Having issues with Murphy & his cage time.

[reggieroo]

For some time now I have been having some problems getting Murphy out of his cage at certain times of the day. Murphy is now nearly 10 months old.

 

A typical day goes a little something like this.

 

First thing in the morning I go to the cage & uncover him, he gets tickles through the bars & a morning chat " how are you?" etc etc. I then open the door offer up my hand with the step up command & on he goes, no problem at all.

 

He then stays out a while whilst I give my Daughter her breakfast & feed myself & Murphy. Then comes time for my shower, my 11 month old daughter goes in her cot & Murphy goes back to his cage (except Wed & Sat when he joins me for a shower). Well this is where all the trouble begins!

 

I ask him to step up & he flies off, at this point he starts to give me the runaround round the house. Every Time I ask him to step up off he goes, I then go to where he has landed & it happens again. Eventually he gets tired & steps up while kinda squeaking baby type noises, I get the feeling that they are upset, anxious type noises but not very loud at all.

 

I then put him in his cage while speaking to him, trying to reassure I that I'm not locking him away for ever & ever. I sometimes spend a few minutes asking for tickles but get no response.

 

When I get out the shower, I go to get him back out at which point I have more problems. He just hops away from perch to perch frantically trying to get away from my hand as if he's afraid of it. If I try & persist he just starts thrashing about the cage so I have to leave him be. I close the door back up & walk off, followed by him screaming/shrieking & pacing round his cage very anxious & nervous looking.

 

It sometimes take hours & hours before he lets me get him back out. I try several times with no luck as I don't want to leave him in his cage & he seems like he wants to come out but every time I stick my hand in he doesn't want to know. I could leave the door open but I want him to step up on my hand or this could just get worse him not stepping up from the cage.

 

I wondered does he associate my hand as a bad hand for putting him back in when I go for my shower? But why Doe's he seem scared of it when he comes out no problem first thing in the morning? I have also not use timeouts in the cage as he has always had a problem being in his cage & thought that would make it worse.

 

He has never liked being in his cage, maybe because from day one he has the freedom of the house except at night when it's bed time or when I can't supervise him. Also the only time he screams & shrieks is when in his cage with the door closed.

 

Murphy really seems to hate being in his cage. Biting has also got worse, see my other thread.

Edited September 23, 2010 by reggieroo

[Georgiesmum]

I really sorry to hear this it must be upsetting for you. I don't have any answers for you But im looking forward to hearing what the others have to say... It cant be that he is afraid of your hand if he's ok with it first thing in the morning surely. Hope you get problem sorted soon x

[Birdnut]

How do things go on the days he joins you for the shower?

[Elvenking]

Hey there. Issac does sometimes give me the run-around when I try to put him back in his cage...but I can assure you that he never has a problem coming out. But i keep a regular schedule. So i ask, why don't you let him come to the shower every day. I do for Issac. Maybe its the irregularity of the situation that throws him off. Also, if he won;t come out on your hand, leave the door open and see if he comes out on his own. Try not to get upset if he doesn't come onto your hand. Give him way to handle things his way. Hope this helps a little.

 

One other thing about biting. If Issac ever bites, I am going away that moment. I say, "Okay okay I'm Sorry" and just back off. I don't make him do anything I really don't need him to do and give him space right there. Most of the times, he will just put his beak around my finger or hand lightly, and push it away...most of the time I get the message right there and never come close to getting bites. If somehow i miss the signals, he will step it up and to a quick yet harmless clamp down on my finger. If I don't get it by then, I deserve what happens next. I make no assumptions about how you handle Murphy, just tell you how I work around Issac's personality. How much out-of-cage time a day for Murphy?

Edited September 23, 2010 by Elvenking

[reggieroo]

On a shower day for example when I don't put him back in, he's fine up until the point that I do have to put him back for something else. He pretty much is out of his cage all day unless I'm either not in, which is rare or outside doing some jobs. Well I say all day, that was the case before we had these problems which have been going on for weeks now. So now Murphy is stuck in his cage at times because of the issue when he would normally be out with me.

 

It's not just when I go in the shower we have the issue, that was just an example. It's anytime I have to put him back in his cage for whatever reason. It could be something as simple as going out the back door to put the rubbish out. The thing is I can't leave him unattended at anytime so if have to do something where Murphy can't be with me then he has to go back in his cage. The other day I left him for two minutes on his living room stand while I went to wash up, came back he was on the leather sofa chewing it up! :mad:

Edited September 23, 2010 by reggieroo

[Elvenking]

Humm....yeah I guess this is where the personality divergence shows. Issac will get me to chase him around when it's time. But I always find a way to get him to perch somewhere where I can get one hand under his feet and one over his back. At that point he knows he is going in and no longer puts up a fuss. Maybe someone who has had a similar problem will chime in. The only other thing I can add is that I do praise Issac greatly when he complies with cage time. For some reason, when i am out of the room, Issac doesn't seem to want to do anything other than three particular things. Follow me, preen, or play with his toys. I know going outside a little more risky and I have to put him in his cage most of the times for that. If I do leave him out for a quick walk to the garbage, he just peers out the window, waiting for my return. I will often just postpone things that require me to go outside (like taking out the trash) until I am leaving the house. I make a lot of adjustments myself to compensate for his behaviors and it seems to have righted itself over time.

 

Do you ever praise him for returning to his cage, give him a treat for it?

[reggieroo]

Yes I give him treats quite often when he does good things. I try all the praise/treats (positive reinforcement) when good things happen. It's funny he returns to his cage under his own steam when he wants to eat etc. I see him take off from his stand & go to his cage & stuff his face for 20 minutes or so.

[Elvenking]

It's amazing, there just can be no telling what is goin on in that little head sometimes. He certainly seems to have his idea of how things should go, and knows how to protest against other ways. Issac lets it be known that he doesn't want to go back into his cage by avoiding sitting on my hand at those times. And he seems to know just when it's going to happen, I am able to play with the triggers sometimes and trick him a little...but he is smart. I get him to step up on my hand and he flys to my shoulder...I bend down to put him down to get him back on my hand..and he flys to a perching place...repeat a couple times and he gives way soon enough. Seems to be a bit more submissive than Murphy. It almost always takes trickery though, except for nights..he seems to be tired enough to just go in his cage nicely.

[danmcq]

Just a wild guess on the cage behavior when you put him back in, then try to take him out again.... He is pissed off!

 

Dayo will act like that as well sometimes when we cage him for times like company came over for an hour or we leave for an hour or two in the middle of the day etc. Half the time he will only come out on his own. We know right away the minute we open the cage door and ask for a step-up. If that foot doesn't rise high in the sky, we just leave the door open and walk away askig him to come on. He will think it over a few minute period, then climb out on his own and then all is as if he was never caged.

 

Maybe try doing the same with Murphy.

[Elvenking]

Yeah....I try to minimize the times that I do not give Issac a choice...my general rule is to give him his way when ever possible. In other words...if I do not have to interact with him and he is obviously standing off with me...I am gone. It is never long before he seeks my companionship again...flying to my shoulder for another ride.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Elvenking

[birdhouse]

Just a wild guess on the cage behavior when you put him back in, then try to take him out again.... He is pissed off!

 

I thought the same thing when I read this. Phenix has taken many, many temper tantrums & this sounds very familiar. LOL Remember, emotionally, they're little kids..."You won't let me stay out...? Well, just see if I'll come out next time you want me to be a nice little bird & step up!" I'm guessing Murphy wants some control, like letting him come out of his cage on his own, as suggested.

 

Also, what you've said about his going to his cage for food? That's different from just going to his cage on his own, for no reason. For a long time I thought how lucky I was that my fids were very happy to play in their own cages sometimes, even when they could be out. But I've had a few birds by now & I suspect my luck can't actually be that good.

 

Maybe it would help to re-invent Muphy's cage. It might help with this power struggle if you found a way to make it a place that was more fun.

Edited September 23, 2010 by birdhouse

[reggieroo]

Just a wild guess on the cage behavior when you put him back in, then try to take him out again.... He is pissed off!

 

Dayo will act like that as well sometimes when we cage him for times like company came over for an hour or we leave for an hour or two in the middle of the day etc. Half the time he will only come out on his own. We know right away the minute we open the cage door and ask for a step-up. If that foot doesn't rise high in the sky, we just leave the door open and walk away askig him to come on. He will think it over a few minute period, then climb out on his own and then all is as if he was never caged.

 

Maybe try doing the same with Murphy.

 

I did think of the obvious that he might be pissed off, but thought no there must be more to it than that. It does seem to be the only explanation that fits, I just thought surly this little parrot can't be that moody!

[birdhouse]

I just thought surly this little parrot can't be that moody!

 

LOL ...oh, yeah. They sure can!

[NikB]

I hope you get to the bottom of this as it must be upsetting for you.

 

With my 2, I can't handle Billy and Echo just wants chased so I pop their favourite treat in and a couple of boxes or shredding toys as this is their favourite activity and 9 times out of 10 they go straight in and are so busy and occupied they don't mind the door being closed. On those other odd ocassions I get Hughie to put Billy in and I tempt Echo to fly to me for a peanut and pop him in.

 

Good luck - they are so clever, sometimes too clever lol

[reggieroo]

Well the issue in the daytime seems to have improved quite a bit. I can now go in the shower, put out the rubbish etc & he will come back out when I offer my hand + the screams have virtually stopped. I have no idea why this daytime situation has got better though, I have not done anything any different.

 

That was the good news but we still have another issue that has been developing in the evenings to a similar thing.

 

At around 6pm every night I feed Murphy his tropical soak mix( his dinner), he goes in his cage for this but as soon as he finishes he starts with the screaming/shrieking thing. Some nights he has to stay in the cage if I'm training in the gym because Kate can't handle him, so for obvious reason he stays in till I get back in around 7.30pm. On the nights I am there, he still ends up staying in his cage most of the time because he is screaming so much & I don't want to teach him that "scream & I'll come fetch you out" Only if he stops screaming will I go get him back out which has become a rare occasion lately. He then goes to bed at 8pm for his 12 hrs sleep.

 

When the screaming goes on he gets completely ignored, except for the odd occasion when we can't stand it anymore & sheet him up early for bed, I'm wondering is this then a reaction to the screaming? Kate suffers from bad migraines & after a hard day at work she really doesn't need it when she gets in from work. Kate arrives home between 5.30-6.00pm always knackered & already stressed out & the last thing she wants to hear.

 

This bird does himself no favours at times, especially with Kate. I'm beginning to question the grey intelligence (well Murphy's anyway), surly he should understand by now that screaming gets you nowhere, we have had a screaming issue with him for 7 months now & have been working on it so hard. When he does good noises (which in my book is anything other than screaming) he gets rewarded with praise or treats. Every time he whistles or attempts speech I talk to him giving him the attention he wants. I actually make a point of doing it even when I can't be bothered to answer him, I just do it to teach him, good noises get you attention, kinda keep up the good work type thing but screaming gets you ignored!