To clip, or not to clip?

I am having a issue with Frankie my little corella cockatoo to accept carrier any carrier. It been over a month and he hate the carrier no matter how much I bribe him and leave him in it, or in front of him, or any type of training. The problem is he just fly away from it. I tricked him in the past by just pretending to not walk toward it while holding him then holding his back feather and get him to go in in. That no longer works as he knows it carrier time and now fly away from me every time I go to get him to put him in carrier, or even if he already out of his cage and sitting on me he knows when it time to go to carrier and flies away. I have to throw a towel over him to get him in as only way he go in now?

I hate to have to clip him, as he pretty well behaved otherwise and does listen most of the time and does fly to me on command and even can get him to fly to his cage on command, it just the carrier he refuses to go in, no matter how many rewards I give him and ETC? He hate the harness as well.

I use the carrier to bring him to work with me as hate leaving him at the house all day, but pain in the butt to have to chase him around at the end of the day to get him into the carrier. He come to me , but as soon as I even think about walking towards carrier off he goes and now he won't even come to me for a while after attempting to get him to go to carrier as he learned routine and have to towel him again.

I wondering any other way to get him to accept carrier and learn to go in without having to take his freedom away, or best to clip him to he gets use to carrier and harness? He is flight trained and target and recall trained, so he is well behaved for the most part and listen. He just hates the carrier for some reason and even changing the type of carrier makes no different. He use to being on my shoulder and want him to get use to harness for GPS reasons as well, besides carrier as don't want to lose him one day when outside? Baby my u2 gave me same issue, but she accepted it after a couple of weeks and now walks in, with Frankie been over a month and no improvement?

Perhaps try a small cage instead? He may feel scared or confused being in a clear plastic box. My dad has a goffins cockatoo and his travel cage is one of those larger “budgie” cages you get from the big box pet stores (similar in size to your carrier).

Another thing to consider, he may not balance well while moving in the carrier and is now wary of it. Kiwi, when we first got him his pakobird (he previously had a little travel cage), had balance issues immediately when moving. After some observation, we realized in the small cage he’d hold the bars for stability and once we installed a little plastic drawer handle in the POB for him to hold on to, he had no further issues with balance. You may want to consider trying installing one of these in the acrylic carrier as a foot hold and take him for a walk or ride and see how he does- https://www.homedepot.com/p/Laurey-...-Drawer-Center-to-Center-Pull-34842/308058827 just be sure to swap the hardware it comes with for bird safe stainless

Oh dear, this reminds me of the time my sibling's horse bit my horse while she was in the 2-horse trailer. After that, my poor mare didn't want anything to do with the trailer. My dad resorted to feeding all her grain meals inside the trailer. She'd put her two front legs in and streeeeeeeetch her neck to reach her food.

I almost had a similar situation with Cairo and his Seedmate knockoff. It's acrylic, like your carrier, and he really didn't want to go in it to eat his meals (as an ekkie who needs chop and nothing else, he'd paint my walls with his chop and drive me crazy cleaning). I had to make sure it was completely clear and well aerated. Then I had to sit on the other side and pretend to eat his chop like it was most amazing thing ever. It took him a couple of days - and it took me a while to figure out he liked being able to step backwards onto a bigger perch so he could exit and look around (I think his biggest gripe about the box is that he can't turn comfortably inside it, which causes him to panic).

Now all of his meals are in the Seedmate knockoff, and both of us are happy enough. He knows that food will be served there. I only give him food outside of the box maybe a couple of times a week for foraging fun. But otherwise, it's his primary (and often only) food source.

I wonder if Frankie starts associating carriers with food or treats or anything else he loves, maybe he'll slowly change his mind? Or maybe a slightly bigger carrier that he starts to think of as a small cage instead of a carrier to strange, foreign lands?

As for when Cairo started getting used to his Birdie GoGo, we tried to make it all positive. In there, he has a shredding toy hanging and his favourite snacks (I do limit his fruit, so he gets his favourite fruits there oftentimes or maybe even his breakfast/dinner meal) in a bowl. He also had learned to balance himself by shoving his beak against the obtuse angle the zipper makes, so he's quite happy being bounced about as we cycle around. I give him treats frequently as well while he's inside there. Then again, Cairo is quite young, so likely more adaptable than a more mature bird.

Kiwibird said:

Perhaps try a small cage instead? He may feel scared or confused being in a clear plastic box. My dad has a goffins cockatoo and his travel cage is one of those larger “budgie” cages you get from the big box pet stores (similar in size to your carrier).

Another thing to consider, he may not balance well while moving in the carrier and is now wary of it. Kiwi, when we first got him his pakobird (he previously had a little travel cage), had balance issues immediately when moving. After some observation, we realized in the small cage he’d hold the bars for stability and once we installed a little plastic drawer handle in the POB for him to hold on to, he had no further issues with balance. You may want to consider trying installing one of these in the acrylic carrier as a foot hold and take him for a walk or ride and see how he does- https://www.homedepot.com/p/Laurey-...-Drawer-Center-to-Center-Pull-34842/308058827 just be sure to swap the hardware it comes with for bird safe stainless

Click to expand...

I going to try that and install the holder so he can grab on to it, as did notice my Cooper which has same carrier did lose balance the first week, but he now use to it and stay on perch even when bumped and has same carrier. Could be Frankie is wary of it, but he does seem to balance at time, but does loses balance on it as when slow when I walk with it, so he get use to motion. I do have a small travel cage can try as he has no problem with those, just was hoping carrier as can fit all birds in back seat of truck and can seat belt over it.

I did try a modified cat carrier thinking due to it being clear with perch and he hates that as well.

I agree with Kiwi's suggestion, it may just be the clear acrylic carrier that he hates or is scared of, and a regular cage might be fine with him since cages/bars are much more familiar to him...

As far as clipping him, we have to remember he's a Cockatoo, so him being able to go to work with you all day long instead of being inside a cage at home alone all day is probably going to be more important to him/for him and outweigh him being clipped in the big picture of things...And if there is any chance at all that he might fly away then you know you can't chance that...

If the regular cage doesn't work as a carrier either, or nothing else that you try works, then I would think about clipping him so that he can continue to go with you to work every day, and then spend some time every day working with him on getting into the cage voluntarily and/or accepting the Aviator Harness,, and then hopefully he'll accept the cage, or the Aviator Harness, and his wings will grow back in a couple of months, and all will be well...Clipping on a temporary basis is better in the short-term then him staying home alone in the long-term..

I know people like them, but those cat crates are terrible for birds. They’re designed with cats or small dogs in mind (I.e. animals that can/are comfortable laying down) not parrots. It can’t be comfortable for a bird to be hunched over and not able to see much/anything. Get a cage he can stand up normally in, not a wide short one he has to hunch over in. Remember, parrots are used to living in cages. Its comfortable and familiar to them, with visibility yet the feeling of security still from the bars. Something like this might suit him:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR7XA1...&pd_rd_r=37a7bf4d-556c-11e9-b2db-c36138b23f27

Kiwibird said:

I know people like them, but those cat crates are terrible for birds. They’re designed with cats or small dogs in mind (I.e. animals that can/are comfortable laying down) not parrots. It can’t be comfortable for a bird to be hunched over and not able to see much/anything. Get a cage he can stand up normally in, not a wide short one he has to hunch over in. Remember, parrots are used to living in cages. Its comfortable and familiar to them, with visibility yet the feeling of security still from the bars. Something like this might suit him:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR7XA1...&pd_rd_r=37a7bf4d-556c-11e9-b2db-c36138b23f27

Click to expand...

I totally agree with you Kiwi, they are terrible for them UNLESS you modify them to work for a parrot/bird...I have 3 different plastic carriers that I bought (they are not for cats but rather for dogs, because they're just much larger to start with), and the first thing you have to do is make sure the plastic-carrier/crate you're buying is large enough that your bird can stand completely upright while inside of it without touching the top, and that means you're probably going to buy a larger crate than you would think, especially for a large bird...But they can all be modified to work the same way as any bird-carrier you can buy...The only reason I do it that way instead of just buying a bird-carrier is because I love designing/building things myself in my shop, I have the tools to do it, and I like saving money...I'd much rather buy a $30-$40 dog carrier and turn it into a parrot carrier with perches, bowls, etc. than spend hundreds on one of those acrylic things or the Pak-O-Birds...And yes, you can make your own Pak-O-Birds out of a regular hiking backpack, some sheets of acrylic plastic, some plastic screen, and a little creativity...Spent $50 on a hiking backpack at Walmart and $10 on the rest and it took a week to build and looks like a Pak-O-Bird..Better than spending $200-$300!

Kiwibird said:

I know people like them, but those cat crates are terrible for birds. They’re designed with cats or small dogs in mind (I.e. animals that can/are comfortable laying down) not parrots. It can’t be comfortable for a bird to be hunched over and not able to see much/anything. Get a cage he can stand up normally in, not a wide short one he has to hunch over in. Remember, parrots are used to living in cages. Its comfortable and familiar to them, with visibility yet the feeling of security still from the bars. Something like this might suit him:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR7XA1...&pd_rd_r=37a7bf4d-556c-11e9-b2db-c36138b23f27

Click to expand...

I hate the cat carrier as well due to the fact they have to hunch over, reason why I wanted him to get use to the clear acrylic carrier. That Pawhut cage is about the size of the carrier and a inch bigger, then the clear one, but would work perfect as what I was looking for. The Prevue travel version was to small. That Pawhut is good size and stainless steel which is nice and price is good when compared to other options. was also looking at the Pak-O-Bird?

I may clip him temporary as EllenD suggested, if the new cage doesn't work out as it is better to have him around people, instead of cage during the day. He is fully flight trained and does come back on command and stay in his enclosure at work when I put him there and doesn't fly out. He going to have to get use to harness and GPS before he let him outdoors, he will come back off a tree and land on my, or friend shoulder as last owner let him out by accident one day as she forgot to close the front door and let him out of cage, he flew right out the door and when to tree across the street, shockingly whistle at him he came right to me and landed right on my shoulder, as was already training him and bonded to him. One of the reasons I adopted him about a year ago.

I was thinking about getting a couple of Pak-O-Bird carrier, just wondering how ell they hold up for the price and is it worth the price?

I know my dads cockatoo could probably chew his way out of a pak o bird in 5 minutes flat. Cockatoos are notorious escape artists, the Houdini’s of the bird kingdom. Unless Frankie is a unusual cockatoo that doesn’t chew everything he can get his beak on, a POB would likely not last long and not be safe if he chewed his way out. I’d go with a stainless cage. POBs are awesome, but they’re not ideally suited for every parrot.

To be fair to POBs- we’ve had ours maybe 5 years at this point, and it’s in excellent shape, still looks pretty much new in fact. That said, our amazon isn’t a big time chewer and has never chewed on the interior or exterior of the backpack. I honestly don’t see them holding up long against a big beak with a desire to chomp.

When you order a POB, they do ask if your bird is a big chewer or not, which leads me to believe that there is a modification made with chewers in mind. I have no idea how well it works, since parrotlets =\= cockatoos when it comes to destruction capabilities! But it might be worth researching.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

EllenD said:

I agree with Kiwi's suggestion, it may just be the clear acrylic carrier that he hates or is scared of, and a regular cage might be fine with him since cages/bars are much more familiar to him...

As far as clipping him, we have to remember he's a Cockatoo, so him being able to go to work with you all day long instead of being inside a cage at home alone all day is probably going to be more important to him/for him and outweigh him being clipped in the big picture of things...And if there is any chance at all that he might fly away then you know you can't chance that...

If the regular cage doesn't work as a carrier either, or nothing else that you try works, then I would think about clipping him so that he can continue to go with you to work every day, and then spend some time every day working with him on getting into the cage voluntarily and/or accepting the Aviator Harness,, and then hopefully he'll accept the cage, or the Aviator Harness, and his wings will grow back in a couple of months, and all will be well...Clipping on a temporary basis is better in the short-term then him staying home alone in the long-term..

Click to expand...

I agree with Ellen. My sun conure had been flighted for years and then he started attacking people and my other birds. I found myself caging him the majority of the time. I tried training him out of it, but his drive to protect me was way stronger than any training I could do. I recently did a partial clip for him. He can still fly, but not expert enough to dive bomb or seek and destroy across the house. He is now out of his cage all the time like before and only caged for sleeping and when we are not home. I was so sad to clip, but if the alternative results in poorer quality of life then sometimes it is a reasonable choice. Of course training is the better alternative, but for my monster it was NOT going to happen. Best of luck!

I think you need a wire cage

Prevue Hendryx Travel Bird Cage 1305 White, 20-Inch by 12-1/2-Inch by 15-1/2-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VVP0KU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-.7OCbYCP6CZA

Using this, you can start using targeting to get him to climb on and around it. Once he’s settled with its presence, you can graduate to targeting him first to the entrance - then head poked in a couple inches, and ultimately fully inside.

Targeting I think would be a huge benefit to you.

Have you tried target training with Frankie? I've found that 'Setta will do pretty much anything for me if I ask her to target to it. She's so greedy for treats and really wants to please me as well. She used to hate going into her cage after playtime, but I just targetted her in there a few times during play and eventually would target her in and shut the door (very important not to shut the door until she's gone in and come out again a few times).

My best advice would be to hold off clipping as long as you can. Someone had clipped 'Setta brutally and it really stuffed up her ability to fly and, hence, her confidence. I'd hate for that to happen to Frankie if we can find a way around his dislike of the carrier.

Can it (the carrier) be taken apart? Maybe you could present Frankie with the parts of it one by one and see which part it is that freaks him out? I'm betting it's either something about the perch (unstable? too slippery? too rough and sandpapery on his sensitive feets? does it twirl round when he gets on it?) OR... what if it's an issue with his ability to see out or be seen? He might need either more or less coverage?

Can you put the carrier inside his normal cage and load it with great treats? Put it upside down or on its side so it doesn't look like the usual scary carrier to Frankie. Maybe put some chewy stuff in there (paper plates or cups, plastic bottle caps etc)? Maybe you could hang it or fix it somehow to hang from the ceiling of his cage so that he might consider roosting in it? I think if you present it to him differently and let him approach it in his own way in his own time, he'll overcome his dislike of it.

Maybe he just doesn't like the colour or something about the lock or metal parts? Keep us up to date, won't you? I'm sure we can figure this out!

'Setta says 'G'day' to her friend, Frankie!

Made some progress this morning, used a few almonds and left them around and inside carrier. This time I didn't use the towel when he flew away, I just let him and walk him back over on my arm and he flew off again, Then this time once he step up and held him while petting him, so he won't just fly away close to carrier and then let him on the floor around the carrier for a while, inside of trying to put him in last night. To my surprise this morning he poked his head in to get almond and came out a couple of time, left door open. Then I let him fly off back to his cage for a few minutes, then walk him back over to carrier again and he when in this time on his own and I rewarded him with almond.

A Month of trying off and on he finally making progress and when In on his own, without forcing him which he never did before.

I do know one thing is for certain - chasing him around and toweling him to get him in the travel cage is a trust destroying activity.

wrench13 said:

I do know one thing is for certain - chasing him around and toweling him to get him in the travel cage is a trust destroying activity.

Click to expand...

He fully bonded to me, so not much of a trust issue as for everything else he flies to me and usually listens, just the carrier he hated for whatever reason? I did ditch the towel as don't want to force him and see carrier as a negative thing, which I know is bad and reason looking for other options?

He use to being on shoulder when outside with last owners and with me. He is fully flight trained indoors and outdoors as he use to loud noises and doesn't scare easy off track and can land off roofs and trees no problem and come back on whistle, or his name. The last owner did it backwards and never harness trained him. Now I am currently harness training him, but wearing harness is going to take time for him to get use to seeing it and stepping in it, which he does and he even allow it around his head, just not allow it to be looped on him yet, for now not to risk him flying off, I have to use carrier, or cage even if he hates it, till he get use to wearing harness and don't want to leave him in cage during the day.

Thankfully he actually when in without forcing him to today, he did fly away from it a couple of time, this time I didn't chase him and let him and just walk him to back over instead. He went in on his own this morning as put a few almonds in it. Normally I would never use a towel to catch him, but had to once as he wasn't going in and wasn't going to leave him there, I had to to get him into carrier before as only way he go in. My Baby U2 was the same way, but took her only a couple of weeks to get use to it and walks in herself now, even through once in a while she climb to my back to stay on my shoulder and not go in the carrier. Cooper my male U2 was already carrier trained and was a outside bird, so wasn't a issue with him to wear harness, or carrier, he took to it on the first day. .