How i take my bird outside its cage

[scatman]

First i want to thank you all for your replies as they were really really very helpful!
My lovebird was very scared when i got her(2 month ago) but now she perches on my shoulder and is target trained.
I found another way to get my lovebird outside its cage. I just move the cage to another room, open the cage, and my bird will get out of the cage and runs (she's clipped) towards me. She perches on my finger but will not stay there, then climbs to my shoulder and starts playing around.

[Wolf]

May I ask why you have to move the cage to get the bird to come out? Yeah, they usually prefer shoulders and necks to perch rather than hands, it is a security thing.

[liz]

When I got Myrtle I put her little cage on the dining room table and opened the door. It took her a while to be brave enough to come out and climb on top. Before Myrtles feathers grew in she would test them by jumping off the top of her cage. When she couldn't fly she would run to me and climb from my feet to my shoulder so I would give her a ride back to the top. She came to me from fear. I was the giver of food and the safest way she knew to get help without being touched. Once she was able to fly she would land on me for rides even though she was still scared of my hands.

With all the critters running through here and the noise she had plenty of entertainment and realized that she was not alone any more. She saw Rambo at a distance and called hellos to him and he would answer back. After saying hellos multiple times he just asked her, "you got a problem". I did not tame her or any others. They will do it themselves if you give them respect and freedom first.

I realize that it is hard to imagine a bird who was kept in a little cage in a dark dining room of a quiet house being able to enjoy my kaos. I do think that is why these birds tame so easy. They see the others trusting me and they know that I am not just consentrating on them. When I took time for a coffee or to read a magazine I did it at the dining room table with my hands busy away from them. When I changes food, water and paper I did it from a sitting position and never stood over her.

I think I am rambling on too much. I hope you can pick some info out of this.

[Pajarita]

First i want to thank you all for your replies as they were really really very helpful!
My lovebird was very scared when i got him (2 month ago) but now she perches on my shoulder and is target trained.
I found another way to get my lovebird outside its cage. I just move the cage to another room, open the cage, and my bird will get out of the cage and runs (he's clipped) towards me. She perches on my finger but will not stay there, then climbs to my shoulder and starts playing around.

Well, the fact that she comes out of her cage and runs toward you when in an unfamiliar (scary and stressful - are you, by any chance, putting the cage on the floor or on a place much lower than your head? because that makes it even more scary) environment is normal but, if you think about it, it's like saying you taught your child to grab your hand when they are out in the street by making him stand in the middle of the street with the cars speeding by - not a good idea, is it? The key is to get the bird to come to you because it loves you and not because it's scared. These type of actions are called 'flooding' techniques and no longer recommended. A flooding technique is one where we impose our will on them and give them no real choice but to do what we want them to. It would serve you and the bird better if you could get her to come to you because she chooses to do so out of love so, if I were you, I would start by not insisting on her stepping up, perching on me or anything that she doesn't want to do just because she wants to. Spend time with her, open her cage door and just move away. Talk, sing, whistle, give her a treat every now and then and let her do whatever she wants. Allow her to make the first step toward you but don't tilt the 'odds' in your favor, be fair and give her a real choice and, if it takes a year, then that is what it takes but, when it happens, you will know it's out of love for you and nothing else.

[scatman]

@wolf i wasn't sure why until i read Pajarita's reply.
@Pajarita you are absolutely right.
However, I find it really hard to get the bird back to its cage (even when the cage is in its "usual location").
Its like she's enjoying her time so much while hanging out on my shoulder that she doesn't want to get back.
So if she enjoys being with me, why won't she get outside when the cage is placed in its usual location?

[Wolf]

Without knowing more about you particular setup, it will be difficult to say why she won't come out of the cage in its usual place. The first thing that comes to mind is that there is something that scares her outside of the cage in it normal location. Perhaps if you choose a different location for the cage, paying attention to her to see if she appears to be relaxed and happy with the new location. It may not take a different location ,but I don't know, maybe if you can describe where the cage is located and what is nearby it along with a few picture we may be able to help you with this. Is the cage near a window? a wall? Is it in a high traffic location? What things might be too close to it on a shelf or wall that she might be scared of? If she is scared of something, she might spend a lot of time watching it to make sure that it doesn't try to attack her, so pay attention to where she looks a lot.
Although most of the birds that I am familiar with seem to prefer to hang out on their human as much as they can, if there is something about the location of her cage that she doesn't like or that scares her then that might explain part of her aversion to returning to it. Also to help you avoid a common problem , don't just pick her up to take her to her cage as she will begin to feel that the only time that you pick her up is to put her in the cage and she will try to avoid that. So take her for a walk about the house, stopping o pet her in different spots like at a window or where there is a picture at and then when you do take her to her cage always give her one of her favored treats when you put her in.

[Pajarita]

Wolf is correct. The placement of the cage has a lot to do with everything. Ideally, a cage should be at our eye level when we are standing up (height makes them feel safe from predators), with a wall behind the back or in a corner with two walls (again, they feel safer this way because they know a predator cannot come from that angle -but you can trick them into believing they have a wall behind them by putting a towel or some type of material draped on the back), a window with a Southeast exposure in front of it so they get the best natural light and a good quality full spectrum light (CRI 94+ and Ktemp 5000 to 5500) in the ceiling fixture - a humidifier and an air purifier in the same room would round up the best conditions for a parrot but not everybody has them.

Clipped birds always feel unsafe so they are usually more careful about been out in the open. Birds that have been clipped all their lives eventually get used to it and no longer fear been in the home they have gotten to know but the little ones suffer more than the large ones. And OF COURSE she doesn't want to go back to her cage! Nobody likes been in a jail cell and much less when one is all alone, can you blame her?