First Out of cage session

[atison]

Let me first introduce ourselves. My wife and I just brought home our first lovebird, a juvenile (8-10 week old) peachfaced that was handfed, but had been in a cage with another juvenile for a few weeks and not really socialized with humans much. We got it from a bird only shop that really impressed us with the care and love they showed to all their birds whenever we went in and asked questions.

Ok, that being out of the way. Our new bird has warmed up pretty well to its new environment, and simply sitting by the cage and whistling to it will usually get responses and even a visit to your side of the cage. It got acquainted to its Cozy Hut (or whatever they are called) and since spends a lot of time in there ruslting about and biting the edges.

Well, last night we decided to offere some out of cage time. We decided we are not going to go in a get him out, so we bird proofed our basement (finished and not too large of a room), and just sat down there with him in a closed door cage while we watched tv for a while. I took the Cozy Hut out earlier in the day cause it was needing cleaning.

After a while of whistling back and forth and watching it start to get comfortable, we opened the door and sat back. It came right out and started inspecting the carpet and looking us over. We sat down in the floor with it and put some millet about 2 feet from us. It came over and munched for a bit then started exploring.

We had it out for about an hour and it ranged from going about its merry way, to coming up to me and walking under my legs (sitting on the floor knees up). So I thinks its comfort level is pretty good.

The problem was getting it back in its cage. We brought the cage over, and after a few minutes, it hoped up in, but when we went to shut the door, it hopped back out.

So after trying to corral it back into the cage, I had to resort to handling it to put it in the cage. So I lightly dropped a shirt on it and picked it up. As I did that it let out this pitiful cry that I had never heard from it before. I cupped it in my hands and held it close to my boddy while rubbing its head slightly, and it cried the whole time. I put it back in its cage and took it up to its room where I let it rest for the night.

I feel like everything went well, but I am not sure if I hurt the trust a little when I handled it. It didn't move from the perch spot it landed on when I put it back in the cage, and even slept in that spot all night.

We will continue to work with it (and hopefully name it so I can stop calling it "it"). I just hope our sessions can end a little better.

[Elle]

Hello Atison,

It seems you are doing well with little birdie here. It seems that the time out of the cage session was pretty good. I can understand your concerns about how the return to the cage ended.

I think you did the right thing. You placed a barrier between your hands and the bird. Since this was the first session and the first time, yes, it may be a little traumatic for the bird but I am confident it will recover and gain confidence in you very soon. Birds don't really like to be towelled but sometimes it is necessary.

I do have a couple of questions for you. Is your bird's wings clipped? And have you offered your hand for step up? If the baby was socialised but no real effort were made while housed with another bird, since it has not been that long, I doubt your bird would be terrified of hands or would have gone back being wild. I have a feeling it would re-learn to step up pretty fast. You said that it would walk under your legs. A bird has to be very confident to do that. Usually, they run away from the legs or other body parts:lol

I rescued a lovebird last year. I got her from a store and she was not handled for a long time. I suspect she was socialised because I know the breeder and his dedication to his birds. Phoebe was very nervous and wanted nothing to do with us. However, she never bit me and would step up very well onto our hands. And that since the first week we had her. For the first two week I had her, I had to towel her in order to give her two different medication twice a day. So all hopes are not lost :)


You may want to try to get your bird to step up, see how that goes. If it's a no go, what you can try to do next time you have time out of the cage is once the session is over, dim out the lights a few minutes before trying to return the bird to the cage. That may calm him down a little and it may remain the cage once it goes it.

Hope that helps,

[Janie]

I think you are off to a very good start with your new lovie, "It"...:D Let me ask this: are his/her wings clipped? I know that is a personal choice but it really is helpful in taming a bird and also in keeping one safe from mirrors, windows and ceiling fans, etc. I don't know of any other way you could have gotten him back in the cage w/o the method you used or one similar. All three of my lovies are tame and came to me that way but the younger two are clipped and probably always will be to some degree. Don't get me wrong, they still fly and fly well but don't have full flight. My older bird, Oliver, is fully flighted and has been for over a year now but I'd had him for over two years (we adopted him when he was around 7) before I felt that full flight was alright for him. He is a velcro birdie and will even fly to me when I pat my shoulder. He would always rather be on me than flying around the room away from me. The younger boys love attention from me but they are very independent little lovies who love to be out of their cage and are not usually happy to go back in on their own.

I would start working on the "step up" command a.s.a.p. Using either your finger, arm or a wooden dowel. Even though Big Boi and Shy had been hand fed and socialized, I still had to teach them that and started working on it in the first week. It's amazing that now, even when they don't wanna be caught, when I tell them to step up, they'll stop dead in their tracks and hop right onto my finger 99% of the time. Makes life much easier! :D A small bathroom, dimly lit, is a good place to work with a bird when you're trying to teach them to step up. Cover mirrors and close the commode lid first.

One more thing, I'd remove that happy hut/cozy during the day. My younger two (DNA's males) sleep in theirs every night but I take them out during the day. My birds are in their own room and get out of cage time several hours, as much as 8, every day but the minute I put those cozies in their cage, they know its bed time and can't wait to snuggle in. If I'm gone and another family member has to put them to bed, they will go voluntarily when the cozies go into the cage. :D

Good luck and keep up the good work. Your patience will pay off! :)

[atison]

Thanks a lot for the info and the encouragement.

Yes, his (we are going to ahead and assume it is a he) wings are clipped.

He does seem to have confidence around us when he is out of the cage, or when we have sat next to his cage for some time, but he still shy's away from our hands, and flips out any time we put our hands into the cage.

We were going to take the happy hut out during the day, but felt it wasnt' good to freak him out every day when we did it, so we are unsure of how to procede with when to put in/take out the happy hut.

I want to start working with the up command, but since he flips out any time I put my hand in the cage (large door that he can get around my hand to get out), I am not sure how to procede unless it is during out of cage time.

We may try a smaller room where he has to be closer to us.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Janie]

If he's afraid of hands and many are, try using a dowel when teaching the step up command. It may be that he'll try the dowel and then eventually accept an arm or finger. My two hand fed birds love hands and fingers but my older bird (parent raised from a chain pet store) is not crazy about them. Because he's so tame he does love to be petted on his head and beak but he has never once eaten from my fingers. The other two will accept anything from my fingers.

[Elle]

I've always found it easier to work on the up command away from the cage. I used to take my birds play stand in the bathroom and work from there. Sessions should not be too long ( 10-15 min max) and should always end on a positive note :)

Another suggestion someone made a while ago and I tried it with a lot of success is place a towel in the tub, place the bird inthe tub and work onthe up command from there. In order to come out of the tub the bird will need to step up. The towel is only so the bird won't slip.

[DebSpace]

Excellent info from Elle and Janie. :clap: I agree completely with their comments. I take my birds away from the cage for training; in a separate room entirely. I try to keep the sessions no longer than 20 minutes and always give the praise and rewards when they respond well. The first few sessions are always just a quiet time of bonding where I talk gently and sing a sweet song using the bird's name. It's amazing how quickly they will begin to step up after that. Now near their cage, it's a 50/50 shot; maybe they will, maybe they won't. :rolleyes:

I'm certain your bird has just slipped back into the wild state, but routine handling (daily, if possible) will eventually bring him/her back to a tame, comfortable state. Irregular handling will cause a bird to revert to their wild, guarded behavior. For some birds, taming can take months of patience, love and consistency. Other birds come around more quickly than that. It definately depends on the individual bird as they each have their unique personalities just as humans do.

I have a 2-yr-old mask that has stepped up on a dowel until last week; since then she has begun to step up on my finger in our one-on-one sessions. :D My two 3-mo-old white-face Dutch blues already step up on my hand. Peach-faced birds, in general, are easier to tame than their Fischer or Masked counterparts. That doesn't mean it can't be done, as Fischers and Masks can make great pets, too, but taming can take longer and require more patience.

For more info on teaching the step-up command, you can do a search using Step up Command as the keywords to find specific threads in the Behavior and Taming section. So glad to have you in our flock. We look forward to hearing more about your sweet little "IT." ;)