Cage Climbing

[Carolyn]

Mika is now 6 months old and has decided over the last few days that he can climb down to the bottom of his cage on the outside, which is about 16 - 18 in from the floor.

When I come home or in the mornings, I open the door and he waits like the perfect little gentleman to see if I am going to either take him out or let him climb out and up to his playgym on top but does always wait for my que.

Now he has decided that when on top of the playgym he can travel down to the bottom on any of the 4 sides and call out (in his jibberish, he doesn't talk yet) to either the Doberman or the cat to come over for a visit. When he see's me he climb's as fast as he can back to the top.

He had not attempted to shimmy down the legs of the cage YET but I am sure that could come.

Is there any way to discourage this, or do I just have to be on guard and put him back up when he does this.

Simon (the Doberman) goes over and they exchange nose to beak butting, and the cat just ignores Mika's attention seeking climbing, as Charlie (the cat) is above this behavior, and just leaves the room.

I have the heart attack ever time he pulls this.

Any thoughts or advise would be appreciated.

 

Carolyn & Mika

[Dave007]

Basically, you would have to be on guard and also do something constantly which is tomake him step up on your hand, put him where you want while saying *oh no you don't* with an inflection in your voice or whatever other thing you wanna say. It needs to be constantly done over and over. A bird eventually gets the idea. Now, if your bird actually talked, he would be warning you that he's about to do that because he would start repeating that phrase just as he's starting his descent.

[Carolyn]

Thanks Dave, I will start that right away. This only started on early Friday morning so it is a new thing and he won't do it when we are in sight so I am guessing that the intention is to find us.

But I don't want this to become a habit and will start to nip it right away.

 

Carolyn & Mika

[Dave007]

It's a common thing that a grey will do. If your cage has skirts on it, that's where they'll go. Some even manage yo slip down to the floor. Not many though. One of my greys does that just to be with the dog. They've been buddies since the bird was born. Because yiour bird doesn't talk yet, just listen for a verbal reaction that seems to be the same all the time when he does that. In other words, for now that sound is what you'll be aware of when he starts to climb down. Many greys do that type of thing with many other situations they're about to do. They have nothing to do with cages and in the future, you'll see what I mean.

[she]

Dave You are so right. Charlie lets me know he is about to do something forbidden by shouting "im watching you" or "ah Ah" or his favourite is "Ill batter you". Its so funny. He always tells me when he is about to nip by saying "no bites" and if he does nip he shouts "ow ow".and then laughs. Sheila

[Matthew]

I've been trying to discourage Tucker from climbing down his cage too. Every now and again, he just has to run down and attack toes. He'll also try to get the remote if it ends up on the floor. I have yet to come up with a good way to discourage this. Let me know if anything works for anyone.

[BaxtersMom]

Don't they learn fast and know when they are not behaving as they should.:evil: It's funny Mika knows when he sees you that he needs to climb to the top light that:laugh:

 

Baxter will climb down the sides to the bottom of his cage all the way around to the front door from what ever side he is on. :silly: It would be much easier to just go from the top and climb from the top inside the cage but he goes all down the sides to get there. He has never attempted to go down the legs of the cage though. He has climbed up them but never down. His cage bottom is a couple feet from the bottom too.

 

Tigger has the cage where the bottom goes almost all the way to the ground but this cage has a seed tray skirt on it and that is where he stops and perches on the seed tray skirt:) That is still scary because it only about 5" from the floor.

 

Maybe you can get one of those seed trays for your cage or if one could be ordered for your cage?

[Carolyn]

I have a seed tray but dont use it, the cage will not fit where I want it with it on. But on taking Dave's advise we only had 3 incidents yesterday. The first 2 I rushed in told him to step up in a stern voice and said "NO NO bad bird" and placed him on top, the third I rushed in and as soon as he saw me he rushed to the top with what sounded like na na, and hasen't tried again. Hmmmm 1 day and counting hope it works,

 

Carolyn & Mika

[Dave007]

""""Maybe you can get one of those seed trays for your cage or if one could be ordered for your cage?"""""

 

Some people like them, others don't. Some people say they work, others don't. But buying a generic set of skirts is difficult because they usually come with the new cage. If you know exactly where you bought the cage, you might call and ask if they have any for your sized cage. All that's required is the measurement. Sometimes, they have some put away that were taken off a cage that they couldn't sell because it was defective. Worth a try if you really want one.