Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Feeling defeated

Bird rooms, aviaries, cages, foraging trees, play gyms, and stands. Discuss your parrot's locations and perches.

Feeling defeated

Postby Saber » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:03 pm

Two weeks ago I purchased a new cage for my CAG, Scooty. It arrived last week finally and I was SO excited. Here is a link to the cage:

http://www.kingscages.com/ProductDetail ... ductID=406

As I was building it I was so excited at how big it was in person. I'm so glad I measured everything so many times lol. Each piece I slid out I examined and talked to Scooty and showed him. I thought it might help the process of acclimating him into the new cage this way. We do the same thing with toys and food. I talk to whatever the object is and talk to him and introduce them...I'm sure if anyone saw this thru a window they'd think I was nuts lol. BUT everything went really well...aside of the HORRIBLE instructions that came with the cage (which don't match the online instructions and I have 2 extra holes on the top of the cage that aren't depicted in the directions nor do I have screws for....that's for another story lol). So days go by as we are getting used to the new cage. It is going MUCH faster then I thought it would. I was sure he would be terrified of it. But when I opened the door of his old one facing the new one he flew right for it. Kind of dive bombed it actually lol...he's about as good of a flier as I am a driver ;) If I could issue him a ticket for unexpected turning and cutting people off...

Anyway, on to my dissapointment. So he is now totally in his new cage. The old one is out of the picture. He is eating very well and drinking and everything is going pretty great. BUT he can't seem to move around very well. His old cage is 3/4 inch bar spacing and this new one is 1 inch with 5mm bar thickness. From everything that I've read and people that I've spoken to say that 1 inch would be ok for a CAG but no more then that. I was also following the rule to buy as big of a cage as possible for your bird (especially since I'm gone during the day at work). So I went to Kings Cages and purchased the largest cage I could find that did not exceed the 1 inch spacing (and wasn't thousands of dollars in stainless steel). That's basically how I picked the 406 cage. It was the biggest I saw with that proper spacing. But Scooty seems to have a hard time getting around in it. I see him trying so hard to move from one spot to the other, and eventually he gets there, but it breaks my heart to see him holding on to one bar while his other little foot is grabbing through the air trying to find the closest perch. I stick my hand in there to give him something to stand on and help him to the next spot. I guess I thought this cage would be the perfect fit for him since he's a bit of a bigger CAG. Maybe its because he is missing one of his toes? It has never caused him any set back ever, so I find it hard to believe it would now, but then again this cage is different.

So that is one area that makes my heart sink....is this cage too big for him? Did I make a mistake in getting this one? Will he figure things out and this is just new behavior that will get better as he gets more familiar with the cage? I have all sorts of perches pretty close together so that way its like helping him along. I've also added toys he can climb on and help him get a better grip so he can get to the next spot.

The other thing is the bowl placement. The way the swing doors are it makes it hard to get a perch close to the bowls. While this might not be an issue for a macaw, it seems to be for Scooty. I saw him tonight have one foot on the side of the bowl and the other foot stretched way behind him on the dragon wood branch I got him. I also have a smaller perch right in front of the bowl but he would have to walk down the dragon wood perch and then step on the bowl to get to the perch. Or, he would have to skirt across the front of the cage.

I just see him struggle with his new set up and it breaks my heart. He's my little buddy and I was intending on making his life better by adding this improvement and now I'm worried that I've made it worse. This new cage is probably 2-3 times bigger then his old one in over all sq.ft.

I'd love to hear anyones thoughts on this. Am I just over-reacting and need to give him more time? Should I try something different in regards to the set up? I can add some pictrues if that would be helpful but if I've chosen the cage in error and the 1inch spacing is too large I don't know what to do :(
Last edited by Saber on Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:18 am, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Saber
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 46
Location: Wichita, KS
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey (Scooty)
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Wolf » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:39 am

Pictures would be a big help in this situation.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Saber » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:38 am

I'm at work until 2 today so I'll snap some pics and get them on here as soon as I get home. Also, I get paid on the 7th and should have some extra money to buy a few things (not much, maybe $100 or so) so if you guys have suggestions on things I could buy to improve the cage or his experience in there, please let me know (after you see the pics of course). Thanks guys :) I really appreciate all the time and thought you give this forum. It's so great to have a resource to bounce ideas off of. Our only pet store near Wichita was called "The Parrot House" and they have since closed as of last year so I don't have any decent stores to go in and talk about things like this.
User avatar
Saber
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 46
Location: Wichita, KS
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey (Scooty)
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby liz » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:55 am

They adapt. When I got Lacy home is when I saw she had no toes on the front of her left foot, just little nubs. She has learned how to get around and it does not bother her.
User avatar
liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Wolf » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:57 am

That is alright, we love to help our bird friends wherever they are. Be assured that we care for your bird as much as the ones that are living with us and they are the reason we are here.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Pajarita » Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:03 am

:lol: Yes, you are over-reacting, my dear. It's a wonderful cage for a gray and he is lucky you got him such a spacious one! Parrots, like any other animal, get used to certain things and would have, sometimes, a bit of an adjustment period when they need to change certain routines. But these little 'adjustments' are good for them. They make them think things through and move in different ways, thereby utilizing other muscles and that's is very good for them.

Most people think of their birds as babies, kind of helpless and in need of constant guidance, and think that making things easier for them is the right way to go but it's not. They are intelligent animals and can think things through all on their own. They are also meant for climbing and balancing and one less toe makes no real difference so stop worrying, stop putting your hand in his cage so he can have a better perch, don't try to help him so much and let him do his thing in his own way. He will find the way.

Now, as to perches in front of the eating and water bowls, yes, I would put some where he can perch comfortably and reach the bowls but you can do this easily in any type of cage (the perches don't necessarily have to go from one end of the cage to the other, you can place a short one just in front of them or even hang a boing or a swing from the top of the cage.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Saber » Tue Mar 31, 2015 4:59 pm

Here are a few pics, hope they help :) I tried to include what the bowl access looks like as well as the size of the cage and a closer look of the width of the bars compared to Scooty.
Attachments
IMAG0098.jpg
IMAG0092.jpg
IMAG0099.jpg
IMAG0096.jpg
1427831414988.jpg
User avatar
Saber
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 46
Location: Wichita, KS
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey (Scooty)
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Saber » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:26 pm

Just an update: he's doing much better after I got home from work. He zipped across the top of his cage very quickly and seems more confident of himself. I couldnt help but smile ear to ear when I watched that and when I walked up to open his cage I was greeted with his usual "what's up, buddy" and when he came out it was the usual "scoooooooty". It crackes me up when he draws out the "o's" in his name. I didn't realize I did that until he started doing it. But I am originally from Minnesota so.... Lol. I'd still like any opinions or thoughts tho :)
User avatar
Saber
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 46
Location: Wichita, KS
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey (Scooty)
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Wolf » Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:07 am

This looks like a wonderful cage for Scooty and it sounds like he just needed a little time to adjust to the different bar spacing so that he would feel comfortable with it. You have the right idea with the short perches in front of the food and water dishes. Really the only things that I am seeing that I would change is that I would lower the perch that he is on a little so that he is not all scrunched down when on it and I would scallop the long dowel perch so as to provide a varied surface for the benefit of his feet.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Feeling defeated

Postby Saber » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:03 am

I'll do that tonight. In the picture he is bent over getting ready to preen. He can stand up straight and not touch the top but it is very close...and you are right :) I will move it when I get home. That top opens up but it can't with that perch there. So I was thinking I'd move it down to the very top of the door. That way I can still swing the door out, he will still have a perch high up and I can also open the top area too.

That crappy dowel was the one that came with the cage. Do you think I can get away with shaping it with my little hand dremel? It has a little sand attachment with it. It might take forever but its the only thing I can think of. I don't have many tools used for wood shaping on that scale. Unless you have a suggestion I can pick up for cheap at the store?
User avatar
Saber
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 46
Location: Wichita, KS
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey (Scooty)
Flight: Yes

Next

Return to Housing

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store