Too big?

[Julsiebean]

I have a large flight cage, in great shape. It housed my jenday, and my cockatiels. Now it belongs to Juniper, my Quaker. When I came home with her I bought her all new toys with the help of the lady I was adopting her from who knows/loves Quakers well. Juniper is about a year old. She was abandoned at the store, so I don't know much about her past. Juniper, does not play. She sits on one of two perches in her cage, ignores her swings, toys, ropes, and other perches. I leave her cage open the majority of the day and she sits on top, seemingly happy. I have a smaller cage, one I use as the outdoor cage for pretty afternoons and she seems happier in there? It is like, a third of the size of her cage now. It was just a Petsmart special too good to pass up and perfect for outside time. Kokomo now lives in it, until I can get my hands on another nice flight cage. This cage though, is more then enough for a lovie.

I've not rearranged her toys since bringing her home, I was told to wait a few months, I've had her since March 25th.

In the last few weeks Juniper has become SUPER nippy and pissy over her cage. She doesn't want to come out or be messed with. I thought she was hormonal, and was told to reduce her light time. Only way to do that would be to start covering her. Could she just not like her cage? Should I move everything around and start covering her? Ideas/thoughts?

[kaylayuh]

I've never had a bird not like a cage because it was too big. I have had birds not play with toys because they don't like them. If they're not playing, I try to buy a variety of different toys and see what it is they like.

As for being territorial about their cage, it may just be hormones. I would decrease daylight hours by covering the bird and either waking her up at a later time or putting her to bed at an earlier time. Once I started to put Cheney Bird to bed at 8:30 instead of 10, his nippiness all but disappeared. He's never had a problem coming in and out of his cage though.

[patdbunny]

Cage territoriality/cage bound happens. On average, how many hours a day do you have the bird out? I notice the more out of cage time, the less likely this is a problem. My pet birds are out on average a minimum of 4 hours a day. Not necessarily glued to a human body, but cage door open so they can come and go as they please.

A few things you can try -
Leaving the cage door open whenever you're home. I like to put a play stand in front of the door so the bird can come out and leave the cage entirely.

Move the cage to another location.

Rearrange the stuff in the cage.

Cage bound/cage territoriality is something I believe I'm seeing more with the push towards "bigger is better" in caging. I agree generally bigger is better; but it seems it lulls people into thinking the bird doesn't need to come out as often or something. I don't care if I live in a mansion, I still NEED to get out regularly.

[Julsiebean]

I don't think she needs a bigger cage, her cage is HUGE! I thought maybe, if anything, she wanted a smaller cage?

I live the top of her cage open/with a play area up there from about 7am-7pm. I only close it when I leave the house her her safety. She goes in the afternoons with me to pick up my kid and run "car" errands. She spends probably a good, solid 2-3 hours aday with me/on me.

Tonight I will cover her cage after I she goes in for the night. Sound good? If this doesn't help I will rotate her toys.

[kaylayuh]

Tonight I will cover her cage after I she goes in for the night. Sound good? If this doesn't help I will rotate her toys.

If I didn't cover my birds cages, I don't think they'd ever go to sleep. They just go go go go go and play all day. The budgies nap throughout the day, but are little flutterbugs and flying all over otherwise.

If I can ask, why don't you cover the cage? I couldn't imagine not covering mine.

[Julsiebean]

I always covered my 'tiels. Always covered all my birds in the past. However, Juniper was not covered at the store I got her from and the lady said I didn't need to that she was not used to it and to let her become aware of her surroundings. Same story with the lovebird, her old owner never covered her. Since she is still so new here I thought I should apply the same thinking to her. So yeah, it was weird to me as I always kept my birds covered but I figured this other lady knew what she was talking about. Right now my flock is strange, they are both so new to the home just trying to do it all right, you know?

[kaylayuh]

I always covered my 'tiels. Always covered all my birds in the past. However, Juniper was not covered at the store I got her from and the lady said I didn't need to that she was not used to it and to let her become aware of her surroundings. Same story with the lovebird, her old owner never covered her. Since she is still so new here I thought I should apply the same thinking to her. So yeah, it was weird to me as I always kept my birds covered but I figured this other lady knew what she was talking about. Right now my flock is strange, they are both so new to the home just trying to do it all right, you know?

Do they sleep fine without be covered? I never even thought to ask whether Cheney Bird was covered in the rescue. His first night here, he seemed a bit afraid of the sheet so I left it off on one side. Now he's covered just like the budgies are. Even with a sheet though, if I turn on a bright light, he breaks out of the cage and thinks it's play time. Just last night I turned on the kitchen light and he broke out and flew to me to cuddle! Sometimes I think covering them is more so I can sleep at night than for them.

[Julsiebean]

I mean....yeah! They really seem to. Once the house quiets for the night aka the kiddos are bathed/asleep they don't make much, if any noise at all. The part of the house they are in gets little to no traffic and they seem to go on to sleep. My kids get up really damn early though, Juniper eyeballs my toddler like "oh. it's you again, don't you EVER sleep?" so maybe I need to adjust her hours with a cover as best I can. Kokomo though, seems peachy. Mean/sweet/crazy, but peachy!

[kaylayuh]

Juniper eyeballs my toddler like "oh. it's you again, don't you EVER sleep?"

Funny, I look at my birds like that!

[pchela]

I agree with Pat... yes, bigger is always better in cage size. Who wants to live in a closet? But, bigger cage does not mean less out of cage time. That's just silly. They need both!

Anyway, I doubt she needs a smaller cage though she might appreciate a corner with a sleep tent or hidey hut where she can feel safe and hidden. Just try and keep the cage door open whenever you're home and maybe do some positive reinforcement with her... give her a treat for coming out of the cage. Or, if you need to start smaller, give her a treat through the bars, then through the open door, then when she comes out... a gradual process. Do you know her favorite treat? Only give it to her for training... no other times. That should motivate her.