phangtonpower Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) My birdie doesn't want to do anything that we have taught it. I spend all day with him (same room), but he/she is in it's cage most of the day except for showers, outside in a harness for a little bit everyday, and an hour out of his cage before bedtime. The reason birdie is not out more is because I have no idea when my schedule is going to change where I'm not home most of the day and I want him to get used to being in there if I can't be around. As far as that goes, he seems pretty content in his cage when me and my wife aren't home. He will be 4 this year. Until recently, I was able to take him out during his hour before bed and play games like fetch, recall training, etc. Now he doesn't want to do any of the things we were working on with him. Now he just flies around to different areas of the room that we spend our time in chewing everything. Of course I keep an eye on birdie and remove him from the spot where he goes, but it gets tiring. I would love any advice on how to keep birdie interested in things that we have taught it. Edited May 20, 2014 by phangtonpower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 First off, I am not a believer in leaving a bird in it's cage just so it gets used to it....My 3 are out as much as I am home. It is different from day to day. As for your bird "chewing", that's what they do! I have tree stands, perches, everywhere all over my house with toys hanging for them, but they still like to chew my window sills, doors & door frames. They really just want to be with you, but their natural instinct is to chew. You can't change that. They also have a mind of their own and will do what they want when they want. They change a lot over the years, and what they did when they were young, they may not do when they get older. They become more independent and less cuddly. I think you should allow it more out of cage time, and give him lots of family time. YOU may find he will be more willing to interact with you if you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I know it sounds like I want to keep him in his cage all day long, but it's not the case. I would love for him to be out most of the time I'm home, but me and my wife are usually doing things during the day that keep us busy to be able to watch him so he doesn't get into trouble. when we do have time to rest we are never more than 5 feet away from his cage and we I try to interact with him as much as we can. And time out of the cage is not strict to what I described above, but if we let him out, it can only be no more 5-10 mins at a time several times a day. As far as chewing, I know that's what birdie like to do, but I don't want it to be the main focus when I can spend more time with him outside of the cage. Also I live in Japan where luxurious like bird sitters or even proper avian vets don't exists. I had to order a proper sized cage from the states as 12"x12" is over $1000 over here. I have really thought about giving him to a better home, but I don't trust people here as far as animal care goes and we really do love him so much! I contemplated moving back to the states with him to be around my family all day where people can interact with him , but there is ban from birds from Japan entering the US. Japanese would probably not even care to ask these kind of questions because once the cuteness of having an pet/friend wears off, they are set in corner of the house to be forgotten. Please take these things into consideration as living in different countries, sometimes we can't take care of our non human friends like we would like to back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 My parrots are all flighted so I have many perches, boings and toys hanging from my ceilings for them. They also sit on perches/boings in front of windows and corners of my kitchen, etc. They love to follow me around my home and interact with me. It is true that you will not be able to bring your companion back to the USA so perhaps, if you do not have time for him/her you should find a loving home for your birdie. What is your companion's name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 phangtontower... I understand what you are saying. IF... you cannot provide more than ten minutes for your bird to be out of his cage... I suggest you rehome! NOT an attack against you... but greys need to be top priority, and if you can't deliver, you are not being fair to your bird. Sophie is out all the time with her own bird room, and is sent to bed at 8pm. That is story time, and occasionally I miss it when I work late. If I get home late.... she has already put herself to bed, and I miss story time! I apologize the next day... we do " Thomas the tank engine" story which she loves! I am forgiven. Consistency and routine, is very important for a grey. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Yes, I understand your love or or bird, but 5-10 minutes out of his cage at a time? Thats crazy....not enough for any parrot. We all learn to watch our birds while we do other things around the house, it's no different than having a child, you watch them and do what you have to. Also, a 12 x 12 cage is barely big enough for a parakeet. They need room to climb, and exercise their wings. Please get him a bigger cage, yes it's expensive, but you made the decision to home this innocent bird, and he deserves the best care, cage and attention from his family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) What is your companion's name? His name is Peru, shortened to Peko. I have no Idea why they named him Peru when they are supposed to be from Africa phangtontower... I understand what you are saying. IF... you cannot provide more than ten minutes for your bird to be out of his cage... I suggest you rehome! Yes, I understand your love or or bird, but 5-10 minutes out of his cage at a time? Thats crazy....not enough for any parrot. We all learn to watch our birds while we do other things around the house, it's no different than having a child, you watch them and do what you have to. Also, a 12 x 12 cage is barely big enough for a parakeet. They need room to climb, and exercise their wings. Please get him a bigger cage, yes it's expensive, but you made the decision to home this innocent bird, and he deserves the best care, cage and attention from his family. Thank you guys for the replies, but please read the OP and my second post again. First off I never said that we ONLY let Peko out for 5 to 10 mins a day! We let him out everyday for showers, outside in a harness when the weather is nice, and an hour before bed time, which he has separate cage for. Don't think I would have been able to harness train him if I only let him out for 5 to 10 mins a day. we let him out for 5 to 10 mins in between the usual time he is out a few times a day. Also I never said that he lives in 12"x12" cage. I said that it cost about a $1000, slight exaggeration, for that sized cage. We actually ordered a 4'x2'x2' cage for him from the states and with it's 200 pound freight weight, it was still cheaper than any of the offerings they have here. I had to fight for that cage! It was also not my decision to buy the bird. Me and my wife argue all the time because her family decided to buy the bird and nobody will help out and I have become the care taker. We are the only 2 that are able to handle him. Everybody else is scared. This is the attitude of Japanese with their pets. Once the cuteness wears off, it's off to the corner to be forgotten. That's why when we thought of re-homing him, it made us really depressed because who ever cares for him would probably never let him out and have him in a small 12"x12" cage! For gods sake they still have their dogs outside on short leashes all day here! Anyway the point of the post was advice on how we can keep him interested in things we taught him instead of just watching him fly to different spots of the room and me retrieving him. We have perches and ropes around the room, but he would rather fly to spots that we would rather not have fly too. For a while we were teaching recall training, colors and shapes, fetch, but now he wont have any of it Edited May 21, 2014 by phangtonpower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I don't know how to get them back into 'training' mode but if you have problem areas that you don't want the Grey, we use little scary looking stuffed animals: frogs, trolls, etc. Greycie hates those and will not go near anywhere we place one. We use them on fans and where my wife has her decorative candles that Greycie likes to destroy. Otherwise, she's free to fly whereever she wants and that's generally sitting on me or my laptop screen next to me. They do want to be close and I imagine if you lay off the training at times and just allow him/her to be a birdy, they'll end up wanting to be wherever you are. Lots of love and attention is the key around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Actually I do have this gorilla key chain that I use to scare him when he goes somewhere we don't want him too I know they love attention and when we are busy and he is in his cage we still try and interact with him by talking to him, playing peak a boo, and just even looking at him, but when he's out, he wants to go every where except for where his perches are and to us He's also bilingual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Hello phangonpower! It sounds like Peko might be a bit bored with training, and just needs a break. That's natural with all creatures, humans included He's definitely up to mischief, and it may be that at four years old he is feeling a bit frisky and is asserting some independence. There are birds who love to spend tons of time outside of their cages, and others who enjoy and seek quiet time within their cages. Simply because a bird is out of their cage does not mean that their quality of life is enhanced if their people are not frequently interacting with them, or if they don't have other feathered companions. By interacting so frequently with Peko during the day, as well has giving him lots of outdoor time on his harness and regular time out of his cage, his life could certainly be considered better than a bird who is left to fend for itself all day alone while its people are gone. It's easy to see from your original two posts how concerned you are about Peko. One thing, that I wasn't clear on, was if during his evening time out of his cage if that is when you do training time with him? If so, perhaps you might want to vary the time of day a bit. Also are you giving him the same reward every time, or mixing it up? He just may be wanting to "roam" a bit, which would be natural for him at this age as he would be seeking a mate in the wild. If you simply leave his cage door open when you are in the room, will he roam about the outside of his cage and up onto the top of it to play for awhile? This might be the happy middle ground for you both periodically during the day. You also might try going back to basics and giving him something super yummy when you place him on one of his perches, with lots of praise. Make that much more appealing than woodwork, etc. Definitely try the suggestion from Sterling, with regard to the woodwork chewing. As for the training, some days they are in the mood, other days they are not -- just like people. Some days we don't want to "work" we just want to play. Novelty -- it sounds like it could be time for a new trick or some new toys. Would love to hear more about Peko, and to see some photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks for the reply Inara. Yes we usually train him during his time out at night. Sometimes we try change things during the day when we let him out. We kind of gave him different treats when he would do something we liked, but he's gotten tired of everything we've given him. First it was sunflower seeds, then slivered almonds, then peanuts, but now he wont have any of it I totally understand that each bird is an individual and that's the excuse that I given my wife. I was just wondering how others deal with birds that don't want to listen. All I know is that I'm not giving up. Here's a couple pictures. You can kind of see his cage in the background. Here he is outside. He doesn't like the harness much and I don't think he really likes being outside either, but we try to bring him outside as often as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 My Greycie doesn't listen and also doesn't like the harness or being outside much (except in her play cage). She loves hanging out in the kitchen with the cooks! That's a cute pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Also recently birdie loves to fly to one of our shelves and looks inside to explore. I know it's a nesting instinct, and Peko wants to probably nest at this age. I was thinking of building a nesting box to put on the side of his cage, but I don't know if it's a good idea. Any Suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Possible you can put some plastic toys inside the shelf to let him play with? I'll bet he starts tossing the toys - they love hearing stuff crashing to the floor. I'm not sure males go through the nesting routine, I'm betting he's just looking to get into stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 No, don't build a nesting box for a lone bird. I remember Dave saying that was a bad idea. I really don't have anything to add to what the others have said. My bird rules the roost here and pretty much does as he pleases. We always say he's training us rather than the other way around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Absolutely... no nest building. I am soo happy to see your commitment. The best thing to do, is develop the trust and relationship with all family members, Consistency is key. All family members need to be on board, and provide the same goals, I know many don't approve of my " timeout" that I did with Sophie when she was younger. She went into " timeout"...one minute for every year where cage was closed when she was naughty. ( we have an open cage belief). Obviously something worked, as she spent only six months dealing with the timeout. She learned quickly, she couldn't charm one family member against the other. It doesn't work for many people. Find what works for you! We are all here to support and help! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phangtonpower Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 Actually we're not sure if our bird is a boy or a girl. There is no way for our bird to get tested here where I live. I think it's a girl, but I always say he Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 It really doesn't matter if your bird is a girl or boy until you see molting. Enjoy your baby. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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