Problem with getting grey in her cage

[Mag1105]

Hi all,

I have a 10 month old grey , we have had her since 12 weeks . She is very much a mummy's girl though she does love her dad aswell .

The last cOuple of Months I've had a problem with being able to get her to step up or even coming to me. She will come on me in the morning for at least a couple of hours trying to kiss and cuddle me in fact won't leave me alone she is very affectionate , on a night after about half 9 / 10 she will come and have cuddles again . In between this time she will not come to me , she will actively fly away from me which makes it quite hard to put her away if I have to go out , it's also stressful for her being put away as it takes quite a while too. I have tried offering her favourite foods but that dosent work.

I'm thinking it's because I'm the one who puts her away that that's the reason she won't come to me , but then she stays with me all morning and at night it's just the time in-between , I always put her away at night thought so if it's fear of being put away I don't understand why she comes to me at night but not during the day ?

 

Sorry for the long post , is there any way of me gaining her confidence during the day or any less stressful ways of getting her to come to me if I need to Put her back into her cage?

Thanks for any replies

[Timbersmom]

Just a few thoughts from a newbie here. Someone with more experience will come along and add more info or correct any errors I make... From my personal experience, Timber (TAG) is very cuddly at bedtime. Birds run on a sunup to sundown schedule, so when I say bedtime I'm talking about sundown. I think you are right about her flying from you because she doesn't want to go in. Timber wants to be out as much as possible and tries to avoid going back in his cage. I haven't found a really good way to get him in quickly. I have to coax and cajole him. I am just now getting him to step up, and as the folks here told me, I'm trying to make the step up a good thing for him, not the negative of being put back in his cage. My schedule with work and bedtime is pretty rigid, so I just leave extra time to get him back in the cage. Hopefully someone will come along with an idea that will help us both!

[danmcq]

It is an issue getting flighted grey's many times in their cage at bedtime. They can just fly off when they know you are coming to get and put them to bed. I know how exasperating it can become and sometimes having to towel them.

 

This where where we need to use the night time scratching or just kicking back ritual many greys do at night when just kicking back perhaps watching tv with the family. What works for us, is while our grey is in that kick back mode, we have him step up on our hand or arm while still sitting which is something we do at various times of the day to just lift him up and talk to him or move him to our shoulder for example. So it is a practice he has come to just do. However, when it's bedtime as he steps on to our hand or arm, we pull him in towards our body while at the same time bring our other hand around from behind and gently cup the hand over his wings so he cannot fly off. Then we just softly talk to him as we get up and walk to his cage, place him in it and do our night-night ritual with kisses and good nights etc.

 

I will say, every once in a while he realizes we are about to go to bed and will fly from whomever he is sitting on to the tee stand we have in our living room. Then start eating some pellets or seeds. As he does so, we just walk to him and sometimes coax / force a step up on to our arm and cup his back/wings as already described above. It takes some practice at first, but you'll get the hang of it quickly. Then it is no longer drama time for you or your bird.

Edited August 10, 2012 by danmcq

[Elvenking]

Hi all,

I have a 10 month old grey , we have had her since 12 weeks . She is very much a mummy's girl though she does love her dad aswell .

The last cOuple of Months I've had a problem with being able to get her to step up or even coming to me. She will come on me in the morning for at least a couple of hours trying to kiss and cuddle me in fact won't leave me alone she is very affectionate , on a night after about half 9 / 10 she will come and have cuddles again . In between this time she will not come to me , she will actively fly away from me which makes it quite hard to put her away if I have to go out , it's also stressful for her being put away as it takes quite a while too. I have tried offering her favourite foods but that dosent work.

I'm thinking it's because I'm the one who puts her away that that's the reason she won't come to me , but then she stays with me all morning and at night it's just the time in-between , I always put her away at night thought so if it's fear of being put away I don't understand why she comes to me at night but not during the day ?

 

Sorry for the long post , is there any way of me gaining her confidence during the day or any less stressful ways of getting her to come to me if I need to Put her back into her cage?

Thanks for any replies

 

 

LOL...a common issue with flying Greys as far as I have seen. This is a neat one. Let me tell you what I do. This is one of those things where, the harder you try, the more you defeat yourself. With Isaac, I simply try and try again for 5 minutes, talking to him and explaining to him that it is indeed time to go in the cage and that I will be back to let him out later to fly more. Without fail, somwhere in the course of 5 minutes, he gives up and allows me to place him on his perch in his cage. So if you can plan your departures 5 minutes early, I would say give this a shot.

 

The other method that I used would be to cup one hand over Isaac's back so he could not bolt. These days though, somehow he knows when I am coming in to give a hand hug or a pet versus a cupped hand to put him away. He can dodge that move like a pro now. So I continue to have to do the little ritual with him. All that said, patience is the most peaceful way to achieve it with Issac.

 

As a note, it may take a bit of practice. The thing would be to make sure you let him know that you don't give up on the efforts to put him away. To stop in the middle will let him know that there are things he can do to resist this.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Elvenking

[Talon]

I have an entire thread in the amazon room as my amazon would fight me every night to go to bed. There were many ideas that worked! Check it out!!

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Now remember, we all have the right to voice our opinions.I am not voicing my opinion to experienced owners.We all know how we feel.I am offering my OPINION to newbies.

We can agree, or disagree.

Stepup, is VERY important. So is stepdown. As far as bedtime, it is important to establish bedtime each night. Whether you choose to cover the cage, is your choice. I don't treat my birds like a " flock". I believe that I am their flight leader, and make the final choices for them. They have input, and I know what they desire, and take their input very seriously.I make the final decision in our home. We have " open cage belief", but it doesn't work if everyone does their own thing. I put that out there, but don't want to be attacked for what we do. It works for us. I'm sure, others have ideas that work for them. Nancy