How can I get her out of her cage?

[Aly~]

What is the safest way to get a bird out of a cage, when said bird refuses to come out?

 

and she really means business when she says "nooo"!!

[Dave007]

How old is she?

How long have you owned her?

If an adult, how many homes has she lived in?

Will she come out on her own when she feels like it?

Does she bite you when yo put your hand in cage?

Do you put hands in to give seed and water?

[Aly~]

I was told that she is 2 years old.

 

 

She really doesn;t come out of her cage on her own. I go in and open the door for her, but she stays in there and plays with her toys.

 

I've only had her for a couple of weeks, at first she stepped up all the time and rode around on my shoulder ot sat on her perch in the kitchen. Now all of a sudden she's JAWS. I do put my hands in there to give her water and she eats out of my hands, but I have to admit that I'm a little beak shy about telling her to step up right now. She's bites and then says "OUCH". Based on what I've read, I try to avoid any song and ouchy dance in front of her. It's just been this past week that she's being nasty. I thought I would try the perch thing to get her out, but she was having none of that. She pushed it away with her head, attacked at it, and told me "no". I sit with her with the cage open and hold my finger up to her as close as I can, when she stops her show I tell her good girl and give her a bite of wheat toast with organic PB (her favorite stuff).

 

She has a vet appt on Friday. I have to get her out of the cage by then. I'm afraid that that is gonna make it worse (not so nice experience when she comes out.)

 

Any ideas???

 

Aly~

[danmcq]

A few things you should know.

 

The week long honeymoon is over.

 

Your new Grey is in what some call the the "Terrible Two's", yes just like a human child. :-) Testing all the boundaries and going bonkers at times.

 

Your Grey has come to you with baggage from the previous home. They reacted to bites by yelling OUCH and NO. This got a BIG FUN reaction out of the Grey and it continues doing it for the reaction.

 

You need to ensure you do not continue this reaction. You are probably getting familiar with his body language, eyes pinning and the best indicator of whether their going to step up or not is lifting and placing their foot forward BEFORE you ever get your hand that close. Note I said hand. Do not have one finger sticking out that they can easily bite severely. Use your hand balled up tight and go towards him with the back of your hand and tell him step up as your hand goes in the cage. If he lifts his foot, keep going, if not say step up a few more times and continue slowly with your fisted hand. he may try to bite the back of it, but can not due to it being drawn tight. Push your hand through under him so he MUST step up. Praise him with lots of high pitched happy excited GOOD BOY's.

 

It may take a few times, but he will learn You are not the old person and that he needs to start learning new ground rules of YOUR flock. :-)

 

Do not use the stick-perch. he obviously does not like that.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. I'm sure Dave and others will come in with very good suggestions also.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/09/16 20:50

[Dave007]

Many phases are going on from what you say and you should expect them quite often until she's totally comfortable in her new home and with you and how you are and what your habits are. To make you feel better, I can say that 2 weeks is NOTHING as far as a grey getting used to things, especialy a CAG. Forget the dancing and song around her. Do a lot of taling. Have one way coversations with her. Make sure she's constantly in the middle of what's going on in your house.

"" Now all of a sudden she's JAWS.""

Forget about doing that for a while until she shows signs of regularity and her habits seem consistant. That takes a while. Feed her from outside the cage

"""It's just been this past week that she's being nasty. """""

Phase, phase, phase. It'll stop soon enough. The more you ignore her, the more curious the bird will get. They don't like being ignored.

Understand something, the age of your bird means that it has some habits that you still don't know about. They had to develop somewhere.

You may have to take into consideration that she may be coming up on a hormonal stage and females are much more aggressive than males when that time comes.

 

Does she like treats? Bribe her out of the cage on vet day and close cage door. You may have to use a perch to get her out but it's a one time visit to the vet. When she comes home things can get back to the way it was. Most importantly, it's the age and you'll need to learn a few more things about the bird. Others here have similar problems and tricks that they use.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/09/16 20:59

[Aly~]

She's only gotten me twice and I bit my tongue and left the room to shake my hand and swear under my breath. When I first got her, I went through these forums and soaked in as much info as I could. I'm glad I read that I shouldn't be her clown when she makes bad decisions and bites!! If she evens pecks at me like she's gonna be nasty, I turn away from her for a few minutes.

 

If however, I can't get her to step up. How can I get her safely out of the cage? Can I use a towel to grab her and do I put it completely over her. I'm not looking to stress the creature out. I really don't want to cancel her appt. she's new to me and I really want to know that she's healthy. I did recently change her food (not completely), she still gets some seed just not as much. The previous owners were only feeding her seed and pizza, as far as I can tell. Her main bowl is now pellet (plain and fruity mixed in). Her side bowl is her beloved seed, but I put a paper plate over it so she has to work to get to it.

 

Am I changing things to quickly. I don't really think she ever had to work for food before. When I got her she had a few small plastic toys hanging in her cage, now she has lots of different things to pluck and play with. Too much to soon??

 

Thanks a bunch for all of the advice.

 

Aly~

[Dave007]

Yes, you can use a towel too. Yes, put it over her. Right now, you can't worry about the stress. It's a one time deal.

 

"""The previous owners were only feeding her seed and pizza,"""

 

The bird is Italian?

 

""Am I changing things to quickly.""

 

Maybe , maybe not but do things slowly. Dan makes an excellent point about the *terrible twos*. They can be SOBs right now. Just take your time. Everyone here will tell you that time was extremely important and many people will tell you that they got older birds that had to be dealt with in a different way.

[Aly~]

I believe she is Italian mafia.....she shoots everything. I hear gun sounds from her all the time.... "commere dog.....shooting sound"..."gimme that...shooting sound"..."here kitty kitty.....shooting sound"

 

She really is a sweet, very entertaining bird. She loves to talk, on her terms. When my sister comes over she barely says hello. When no one is around she has phone conversations by herself. I sit in my rooms and laugh constantly at the things she comes up with. She makes the ringing noise, and then answers herself with a "hello", then you hear, alright...ok...see ya later...

 

I suppose if I got through my own childs terrible 2's, I can handle a birds, right??

 

Aly~

[danmcq]

Aly~ wrote:

I suppose if I got through my own childs terrible 2's, I can handle a birds, right??

Aly~

 

Indeed!!

 

Your discription of her correctly applying the shooting sounds is hilarious. What a character!! :laugh:

[Aly~]

We had a really good evening. I took the laptop in her room and stayed in there and played games with fun noises. She did come out of her cage and seemed to be in a much better mood. I didn't force the issue of picking her up, just chatted with her and watched her play around. She was very curious about what I was doing, but I left it for her to decide if she wanted to venture farther out of her cage. We'll see how it goes. Maybe she'll be out of her bad mood by tomorrow and things will go smooth getting her to the vet.

 

Thanks for all of your advice. I'll get some pictures up soon of the little booger!!

 

Aly~

[Char]

Have you thought about leaving her food outside the cage on the day you want to take her to the vet? When she comes out to eat..close the cage and don't let her back in. It will be much easier to towel her or get her to step up on a perch if she is on top of the cage. Have you tried to lure her with an almond. Mine will only respond to strangers if they have an almond. No other treat works but she will take an almond from anyone.

[jessdecutie18]

Char wrote:

Mine will only respond to strangers if they have an almond. No other treat works but she will take an almond from anyone.

 

That's how Yoshi is with Pistachios, lol. So will be your best friend while your giving her those, no matter who you are

[Aly~]

No, but only becasue I don't let her out when I'm not home. I will be leaving work a few hours early tho, so I can do that when I get home. She has a play gym on the top of her cage. I'd never reach her up there. I do plan to take it off tho. I'm not yet ready for her to be up higher than me. She doesn't really like it anyway. When she does come out, she either sits on the open door, or climbs to the bottom to terrorize the cats as they go by. I'm crossing my fingers that she was just in a mood and she'll be ready for my company again soon.

 

I thought she was starting to pluck her feathers when I first got her. Now I'm not sure if it's plucking, molting or over preening. Molting might cause her attitude right??

[Char]

Yes, molting will cause an attitude. If I were you I would do some step up excercises with her. Now that the honeymoon stage is over she will be testing you to see what she can get by with. Work with her away from the cage. Start by putting her on the floor and ask her to step up. Just keep doing the step up over for about 5 or 10 mins. This will reinforce to her that you are in charge.

 

You will get conflicting opinions about this but my opinion is that if you ask her to step up and she bites then you walk away..she will bite everytime she wants you to go away. You will in effect train her (or someone else has) to bite when she does not want to be bothered. Birds basically bite for 2 reasons..out of fear and because they have been trained to bite as in if you return a bird to it's cage (beloved home) when it bites, it will bite you in order to be returned to the cage.

 

There is a lot of info on here about biting. Do a forum search and some good info will go into more detail.

 

Greys do not like change and it is going to take her a long time to settle in and really be comfortable with you. Give her some space, time, patience and lots of love and you will be rewarded. My husband and I have been seperated for 10 months and we recently reconciled. He adores Whisper and lavishes treats on her and talks to her all the time. She will take the treats but will not step up for him. When he asks she just looks at him. If he persists then she bites him. It has been 3 weeks and he still cannot touch her. He is hurt and impatient but I keep telling him it is going to take a long time. She is bonded to me just as your Grey was bonded to the previous owner. It is going to take her some time to get over her previous bond and bond with you.

Also the height dominace thing is not so much an issue if at all with Greys as it is with other parrots.

Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/09/17 19:29

 

Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/09/17 19:31<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/09/17 19:33

[SamsDad]

From you description of her behavior its my opinion (note the word) that things will work out just fine. When I first brough Sam home he was wonderful and would step up for anyone - for two weeks. Then it was time for Sam to try to take charge. I just stopped trying to pick him up for a while and worked on seducing him. I spent time close to his cage, talked to him a lot, gave him treats and got him hooked on attention. Then one evening he was out of his cage, on the corner closest to me leaning waaaaaaaaaay out toward me, lifting his wings like he wanted to fly over to me. I walked up, said step-up and it was good from there. Of course Sam was young and well adjusted, so he's been easy, but I think the key is seduction. Get them "hooked" on you. A decently adjusted bird will react to positve attention by wanting to become a member of your flock. A bird with bad habits or was abused can be a tougher nut to crack but this doesn't sound like your bird. It just takes time to become friends and to build trust.

 

Don't worry too much about "toweling". Despite Sam's wonderful nature I have to towel him to do his nails. He'll stay mad at me for a few hours but things return to normal because we are good friends. Last time I did it and returned him to his cage he puffed up like a pine cone, lashed out at, stiking at my hands while saying in a VERY firm voice: "NO NO NO!". Later that evening it was cuddle time again.

 

Like any strong relationship it can weather a few tough times. Toweling you bird won't make her hate you if its infrequent and you treat her well the rest of the time. For a new bird it may set back the trust level temporarily, but you can rebuild it back with patience and compassion. Just be aware that when you put the towel over the bird she may end up hanging on to her perch/bars with a death grip. Try to stay calm as possible, talk softly and watch for that beak working its way out of the towel. Maybe a second person could work on getting the talons lose. I make sure the towel is folded over so its nice and thick. Those beaks can hurt fingers if there' isn't enough padding.

 

My first grey was a wild caught Timneh that screamed when you got within 3 feet of his cage. It took time, lots of time, but I slowly seduced him with attention and treats, and he eventually became a cuddly bird (your mileage may vary)

 

Finally - hahahaha, if you think getting her OUT of her cage is hard... wait until she discovers it great to be out. Then its time to figure how to get her back IN! :pinch:

 

Good luck and please let us know how the vet visit goes.

 

Tom

[Aly~]

Thank to EVERYONE for all of the responses and ideas. We did survive the vet and everyone there loved her. I had no trouble at all getting her to the vet. Her mood was a little better. He's the scoop for anyone interested in our adventure:

 

First, I had to go shopping for something to transport the little booger in. PETCO is the only place we have in my WV town and it's new. So, i'm looking at all the little cages wondering how I can possible get her IN one of them. I settled on a large enough "inside" for her keet cage. We won't be using the normal doors tho. Pop the entire cage off the bottom and there you have it, instant travel carrier.

 

OK, getting her in the little keet cage was gonna be the fun part. I was planning to coax her out of her cage and while she was sitting on the door to her home, just pop the top over her thinking she'll climb up the bars of the little cage and then I'd just set it down on the bottom and click in it place. Wha La....Grey in a cage......

 

Uhmmmm, no!! With a perch in the keet cage it was not as quick as we thought. The good thing is, she loved the game and wasn't at all afraid that I was trying to "trap" her.

 

Moving on to Plan B....We put the bottom of the keet cage at her doorway half in and half out. Rebel is a curious little thing and with all the treats in there, she had to have a look and a little munch. She picked at the sides, reached for the goodies, but refused to take both feet off of her cage. She has a good reach for a bird!! Finally she felt comfy enough to step on the bottom of the little cage and get her goodies. I talked nice to her, picked up the bottom with her on it, set it on the table and simply set the top on her and clicked her in. NOT ONE PROTEST, she steped up on the perch and gave me a look like "what now?"

 

Of course we've done this an hour early (I thought I'd need the extra time to get the vicious birdie out). So I thought, we'll make this a positive experience and go outside and play. The weather was great, so she got to sit on the porch and talk to everyone who would listen. I'm hoping she'll look at the little cage in the future as outside time and not Vet time.

 

Everyone at the vet ooo'ed and ahhh'ed over her and she was just as nice as can be. We go into the examination room, and I set the cage up on the table. The Doctor starts asking me the normal questions and I ask a few back. My daughter (the smartypants) chimes in (with everyone in the room admiring the bird) "I keep saying she needs a bigger cage for her" Some of the looks of disbelief that I got were pretty funny, so I walked over, opened the TINY cage door and said, I stuffed her in there you guys get her out. One girl thought I was serious and started to put her hand in to get her out. No way would she fit out of that door. I said I'm kidding and popped the top off.

 

Now, here is where I am glad that I did not have to use a towel to get her. They did that to flip her over and check her out. I have never heard such sceaming and carrying on. That would have terrified me. I thought they were killing the poor bird.

 

All in all she is a fat healthy bird. Apparently I am doing all the right things so far and she'll settle down eventually.

 

SamsDad: I have done exactly what you described and it's amazing how they hate to be ignored. I walk in, chat with her in a calm I don't care if you like me or not attitude and now she's jumping on the bars and practically begging me to take her out. As soon as I walk in the room that little foot goes up. Last night I heard "help...help", I walked back and there she sat with her foot up "let me out" I laughed and said maybe tomorrow. I really would have let her out, but I was cleaning and didn't want her hanging around the windex and clorox clean up.

 

Thanks again for all the advice. I think I'll hang out around here for a while.

 

Aly~

and her Funny Little Rebellious Grey

[judygram]

I'm so glad it worked out well for you when taking her to the vet, you thought about it and came up with a solution and it worked for you. I think we are going to be hearing more good news from you soon as you two get to know each other better.

[Luvparrots]

Glad to hear that your grey's vet visit was a success and that she is healthy. Can't wait to hear how things go as your fid gets more comfortable with you.

[Char]

I am thrilled that everything went so well. It sounds like you two are working things out just fine.