Skittles and the Travel Cage Adventure

[Kirsten]

So I bought a travel cage awhile back from a pet store to put Skittles in to sleep at night. She's still a whiner that likes to spend most nights cuddled up next to my head. When I tried experimenting with the cage I found that it opened from the top and getting Skittles inside was a chore. Now I'm trying to schedule a date for her to get her nails trimmed again and I need to be able to get her inside the travel cage for the vet visit.

Does anyone have any tips or stories about how they got their parrots to be comfortable in a travel cage? I've even got her cozy hut inside... I can coax her into her regular cage if she's being a brat, should I just put some food she really likes in there?

[Roger P]

I use a modified kennel similar to the one Michael made for Truman. All I did with Merlin was to have the carrier close to the cage for a while until he got used to it being there. Once he began coming out of his cage and jumping down onto it, I started opening up the top for him to climb down and play with the toys inside, leaving the top open so he could come and go as he pleased. Then I began closing the top when he was inside, just for a few seconds, then letting him back out. Then I gradually increased the time I closed the door. By this time he understood that he would get back out again. I haven't had any trouble getting him into the carrier thus far.

Just my two cents, to quote the Capt.

[CheekyandMalolo]

Our two have a tiny tiny cage that's nice and short and a little wide, perfect travel cage in my perspective. Only problem is the tiny ting doors that go with it, one in the front and one on the top, alternatively you can take the entire lid off, anyone ever tried to put 2 birds in a cage and KEEP them in while you put the lid back on??? Doesn't work. The conures are getting pretty good at going 'down the hole' when asked, and it's too small an opening for them to hurry back out of it. We also Put their favorite food(apple and sultanas) in it. Mali however we'd just grab and put her thru the hole. She's fine with that, she's not the type to hold a grudge at all, but seriously she's far too dim to figure out how to go down the hole. She's the kind of bird to sit in her cage with all the doors of it open, flipping out because the other birds are out and she's not...
I would love a small dog carrier with a perch in it, I love how much more secure they are(I'm a tad paranoid about bottoms of cages falling off and birds getting out.