help my bird is jumping off the perch

[babygirl40]

help my grey is only 4 months old and his wings are clipped. I had him about 2 weeks now and the last two days he has scared the crap out of me i talk him out and sit him on his perch on top of his cage (med size cage) and he jumps off like he can fly and he can't he lands on the floor on is feet but i scared if he keeps doing this he is going to hurt himself. how do i stop this behavior. he was doing so good uo until 2 days ago. he gets very excited when he see me. also i let him walk around on the kitchen floor sometimes.:woohoo:

[estream]

Aloha babygirl,

Hmmm, it seems you're in a bit of a fix :-) I can relate, I'm currently in the same situation with a 8 month old jardine's parrot, a bird which Chloe the CAG finds wholly undignified at best :-)

As the great clip debate continues with a cornucopia of factors in regard to each living situation, I'll simply share my own attempts at addressing this situation, and invite further suggestions heartily!

Piper, the wholly undignified highly adorable jardines, has a terrible habit of "flying" off her perch with no regard for the coronary she gives me each and every time. So, to address this I've taken the training perch approach. A simple U stand is closer to the ground = shorter fall. Each time she does "fly" off, I very calmly with a to-the-point "no" uncerimoniously pick her up and place her right back in the approved birdie perching zone. Herein lies the catch ... I have to be more stubborn than she is, keeping my poker face through it all. It's best to address each fly by UNDERdramatically, as the more you react the more fun it is for baby, and before you know it you have a game going on and baby wrote the play book ... never a wise idea :-) I take care to ignore the bad behavior as much as possible, but the more Piper stays on her perch and follows the rules, the more praise and attention I offer her. Suffice to say this is a repetitive timeless process that requires infinite loving patience ... and the occasional human time out. Sometimes a half an hour back in her cage and me in a bath is just the recharge I need to get my heart back into training.

All that said, one more suggestion - you might consider keeping her off the kitchen floor, as a general rule but most especially during this initial training process. It might prove confusing? Supervised floor play in a designated area is one thing - but roaming can prove very dangerous, not to mention confusing for a baby still learning flock rules. After all, floor is floor ... why should the floor around her perch be any less deserving of exploration?

Here endeth my ramble. Hope it helps a little. I'll stay tuned in hopes of more suggestions from other members :-) I wish you well!<br><br>Post edited by: estream, at: 2007/04/21 09:45

[linus]

I have a ladder my birds can use to climb up/down. Linus use to help himself if I would not pick him up. He would jump off the cage and come over to me. Poor Earl broke the tip of his beak jumping off the cage onto the floor. When the birds are out of their cages now, they have a way up/down to the floor. Gem figured out how to bypass the seed skirt on his cage, he climbs up and down as he pleases.

[babygirl40]

thanks...for your advice but she is still jumping off yhe perch as of today. she tried to land on the table because it's close to her cage but she miss it and on the floor she goes.....i will try to ignore it but how do i praise her for staying on her perch..when i put her on it she is ready to jump off agian

[Guest]

Kamikaze-grey

(sorry, bad joke)

 

Babygirl, maybe you should put her back in her cage each time she dives? And, after a while try it again. Or, play with her on her perch and keep praising her and the moment she diverts attention and dives pick her up - say 'no' firmly but kind of annoyed and put her in her cage?

 

More feedback from experienced greyholders is desirable though, because this is what I should do - but I don't have experience, so....

[Guest Monique]

First ... ideally when your bird's wings are clipped they are still long enough to glide. It sounds like his wings were cut shorter than the ideal. So that is why he is plopping when he should be doing more of a fluttering.

 

If you're worried about him getting hurt then you'll have to keep him on a lower surface until his wings grow out further or until he is better trained.

 

To train him you simply need to put him back on the perch every single time he jumps off. And tell him firmly but quietly he is naughty and give him a dirty look. Do this over and over until you can no longer stand it and then he has to go back in his cage the last time. Don't pet him scritch him or reward him in any way when you put him back.

 

It is fine to have him on the kitchen floor as long as you are the one giving him the okay to do that for exploration. So you take him out of the cage or off the playstand and put him on the kitchen floor vs. him thinking he can just go there himself whenever he pleases.

[greylover]

hello babygirl40,Yes i too had the same problem.I have a 3 month old african grey and he has had his wings clipped and he too thinks he can fly and jumpes off his perch.I keep on taking him off his T.stand becuase he jump's off.But it is a problem becuase when we have ower tea he sits and the table with us and he carn't becuase he jumpes off.

does anyone hoave any other advice!

thanks

[babygirl40]

hi guys me again..yes he is still jumping off the perch..tonight he jump off trying to land on the table but he landed on the floor. I pick him up and put him back on his perch and tell him no firmly. It's a little annoying though because I have to watch him closly and he just started jumping off any more ideas I can try?

[Guest Monique]

You have to train him. And that is what it takes. Putting the training in up front will be a good investment for later. If you've put him up 5 times and he still jumps off then #6 time if you cannot take it any more ... put him back in his cage instead of on the perch. You should also be telling him to stay on his perch and tell him no when he jumps off as well. It takes a lot of time, patience, and love to raise a baby parrot.

[MARIR]

try lowering the perch so at least he's safe

[auntjane]

I don't think there is any quick fix or time frame for this short of glueing their little feets to the perch:lol: . They are babies who don't know what's good for them. You have to be more persistent than they are during this time that it seems like nothing will work ( few thousand times of putting them back just might give them the idea that's where they are supposed to be...maybe). Just make sure they get more fun stuff and attention when they are being good than naughty....jane

[greylover]

Hi guys.My problem was solved because he has stoped doing it now so chico is fine.I train him not to jump off as well it took a lot af time.Do you think he know's that he would hurt him self if he keeps on doing it?Before i trained him.