|
|
|
yrros
Egg
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Birmingham, UK |
| Wont come out of his cage |
 |
|
Hello everyone, I was hoping you could give me some advice. I have got a 10 week old parent reared male celestial (pacific) parrotlet. He is very stubborn & called Austin.
I have made some milestones; I used his travel cage as a time-out cage and ignored him after he bit me and evaded from picking him up, after which he stood across the room screaming at me! So the naughty cage made a few firsts happen, exiting a cage by his own will, and he even walked over the sofa onto my shoulder to sit for a few min before flying (I mean gracefully falling as he is clipped) not sure I should ban the shoulder behavior…
The big problem is that to get him out of his big cage I have to catch him and remove him. He will some times step across my hand to get to the other side of the cage or think about where to run to next. But always makes a stand by holding his beak open to bite me, not that he bites me hard...yet.
When he is out in my room he will make a break for his cage if I give him the chance so apart from in the mornings I take him to the living room (would move his cage to the living room but I’m scared my housemates would use the nonstick frying pan and kill him.) where he will sit on my finger for a short period, if he feels like it. But I have to catch him a few times before he will do this. Then he runs off again.
Occasionally he will sit in an enclosed space in my hand and let me stroke his head although not often and will open his mouth like he is going to bite me. my reaction till now was to put my finger in his mouth to say I’m not scared of your biting, but I am sure a better reaction could be thought up.
He won’t really eat out of my hand but I have yet to try fruits. So bribery doesn’t seem to be an option.
So what I would like to know is:
How can I encourage him to exit his cage of his own free will.
How do I stop him fleeing from me at play time, although he will stay close, its just when I want to have him sit on my finger.
What should I do when he is warning me off with an open beak?
Is my constant chasing picking up to have him run away again a bad thing? Should I be starting with the basics like willing step ups out of the cage? I don’t want him to settle into his ways as he is nearly 11 weeks now and will do that soon.
Well I think that’s about everything.
No its not. I feed him EMP which he does not like so much no matter what I put in it. How long should I leave it in his cage and should I remove his other food (I tried it that way the other day and he screamed blue murder when he saw me next.
Well if you can answer any of those questions I will be so pleased.
Great website, I have been reading it all day.
Anthony + Austin the parrotlet |
Monday February 27, 2006 2:12 pm |
|
|
Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
|
|
|
First off Anthony, how long has he been living with you? I know each bird is different, but when I first got my 3 month old Sennie, he viciously bit my finger at every opportunity. I finally decided to take things slower, & after 6 weeks she has come around & is like a completely different bird, she made an amazing turn around!
I think Austin just might need a little more time to feel comfy with you & learn to trust you & no that you mean him no harm, no matter what.
You might want to try using a wooden dowel, or small perch to get him out of his cage for now. He'll think of it an extension of your hand, but scared, or nervous birds seem to learn to step up on them easier, & I think it's much less traumatic for them than chasing them around in their cage, only making them more scared of your hand.
You might also try attaching a perch, or several to the outside of his cage & leave the door open at times when you're around to supervise.
Those are a couple things you might want to try! Good luck 
Sorry, I don't know what EMP is. |
|
Monday February 27, 2006 2:50 pm |
|
|
|
|
shirin
Moderator
Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 7401
Location: Canada, Toronto |
10 weeks? That's awfully young, is that the age that parrotlets usually wean? |
|
Monday February 27, 2006 3:59 pm |
|
|
Yupra
Flying tumbler
Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Posts: 2206
Location: CA |
I only have a budgie, so I can't give you much advice, but after reading that he 'gracefully fell' when he flew away from you made me wonder if you clipped both his wings. I think its best to clip both of them, that way he won't 'fall' in a circle and bang into furniture and potentially hurt himself. Before reading a budgie book I'd always clipped the 1 wing, but it made sense not to have my little bird off balanced in flight and flying head on into my furniture and scaring the living daylights out of me! |
|
Monday February 27, 2006 8:46 pm |
|
|
|
|
Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
I think Cathy pretty much summed it up for you. I couldn't have said it better It takes several weeks for them to adjust. |
|
Monday February 27, 2006 9:29 pm |
|
|
yrros
Egg
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Birmingham, UK |
| thanks everyone |
|
|
So I just read that birds are weaned at 6 weeks. Wow that all puts it in perspective, the little things only been eating only seed for 4 weeks! I will take my time with him; I approach him slowly in his cage and withdraw when he moves away. I will try and befriend him in a timelier manor. I think he knows that he can have fun outside of his cage so sooner or later he will want to come out.
E.M.P is a soft bird food you add water to. That’s all I can tell you, that and it is egg based.
I learned how moving his toys around changes how he feels about his cage; he is currently sleeping in his food bowl. He used to sleep in his swing. He found his cuttle fish too today after the shuffle.
Well I will leave you folks with some pic links www.yrros.co.uk/austin/index.shtml if you want to see Austin after all this talk of him.
Thanks for the advice and I will let you know of his improvements.
Anthony. |
|
Monday February 27, 2006 10:48 pm |
|
|
|
|
Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
I've seen the pics of Austin & he is gorgeous!
You might want to start introducing him to new fresh foods now too. They just seem to accept them better if introduced at a very young age. Lots of veggies & fruits. You can get some ideas in the "diet" forum.
Another thing you might want to think about is introducing him to parrot pellets. Again, you can read more about them in the "diet" forum.
Beings I'm just not sure how much you already know, I don't want to go into a lot of detail & be either mundane, or overwhelming. But I know there is SO much to learn if this is your first experience with parronting. Always be sure to ask questions & read as much info as you possibly can about parrots & parrotlets. Learning is half the fun! |
|
Tuesday February 28, 2006 12:00 am |
|
|
yrros
Egg
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Birmingham, UK |
| Well seems he is no longer afraid to come out of his cage |
|
|
Not scared of coming out of the cage now!
I was watching Austin on my webcam today only to find that he had escaped his cage and was climbing on the front of it. I dont know how he got out, i guess he slipped through the bars. but i didnt think he could do that!
take a look at it anyway.
www.yrros.co.uk/austin/index.shtml |
|
Wednesday March 1, 2006 12:59 pm |
|
|
|
|
Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Ah! Maybe you should name him Austin Houdini! Little escapee  !
That looks like a great cage, but if he's getting out thru the bars, could be very dangerous! Do you know the bar spacing of it? |
|
Wednesday March 1, 2006 1:15 pm |
|
|
yrros
Egg
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Birmingham, UK |
it says on the box that it has a spacing of 1.8 cm, which is a little over the 1/2 inch that is suggested. He was on the outside the other day and desperatly tried to get in through the bars, so i dont think he can do it,. But on the other hand maybe he was trying to do what he had done before.
He is much more confident these days and will now eat millet from my fingers. i see him scritching his head on the polly pearch so i imagine he will like a scritch when we are better friends.
i will let you know when he becomes more friendly |
|
Saturday March 4, 2006 11:57 pm |
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is Saturday October 11, 2008 7:03 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
