. Leave the cage door open and sit down and talk to Star, he'll get curious and come out, just wait and see. You are going to be a great parront, just be patient.