Changing a Habit

[Readz]

Hi Folks well all your advice to date has been really helpful and we feel much more confident looking after Earl and making sure he is a happy chappy.

 

Still having a bit of a problem in him seeking attention and what he has the constant habit of doing is clawing the side of one of his metal bowls or the side of his cage over and over again when he wants to come out of his cage.( he is in a really large cage with toys etc).Apart from the noise driving us mad I am bothered that he will be making his foot sore and getting stressed.

Tactics adopted so far to try to get him to stop are:

1. Going into another room and ignoring him

2. Playing with the toys in his cage to distract him

3. Giving him his favourite food

4. In the evening putting his cover over him so he has an early bedtime

 

ANy other suggestions would be most welcome please

[Guest Lidia]

It is quite natural for him to want to be out of the cage when you're around. Perhaps you should let him out? He is feeling left out when you're all able to wander freely, but he isn't.

[judygram]

So true, Lidia, they like to be out when the rest of their flock is out and about in the house, so let him out to enjoy the company. It does not mean you have to hold him or play with him just let him hang out on top of the cage or on a playstand if you have one. They seek to be with us, to feel a part of the family and the action going on around them.

[Guest briansmum]

i agree with judy and lidia let him out with you, but if you are buzzing about and are too busy to supervise him properly then the best thing to do would be to ignore the behaviour as he will learn that chewing the bowl and making a noise gets you to come and interact with him. if you do no come, eventually he'll realise it doesnt work, get bored and play with his toys instead.

 

but i would stress that if your not busy let him out with you, be careful though not to let him out as soon as he bangs because then he will learn that that gets him out.

 

for example, when my grey is doing his "let me out" behaviour i ignore it, wait till he calms down and then ask him if he wants to come out, usually takes him 10 mins or so to realise im not going to let him out when he's throwing a tantrum. this tends to only happen on a morning

[Talon]

I agree with the others, if you're home, why not let him out, to just hang out! That's all he wants is to be a part of the family.

[Readz]

Thanks - good points from you all but surely there are times when it is safer for earl to be in his cage, while in the room with us. Our kitchen is adjoining the dinning room where Earl is situated so while we are cooking or when we need to clean say sink area (bleach)he has to stay in his cage. We are both getting quite upset about his clawing, it really is a habit we want to stop. I recal the breeder we got him from saying he does this (he callled digging) i now realise the habit was formed before we got him.

 

thanks again folks you reall are a great help.

 

Alan / Chris & Earl :-)