The cage-free pet parrot

[HIDDENTRUTH]

well for me its a bucket, and they are trained to come to me for eating and playing then going back inside without going out of there bucket to some place else (even though they can fly).Sometimes they do go and discover places in my room but after they are done, they get back inside no need for me to take them out or put them back in, they can go on there free will

[EvieWg]

I'm a tad late for this topic, I see... but I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I've had 3 birds in my life, I grew up with a B&G macaw and a Grey. The B&G macaw lived on a play gym, he was clipped so he never flew around, he basically just hung out on the gym all day. The Grey (congo) could not be trusted unsupervised, he would constantly fly down to follow us (or explore if we ever left him alone). Currently, I own a Dusky Pionus and he is fine hanging out on his tree/top of his cage. I take him to work with me everyday and he more or less just watches the world go by.

I think if you want to go cage-free, it really depends on the bird. Some birds are super curious/clingy and it would never work. Other birds are okay to hang out in one place all day without much of a fuss and (like my dusky and my parents' B&G) will eat, sleep, play on their gyms.

[TheNzJessie]

Kili barely poops in her cage and holds it in. I let her out in the morning and evening (at least) and she flies right over to her flight stand and poops on the newspaper underneath. This is very convenient and lets me clean the cage less frequently. Furthermore it keeps the mess contained in one place. When she is out, she'll normally fly to her stand to poop as well. However, when I leave her in the cage overnight or for some duration she just goes in the cage so I don't have any such problems. I taught her to do this very informally.

Most of the "training" for pooping on the stand was that when I felt a poop was coming up soon (timing), I'd send her back to her perch. The sooner she pooped, the sooner I'd call her back and spend time with her again.

oh how i with jango had potty manners like kili. im sure rainbow lorikeets have an instinct to make as much mess as possible =p

[captwest]

I've had cage free Amazons and Crows, my mother had a YN when we were kids that never went into a cage unless we were traveling somewhere, except for the crows we are talking clipped birds here,the Amazons lived on perches in the house and on a tree limb when outside , which was usually all day, and inside at nite.However we are talking clipped birds here, flighted birds wouldn't work without some way to restrain them. I don't want to get into the clip or not thing but to each his own, my many clipped amazon are only caged when i leave the house and are quite happy to spend the nite on or in their open cage, most prefer to sleep on top or on a external perch. Cleaning is also much easier as i only change the paper under a perch and the birds are only in their cages to feed which means that their cages aren't nearly as messy as a cage with a full time bird in it.

[EvieWg]

You know, that is one thing I like about having no cages... NO POOP on cage bars!!! That was the one thing I hated doing was scrubbing cages.

[Grey_Moon]

It's quite a holistic, natural and spiritual experience living with a cage-free parrot----particularly one who is flighted.

Jacko about two summers ago had a period of two weeks where he was, if I was home, cage-free. At night he usually slept on his open cage door or in a makeshift nest I made for him of blankets on top of a shelf over my bed (let's not discuss the getting pooped on factor didn't think that one through). It was a completely different experience then having a pet in a cage---we truly became a flock and he was less of a pet than another being who lived with me---almost person like.

It was very wonderful and it let him express much more natural behaviour but...seeing as I have two warring birds and in no way have a bird-proofed home...it was an experiment I had to cut short. Perhaps when my cockatiel has passed on in a decade or so and I've got the means to bird-proof I will try again. But for right now he remains caged.

I am also not sure, unless it was a specifically-designed bird room if I could feel comfortable leaving him out while gone---he is certainly a roving little mischeivious bugger.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I actually think they like having their own space, at least to some extent. When Scotty and Scooter are out they, Scotty especially, will often go inside voluntarily. I'd love to have bird rooms or inside aviAries, but given some variety and freedom I don't see a cage as a prison -- and with any other pets in the house I think it is mandatory. In fact, unless you are the only human... How do you address safety?

Fwiw, I think a clipped bird in an ample cage may have more mobility than on a perch unless the playstand has a lot of alternative perching areas--all six cage surfaces can be traversed as well as the perches and toys within.

[StarbucksMom]

Starbuck my Sun Conure has his cage open all day, and has a rope from his cage to his play tree where there are lots of toys and a suction cup perch to the window. He is sequestered to the bedroom only that is pretty parrot-proof. It Has worked out perfectly for us.

[MeanDonnaJean]

...And finally there are sooo many things I'm willing to do for my birds but step in bird poop in every room of my house all the time is just not one of them. Ick!!

I'm with U, "mom". Lord have mercy, just the thought itself gives me the freakin' willies.

But don't blame me....blame the OCD (which I unhappily inherited from MY Mom)

[HungryBird]

Here is a blog written by someone who has a cage-free home:

http://cagefreeparrot.blogspot.com/

And here is a page that shows Fort Coco:

http://cagefreeparrot.blogspot.com/search/label/Fort%20Coco

Very cool stuff. I read her blog.