Getting Coco back into his cage

[thecoffeesnob]

Hi guys, i have so much trouble getting Coco back into his cage every night. I have tried putting his favourite food (apples and string beans) into his cage. It worked for a little while then he caught on. So I was wondering if you guys had any tips for making it a little easier both for him and for me. Can CAGS be trained to go back to their cages the way dogs can with a command word and a bit of coaxing?

 

Also Coco has started climbing down from his perch on top of his cage when left unsupervised and chewing on my dads furniture so we have started letting him out of the cage only when theres someone around to supervise him. I usually let him out once every 4-5 hours for about half an hour to an hour each time. Is that okay? We interact with him a lot even while hes in his cage and he has plenty of space and toys in there.

 

Thanks guys!

[danmcq]

Some will go back to their Cages on their own, some won't.

 

You will just need to have him step up, lock his talons down with your thumb and carry him to the cage.

 

It does not sound like he is spending much total time out of the cage and relishes every minute when out. I would suspect, that is why he has no desire to go back in to it.

 

In regards your fathers chair. First, you should never leave any Parrot alone and unsupervised. Besides the chair eating, he could also bite through a power cord and electrocute himself or get into something else that could cause him harm.

 

The best thing to stop the chair chewing, would be to purchase a playstand, put lots of toys and food on it and set him there when you wish to place him somewhere out of his cage.

 

Being locked in a Cage, just sitting in it and staring out at the world. Is no replacement for out of cage, up close and personal getting head scratches, sitting on shoulders and just hanging out with their flock.

 

eing Caged is more like an animal in the zoo, behind bars and very frustrated at their small world they are confined to. While watching all passers by enjoy the freedom to roam and explore the entire outside world. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/09/01 16:09

[thecoffeesnob]

Hi danmcq,

 

We have only started keeping him locked him so much the last two days. He was always allowed to be out of his cage from the moment we got up till it was time for him to go to bed at night. Even then, we had trouble getting him to go back into his cage when we wanted him to. But yeah i totally get what you're sharing and i definitely share your sentiments. I'm off to buy a playstand tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

[darth_mint]

Ooh, the perennial favourite! (and if you read my post about the first time Nicky came out, you'll know what I mean) Off the top of my head I can suggest these:

 

1) Don't let him out when it's close to bedtime. That will cut down on the urgency of getting him back in.

 

2) Don't feed him when he's outside the cage, make the only available food source inside the cage so that he will go back in when he gets hungry. This really works!

 

3) When he goes back in, do you immediately close the door? If so he may have decided it's not worth going back in because he just gets locked up straight away. Let him have freedom of movement between the inside and outside, and he'll be less reluctant to go back in.

 

4) Personally I let Nicky out the whole day when I'm at home to keep an eye on him. Same principle as above but applied to time limits. He's quite good about staying on top of his cage, although he occasionally climbs down to chew up the wooden stand

 

5) Chewing on the furniture: does he have toys to occupy him on the top of the cage? Do you fuss over him when he stays on the cage top, or when he comes down to the floor? (number 2 is a no-no because he'll do it to get attention)

 

6) Last one, train him to step up (I know most people would say this first, but I myself can't get Nicky to step up so I put it at the end :whistle: )

[darth_mint]

Doh! Dan beat me to it. I especially agree with not leaving parrots unsupervised. Nicky tried to climb into the goldfish tank the other day. Fill in the rest of the picture yourself...

[judygram]

darth_mint wrote:

Nicky tried to climb into the goldfish tank the other day. Fill in the rest of the picture yourself...

 

Oh I can believe me I can, thanks for sharing that tidbit with us, brings a really funny depiction in my mind.:laugh:

 

Dan did bring up some good suggestions but you did too Darth, you both shared some good ideas and those should work for getting Coco back into his cage.

[thecoffeesnob]

Haha that bit about the goldfish bowl had me laugh out loud.

 

I do fuss over Coco quite a bit when he's on the cage top. He doesn't have toys while he's there because the perch takes up most of the space but he's free to climb in and out of his cage to play with the toys and eat in there. When he does come down onto the floor either to lie on my feet or chew on the bottom of the kitchen cabinets, i always tell him a firm no and put him right back onto his cage. If he comes back down again, he gets put back into his cage for five minutes before he's let out again. He seems to understand he's not supposed to be on the floor and chewing on the cabinets but the second i walk out of the kitchen to grab something, he's back on the floor once again.

 

I feel so bad keeping him in his cage so much the past two days. I'm gonna work on making him a portable playstand tomorrow so he can be with me more often when i'm home.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions!

[mas]

We have the same problem with Zahzu these past couple of weeks - when we put her off to bed she climbs all over her cage - it's taking about 5-10minutes for her to settle down; and I'm quite certain it's because she doesn't have as much time out as she is used to in the past (she can't be left to sit on top of her cage as she doesn't have any flight feathers, and the risk of her falling is high...long story!)...

What I'm trying tonight is to cover half her cage, turn out the lights, and cover the front up, so she settles down nicely...

Hope it all goes well for you - the suggestions provided have also helped me out too!

-Sameera

[Laurie]

To ease the transition back into the cage (and life in general for both you and your bird) I would suggest being consistent as possible every day as far as what time the bird is out and how long he's out for. Klaus knows that every day at 6:00 pm he's getting out and that he'll be out for at least a couple of hours. When it's time to put him back in I dim the lights and begin talking softly to him about it being bed time. I give him a lot of pets and TLC, then slowly get him on my finger and move him into the cage. He is used to this routine and generally doesn't give me trouble. If he happens to be out at an odd time (which doesn't happen often) - or he's giving me trouble for some reason, I will show him a nice walnut or similar treat and put it in his bowl. 99% of the time, he'll clamber in to get the treat.

Good luck!

[Char]

Before bedtime I have cuddle time with Whisper. This is time that she sits on my shoulder while I am at the computer or watching T.V. I scratch her head and talk softly to her. She gets sleepy during this time and is usually ready to go to bed.

[Acappella]

Re: catching on to the treat thing. Sometimes you've got to play some mind games on these guys. I have to keep Dorian guessing here. Sometimes when it's getting close to bedtime I put his treat in, but if he goes in after it I don't shut the cage door right away, even let him come out again. Also, try putting in the treat when he's already in his cage. That way he won't link night+treat=cage

[thecoffeesnob]

That's a really smart way to do it, Acappella. I have to try that.

 

I made him step up tonight by placing my hand on his back while holding my other arm in front of his chest- he had nowhere to go and didn't fight me when he knew he was heading back to the cage- he would usually try to bite me, grab hold of the cage before he makes it past the door or spread his winds really wide so he can't get through the door. So far so good. I have to work on the treats and cuddling bit though. Thanks for sharing your tips guys- they're really appreciated and it's so good to know i'm not the only one having trouble getting their parrot back into the cage.

 

So i spent the entire day making him a playstand. It's nothing much, i went to Ikea to get 2 wooden wine racks (6 ranks in total with 4 bars across each), sawed off some bars so there's a bit more space to hang his toys and all, wrapped the remaining bars with hemp twine and put his new toys in. He was so curious the entire afternoon, he even came down from his cage once to see what i was up to. I can't wait to see how he takes to it tomorrow

[darth_mint]

Speaking of treats, try giving him one immediately after you've put him in the cage, and praise him as a really good boy. He might throw the treat away and glare and growl, but it'll help him to associate "back into the cage" with "getting good things"

[zazosmommy]

well, try to get it in, dont force it just relax it, i do that with Zazo!

[DavidH]

Well, looks like a lot of us are in the same boat on this issue. Shanti is getting really excitable just before bedtime (overtired?).

 

The last couple of nights he has actually flapped his wings and leaped off the cage to the ground.

 

Since I haven't been able to teach him to step up yet, he only leave the cage when he gets up the nerve to jump. Then it's hard to get him back in. He's unimpressed by the treat bribe.

 

I think -- as mentioned above -- closing the doors a couple of hours earlier before bedtime is a good idea. I'll try that.

 

If I could only get him to do the "step up," I'd be able to avoid the leaps and the roaming once he's on the ground.

 

Occasionally, I can get him to put one foot down on my hand, but still a long way from "step up."

[Goralka08]

Here is what we did so that our bird wouldn't know when she was going back in the cage...

 

Everytime we have her step-up, we reward her with food. We're not rewarding with huge fattening nut treats everytime, but fruits, veggies, a tiny piece of cheese, a tiny sliver of almond, etc.

 

Most of the time she is playing throughout the day, but we still practice her step-up with her randomly throughout the day.

 

She is so used to stepping up for something small, that she doesn't suspect anything when she steps-up for a reward and we place her in the cage. Ya see, 98% of the time she is stepping-up for a reward and placed back down or taken in another room to continue playing. She doesn't know when that 2% chance is that she'll get put in the cage when she steps-up for that juicy treat!

 

We haven't had any problems with this method so far and it's definitely working. When we need to run to the store or something...it only takes less than 30 seconds to get her in the cage.

 

I definitely would keep a watchful eye on your bird at all times. If you can't be in the same room then you need to take the bird with you or put it back in the cage. There are so many things that a bird can get into that aren't safe. You mentioned your bird chewing on furniture...was it wood? or a couch? The wood could have harmful lacquer on it and the couch could be stain treated. Your bird could stick its beak in an electrical outlet, chew on electrical cords, pull off paint or wall paper of the walls, etc. So it's very important to keep it out of harms way.<br><br>Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/10 05:33

[thecoffeesnob]

Shortly after I wrote this post, Coco started getting a lot better at being put back onto his cage. I had no trouble getting him to step up on my arm, cuddle him for a while before returning him to his cage for the night- he seemed pretty happy with it. Lately, every time i walk towards his cage with his cage cover in hand, he goes into the cage all by himself without much fuss. I'm just so amazed at how intelligent he is!

 

Thank you all for sharing your experience. It's so good to know I'm not the only one who was facing this problem.