Problem going back to the cage

[cml]

Michael, I dont know if this was intended at my reply or not, but I assure you we dont use the cage as punishment. When its time to go into the cage its always loaded with fun like newly filled foraging toys and new food in the bowls.

This was an isolated event where we were forced to catch Leroy because he hit a wall, fell and got stuck in the wires on the floor (even a parrotproofed home has places that they manage to find in some way that present danger). I had to get him out of there, and he was superhyped and flew into another wall after the crash so I put him in the cage to be able to calm dawn, its his comfort zone.

In dangerous situations, I prefer to keep the health of my bird before not catching it (even if that means that our relationship takes a step back). That we can always work on again with positve reinforcement, but I would hate if something bad happened to either of my parrots.

Cheers

[Michael]

Michael, I dont know if this was intended at my reply or not, but I assure you we dont use the cage as punishment.

Oh no, this wasn't to you. I was writing that post before I even saw yours. Yours just slipped in before I could get mine submitted.

See this article about redeveloping trust:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=285

[cml]

Michael, I dont know if this was intended at my reply or not, but I assure you we dont use the cage as punishment.

Oh no, this wasn't to you. I was writing that post before I even saw yours. Yours just slipped in before I could get mine submitted.

See this article about redeveloping trust:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=285

=)

Macbrush, do keep us updated with your progress !

[Melon]

hi everybody,
seems not only me having this problem n honestly its really annoying time when i need to make my cockatoo back to cage.she is the sweetest baby ever,but suddenly turn to devil when is her bed time please help me to solve this.
-she hate bed time,keep giving me beg dancing at 10 pm,which she knows that is the time to go to bed.(she can dance more than 20 min)
-i put a lot of toys,big swing,tasty food,good perch with different level but still-she hates to be in cage.
-she always out from 9 am-10 pm but its not enough for her,she still refuse to come back.
-target training,not interest no matter how hungry she is.
-food management,it dsnt work for her.she prefer to not eat n today i catch her secretly take the food from outside the cage wire so she dsnt need to go back to cage.what a smart cockatoo
-it takes me 30-45 min to make her back,n its really difficult,finally she give up n come back-with a grumpy body language.
-belive it or not,she can open the lock.she hold the lock stick with her beak n pull it with her leg.now i put 4 locks for her cage n 2 big rope to tide it to make sure she cant escape in the middle of night.
-after finally she give up to back in cage,i lock the door n fastly she jump in front of the door,hanging like a teddy bear n dancing again beg me to open it.i switch off the light n she still keep dancing n make awful noise.n add 30 min again,she fall asleep.
-the most difficult one,when i make her sleep i must to sleep too.if she find out i still playing games or make noise she will start to scream like''hellooo why u put me to bed n yourself still awake??'' now me n my husband always sneak out n talk very slow if she must to sleep n we still awake.n its very difficult.

it seems cute n funny at beginning but now its really annoying.she knows i wont open the door but she keep trying to be as cute as possible to make me get pity on her n open it.i cant locked her inside the cage because she plucked her feather n i dont want to make a risk-maybe she get more stress n start mutilating her self(the vet told me she must to be in cage only bed time,so she always free full day).what i have to do??

is this coming back to cage program can harm my relationship with her?

thanks for the advise.

[liz]

Sometimes it feels like trying to get a toddler to go to bed. I don't cage my amazons but they do have sleeping places. One night I carried Myrtle to her bed. When I turned my back she was out again. I semt her back 3 times before she gave up and stayed in her bed. She whined like a little kid who was tired but did not want to sleep.

[liz]

Sometimes it feels like trying to get a toddler to go to bed. I don't cage my amazons but they do have sleeping places. One night I carried Myrtle to her bed. When I turned my back she was out again. I semt her back 3 times before she gave up and stayed in her bed. She whined like a little kid who was tired but did not want to sleep.

sent
I am typing in the dark because she is in her bag behind me.

[GlassOnion]

Melon, go back a page on this thread. Michael has addressed this issue with Macbrush.

[Melon]

hi everybody,thanks for the reply.
first of all,my cockatoo already decided cage its means=jail/punishment.the ex-owner do this to her:
-step up=putting away to cage
-destroying furniture=cage punishment
-poop out of cage=cage punishment
-biting=cage punishment
-unwanted behavior=cage punishment
-she was full in cage for few months when the owner leave her to visit his sick dad,n never had time to play with her outside the cage n she makes herself bald.
if she is not having bad trauma from cage,it could be easier maybe to make her understand cage its an okay place.not she traumatic to go because she not sure she gonna come out again or not.its very difficult to fix this behavior.
is it any way to make traumatic parrot to like her cage again??

[Michael]

There's actually a technique you can use for "trick training" a little more cage acceptance. However, target and some trick training are required requisites. If you haven't already taught targeting and some other tricks successfully, unfortunately you're gonna have to work on that first before you can get back to this.

So what you do is play a game of in the cage out of the cage. You put the parrot in the cage, give a treat, take the parrot out of cage. You walk around the room, put parrot down on a perch, pick parrot up, maybe ask for a trick to reward or pet some. Put parrot in the cage, take parrot out of the cage. Put parrot in the cage, close door, take parrot out of cage. Put parrot in cage, walk away a minute, come back to let parrot out of cage, etc. This is a condensed idea of it but you stretch it out like this. In other words you make going back to the cage a positive game. You do it so many times that the real "getting locked away in cage" is rare and unpredictable. Even when you really want to put the parrot away you play the game first not letting it know which time will be for real. Over time you give fewer treats (variable ratio reinforcement). Make it more random and unpredictable which time going into cage will earn a treat or to get to come back out. This way the parrot can never guess which time will be bad so it always has to participate cause the majority of times are good.

[GlassOnion]

Lol! I do the above all the time, and it works great! I'll randomly put Apple in the cage and give him millet and he'll just walk back out after a few seconds. He doesn't refuse to be put in it because he knows theres a reward for it. And there are pedicure perches in there, I want him to use them!

Melon, how about a tree stand?
http://www.perchfactory.com/images/gall ... 5020%20(19).gif