How often do you let your lovies out of their cage?

[runningmom23]

Hi - just wondering how often you let your lovies out of their cage? :confused:We have a very busy household (kids, dog , cats) - so Roxy and Bongo get out for about 1-2 hours a day (in the a.m. and after dinner). They LOVE their out of cage time and as soon as they see me coming to open up their door they get SUPER excited....however when I am busy doing other stuff in the kitchen (where their cage is) they try so hard to get my attention in hopes to be let out. It's kinda sad:very_sad:. I really had no idea birds would be so affectionate - they want to be with me all the time. I thought I would spend more time with them in the evening after the kids go to bed but I didn't realize how much my cats enjoy this time with me and I can't lock them away ... I guess this is the parent-guilt all parents feel!!

[Enko_chan]

My lovies get out for at least a half hour every day with their dad...he is very busy with work and school, so he works them into his morning and evening routine, will let them climb on him when he is doing homework... and then usually an hour or so with me. They could spend more time out and exploring if they wanted, and sometimes they do, but lately they've wanted to be on me when they're out and then go right home when they are done socializing.

As for the other animals, we've only got fish, but my mother has cats, dogs, birds (not to mention lizards, snakes, and fish) and her cats are trained to stay out of the bird room. However, she does have one room in the house where she keeps the litter box and many toys, scratching posts- things they'll enjoy, and when the birds are out to play in the room the cats must stay. It doesn't hurt them for just an hour at a time, and when I'm there I'll eat one of Mum's hard candies, rub the metallic wrapper between my hands near the cats, drive them nuts with it and then toss it into the room- never fails, the cat can spend an entire afternoon killing that little wrapper... and the money that we spend on toys for our animal companions.

It can be hard to divide time between our family members. This I know quite well! I come from a family with eight siblings, some of whom have children of their own... I have no children but wish I had, and have them over often. I have five tame birds all of whom vie for my time. I also need to stay disciplined about work... which is hard when all the little ones, birds and human beings alike, want my undivided attention- but we find a way. Birds, I've noticed, really thrive from routine. I pretty much leave the house, sleep and rise, and play with the birds at the same time every week. If I leave during an unusual time or day, the birds become very upset... and if I am not playing with them at their usual time, they begin their patented "LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT" routines! If you can make just a half hour or an hour a day for them, it will make them happy- but the more time you can spend with them, the merrier. Except for Benny bird, my male parrotlet, who would eat, sleep, and live on my shoulder if I let him, all my birds have trained me into finding their perfect play times and durations as they got into our flock.

Speaking of... my Kokoro is presently working his LET ME OUT ROUTINE, he's progressed to telling me what a good boy he his, and how much he loves me, to singing a song about how he's good and wants to step up and give me "good kisses" so I think I am going to go get him.

Also...

I do not know how your home/kitchen is set up and don't want to get too off topic, as you may have already considered and taken care of the issues involved, but a kitchen can be a very dangerous place for birds to live. Many things can happen in the kitchen that release fumes that are highly toxic to birds' sensitive respiratory systems. From something minor, but dangerous over time like fumes from cooking oils, to PTFE (teflon) poisoning. In fact, the room in my house where the birds are kept stays shut tight and the birds are not allowed out of the room when there is cooking activity going on.

[runningmom23]

Also...

I do not know how your home/kitchen is set up and don't want to get too off topic, as you may have already considered and taken care of the issues involved, but a kitchen can be a very dangerous place for birds to live. Many things can happen in the kitchen that release fumes that are highly toxic to birds' sensitive respiratory systems. From something minor, but dangerous over time like fumes from cooking oils, to PTFE (teflon) poisoning. In fact, the room in my house where the birds are kept stays shut tight and the birds are not allowed out of the room when there is cooking activity going on.[/QUOTE]

I know these are concerns ...but our house is very open concept - livingroom/kitchen one huge room. This is the only option unless we put them in a spare room upstairs but then they definitely wouldn't be involved in our lives:confused:

[Enko_chan]

Understood... that's why I always qualify such a recommendation by noting your house may not be like mine.

My kitchen is somewhat closed off, so it would be very dangerous to have the birds in there. So long as there is very good ventilation and precautions are taken, it should be OK.

[Pips mom]

It really does depend alot on the house/kitchen. My parents kept their cockatiel in the kitchen....it sounds bad when you hear someone say their bird is kept in the kitchen! but as long as it's a big or open kitchen and you know the dangers and birds are not out while cooking, then it can work!
Lovies are smart little birds....once they know the freedom of being out of cage, they want OUT....ALL the time! With Pip I am able to let him stay out of his cage all day until I go to work. Same with Ivy....those two are very demanding of their out of cage time and really need to be out alot. They do ok out though without having to watch them every second. Normally Pip is very mischeivous and would be looking around for something good to get into, but he's got his love Ivy and spends most of his time following her around! Rudy and my tiels don't get as much time out of cage as the others do. I usually bring Rudy into the living room and let him out away from the others, or maybe bring Ivy and/or Pip out there too with him, but I let him out, and eventually he'll just go back to his cage on his own, so when he does I just shut the door and put him back in the bird room with the others. Rudy likes coming out, mostly I think to fly around, but he still likes the security of his cage too, so he seems happy with the time out that he gets. Same with the tiels....they seem happy and content with the time out I give them, even though they're not out all the time like Pip and Ivy.
Yes, you feel guilty when you can't always give them the time out of cage that they usually get! and yes, they do love to have the same routine each day, so when that changes too much, you get unhappy birdies! Ivy is especially like this. They know the routine each day, but sometimes things come up and that routine changes.....if I get them up earlier sometimes to go somewhere, they know something's going on! but what's nice is they also all go in their cages pretty happily and accepting when it's time for me to go to work because that's the routine and they are used to that and that's their quiet time to themselves....take a nap, whatever until mom gets home! Ivy will even go in her cage for me on her own at that time! I rarely even have to do it....she'll be sitting inside her cage somewhere when I go to put her in! What a good girl! They know!
But, yeah, them little lovies are stinkers and they know when they see you and are in their cage......they know how to communicate that to you very well that they want out! They'll either do the little "mad" act where they bang things, or hang upside down and try to look all cute....they try every angle! smart little stinkers! Sometimes if their efforts don't work, they'll try to open the door themselves! They are just such clever little birds when it comes to getting what they want!

[Dodo]

Sometimes if their efforts don't work, they'll try to open the door themselves! They are just such clever little birds when it comes to getting what they want!

Haha! Frodo does that. Her cage has little 'doors' that slide up so you can put food dishes in without putting your hand in harm's way (very useful because she'll try to take my hand off if I put it in her cage) which I ended up having to tie down so that she couldn't escape; she opened one once and got out. Thank goodness no doors or windows were open!

As to the amount of time she spends outside the cage...it really depends on my schedule. I'd love to have her out more often, but juggling work, chores, and other responsibilities does cut into the time I can give her. She gets at least half an hour outside the cage every day, sometimes more depending on when I work. And even if I can't have her out because I'm doing something that requires concentration and wouldn't do well with a curious little beak involved (knitting, sewing, etc) I do try to either sit near the cage or bring the cage into the room I'm in so that she isn't alone.

[OrbiRock]

question about tamed lovies...

if for example a door, window or any opening which is left unattended... would your tamed lovies try to escape? if they do, will they still come back? or they will just fly freely away home?...

[Pips mom]

I don't think any bird escapes outside intentionally. Birds flying free outside is how their lives are supposed to be....in the wild, and when they are outside or see outside a window, I often wonder if they realize this. The thing with a tame bird.....alot of them get very scared or freak out when big changes happen around them....a new home, going to the vet, OR if they escaped outside. A bird that gets lose outside is probably a very scared bird and that bird is not thinking about how to get back home....it's thinking about a predator making him it's next meal! Any bird that takes off outside will probably fly off in fear, even if wings are clipped, the wind can help lift them so they could possibly fly. Parrots are not homing pigeons and cannot find their way back! NO door or window is left open unnattended here! We have screens in our windows and a screen door.