Lola does not want to go back in her cage!!

[Silverthorn]

Hello!

 

I introduced myself a while ago with our new baby Lola! (Will post some up to date pictures this afternoon) She's been with us now a little over 4 months and she is delightful (most of the time, ha!)! She has taken to my partner Neil more so than myself but we get along fine generally, except for a couple of particular times of the day when it's time to go back in the cage!!

 

I bet your all thinking we have heard it so many times but i'm still new to this so i'm after some advice to make going back in the cage a less stressful time for Lola and me! She's quite happy to go back in for Neil 9 times out of 10 but when it's my turn it's like she has a sixth sense of what's coming and will fly away before i'm even near her! The only thing that will usually work for me is when she's sitting on her swing and i can sometimes remove it and pop her and the swing back in the cage, though i think she's becoming wise to this as it's working less and less! Usually by this point then she will fly to the curtain rail where i cannot reach without a step ladder (i'm not very tall) and sulk.

 

So if anybody has any advice or could point out what i may be doing wrong i would much appreciate it!

 

I hope i have posted this in the right section!

[judygram]

Sometimes a preferred treat works well to entice a reluctant grey to return to their cage, be sure to let her see you put it in her cage.

[Momo]

hi silverthron,

mmm how many hours you let her out of cage?and how is the cage?its suppose to be big enough and interest them when they are inside their cage

and who mostly put her inside her cage?if its always you,i think she decide that when its your turn to step up her,it means to be lock inside cage.

because now she decide when you make her step up it means to locked,try to change this idea.why you dont try to make coming back inside cage like a game?

like you put her inside cage,give her treat and make her out again.do this many times and maybe she wont realize its a game time or its time to be locked.

 

honestly what i do to momo is only 'food management'.he is out from 10am-10pm.so around 7pm i take his bowl out(before he takes his dinner) and around 9pm i put the bowl again.he will come back with pleasure because he need to eat.one hour after dinner he will be put for sleep.

now he learn step up and just like you,its bit difficult to put him inside cage.he is clip from the first owner so he cant fly but he can jump to runaway from me when i handle him to cage.usually they open their wing before fly/jump so you need to put palm hand on their body.with this they wont jump.

and if its very difficult to make her step up,offer your hand and attract her with you other hand-fastly press her stomach and she will step up.

good luck,im not an expert but this work for me

[Silverthorn]

She usually has an hour or so in the morning then when we are back from work then has most of the evening out from about 3-4pm onwards till 10pm (sometimes neil is home at lunchtime so he let's her out then too for an hour), on the weekends she will be out a lot earlier in the afternoon as we are home. We try to maximise her out time when we are home as we both work all day in the week! We rotate the toys and perches she has in her cage from time to time to make sure she doesn't get bored, and we do introduce new toys slowly before putting them in the cage to make sure she isn't afraid of them! With regards to who puts her back we do try to vary it so it's not just one of us that gets her out and the other that puts her in!

 

She is very good with her stepping up and will always do that but when it come to putting her away she will use me as a platform to leap straight off and fly away as soon as she steps up!

 

I realise i have a lot of work to do with her and i know that it's my own fault we have got into this pattern of behaviour so just need to break that habit and work through it! I'll try what you have both suggested so far and let you know how we get on!

[Momo]

mmm i guess you need to palm you hand on the bird's back while you bring her to cage so she cant fly.

thats the only way that works for my momo ,if he start wants to jump i fastly palm his back so he cant do that.

good luck!!

[jenlap]

Momo makes a good point about the "food management" technique.

 

Shiner girl started to get into that phase and would start to run from me when I tried to pick her up because she thought it was "cage time". Since then, Ive changed my method. During her afternoon outings I would let her wonder the house as she wishes (with water, without food) and when it is time to go back, she will have her dinner waiting for her and usually goes back quite nicely.

 

A factor that might play into this, I started to only let her out when she stepped up on my hand. If she threw a fit, I would wait a minute or two and try again. Same for going back in the cage, I will place her back in instead of letting her to walk back in herself to eat This seems to have taught her that my hand allows for freedom and, also, a buffet of food.