Bottom Of The Cage Dweller

I took Rocky to the Avian vet this morning for all his testing and so far so good! My vet seems to think Rocky is a perfectly healthy Tiel. Of course we have to wait for some results, but still the vet didn't think I had much to worry about.

He also clipped his wings for me, just for taming sake.

Rocky is pretty fearful. When I went to pick him up he flew all around the womans living room and had a couple of close calls. He was raised by his parents and didn't have any real handling prior to coming to my home. Since he has been here (we are going on day two). He typically hisses at me and backs himself up into a corner of his cage.

I only stick my hand in his cage to change his food and water dishes and to add toys.

Now yesterday I wasent able to spend a ton of time with him because I had to work a weird shift. But I have the next three days off to devote to him.

I noticed that when I am around he is primarily on the floor of his cage. Usually in what I like to call his "secure corner". If I sit by his cage and kinda sing song his name and tell him what a pretty bird he is, he will chow down on his millet and food in his bowl. Moving back and forth in his cage. But I hardly ever see him on his perch.

Do you think it's because he is young still just prefers the floor? He is a little over 12 weeks old?

Now prior to this he still wasent on the perch much but...I added three new toys to his cage last night. A ladder with a mirror and beads he can move. Which I placed near his favorite corner. And two hanging toys which I placed at either end of his perch. He did some hissing and flapping when I installed the toys. Do you thing the hanging toys might make him to scared to climb up on the perch?

He DOES climb the bars of his cage. And it's not like he just sits in one spot not moving. He eats, drinks ect.

My vet didn't seem too worried. He thinks he may just me fearful and preferring the floor right now.

Should I possibly make his perch lower?

I don't know. For all I know he could have been on his perch when I was at work. Lol I just want some opinions.

My Lovebird spends a lot of time on the floor of his cage, playing ect. And he is perfectly healthy. So I know it's not always a bad sign. Just a quirky bird.

Well I just talked with his previous owner/breeder, and she said that he and his clutch mates all hung out at the bottom of their cage at first. She thinks he should be back to normal in a few days.

I did move one toy away from his perch. When I baby talk him he will come to the front of his cage and then excitedly climbs the bars. He then would hop onto his perch but he was acting like the toy was in his way, and so he would hop back down. So maybe moving the offending toy to the back corner will make him feel more secure on the perch.

I have been watching (newly named) Bruno today and realize that he IS perching. But on his food dish, not his perch. He does hang out on the floor some but every time I have checked on him today he has been sitting on or in his food dish.

Again he is eating, drinking, climbing the bars of his cage, and generally acting normal. He even escaped earlier and led me around the house. But that is another story for another thread.

I did some looking online and found that some 12 week old or young tiels in general don't always "get" perching. I think that is what I am seeing with Bruno. When he is fearful he retreats to the corner of his cage, resting on the floor. But when he is calm and comfortable he is perched on his food dish.

Does anyone here have experience with this? This is my first young tiel.

Casey is the youngest tiel I have ever had, and I've had her since she was 5 months old. She's perfectly fine roaming the cage bottom, even 12 years later, but she's never hidden in a corner, afraid. Casey was also hand raised and tame when I got her.


Being that Bruno is parent raised, you need to give him some space and time to settle in. He's not going to be like a hand raised bird that instantly enjoys human interaction, he needs time to get over his fears and learn to trust you.



I've put this link up before.

Working with Fearful Parrots: A Study in Videos | Learning Parrots