A few questions about my new cage bound GCC

[2Beaks&I]

I’m new to the forum, and I’d like to introduce myself and ask a couple of questions. I’m the proud mom to a 1-year-old CAG named Ellie and a recently adopted GCC named Rocky. My questions are mainly about developing a relationship with Rocky and making sure I’m providing the best I can for him.

Rocky came to me in a tiny canary cage with 3 plastic toys, plastic/dowel perches, and eating Wal-Mart seed. His owners hadn’t given him a name or ever let him out of the cage. He is flighted.

He’s been with me for a little over 2 months now. I got him a much bigger cage, and he’s now shredding balsa wood, ringing bells, eating fresh veggies, and even nibbling on some pellets. When I first got him, he would run as far from me as possible. He’s never been aggressive, just fearful. After a month or so of barely putting my fingers in his cage and staying perfectly still, he decided it was safe to take treats from me. We’ve been working on targeting, and he’s now willing to step up onto my finger for a maximum of about 3 seconds before retreating to his perch. If I try and move my hand at all while he’s on it though, he gets frightened and it sets us back. I’ve been trying to wait longer and longer after he steps on my hand before he can earn his treat. Any tips on getting him comfortable with sitting on a moving hand?

The second question I have is about Rocky leaving his cage. I’ve left the door open many times, but the only time he leaves his cage is if he’s startled. Unfortunately, he usually makes a B line to Ellie’s cage when this happens. Now Ellie isn’t usually an aggressive bird and wouldn’t seek out Rocky to make trouble, but she is not happy about having a little green bird on her personal stuff at all. So the couple of times he has ventured out have ended in me rushing over and trying to get him off Ellie’s cage before she decides she’s had enough, not a pleasant experience for anyone involved. I have a condo, and I spend most of my time in the living room where both bird cages are. Rocky was in the bedroom for quarantine, and I think he was pretty lonely in there. All this to say that I really want to keep both birds in the living room for the social interaction they both need, but I’m nervous about Rocky and his apparent death wish!

So here are my questions. For anyone who has worked with cage bound parrots, what ways did you find effective at getting them out of the cage? Should I just wait until Rocky is comfortable stepping up and then move him in and out of the cage? I have a java tree for Ellie which I could put right outside his cage door, but I’m worried the branches are too big for him to use comfortably. Should I invest in his own playstand now and just hope he eventually takes to it? Any recommendations on good playstands for a GCC? Most of the ones I see seem to be either extremely cheapy or for larger parrots. Also, is there anything I can do other than always having the 2 birds in separate rooms to train Rocky not to land on Ellie’s cage? I was thinking about trying to set up some other landing stations around, but I’m not sure what to use for that. Living with a flighted bird is new to me because Ellie came to me clipped. I’m definitely going to let her flights grow out though! Anyway, sorry for writing a novel, and I’m looking forward to any advice you can give!