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 :P

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.