Transitioning a 5 yr old CAG to a brand new cage... INPUT??

VICTORYCC124

Member
May 13, 2014
77
1
Minnesota
Parrots
Blue Headed Pionus 3yo (Jewel), Green Cheek Conure 3yo (Charlie), Congo African Grey 5yo (Baby Girl), White Capped Pionus 1yo (Leo), Blue Fronted Amazon 4yo (Zora)
Hi guys,
So we've had Baby for just over 2 weeks. She is doing AWESOME!! She is just the sweetest thing, and so gentle, and is becoming more and more social everyday. I think she really loves it here. Anyway, the cage she came in is the hugest pain my butt. The bars are spaced too small for me to clean well without a major over haul, and the cage came to me FILTHY. I spend too much time trying to get it clean, and never feeling like it's clean enough. I wipe my cages down every other day, and this one is killing my hands and fingers. Yuck. It's more of a small critter cage anyway. So I ordered her a brand new bigger cage, but how shall I go about transitioning her to this cage??
I thought I might set it up and put it next to her current cage for few days and let her travel between the two to get used to it. But my bird room is going to be quite congested with the extra cage so I'm hoping to only leave it in there for a few days. I would just like to hear other's experiences in this area
TIA:grey:
 

Christinenc2000

New member
Oct 8, 2014
3,320
4
North Carolina
Parrots
Big Bird _ Blue & Gold Macaw
I bought my Rescue a new cage a week after coming to us. Set it up and he was in it within a 20 min. Home for life. I guess it depends on the Bird. She might do like mine and LOVE it or take a few days to get use to it . BB was also in a small cage
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
So much depends on the comfort level of the parrot. In all cases, it is best to introduce new things on the slow side. With a new cage, the box or boxes work their way into the parrots area at a rate that the parrot easily adjusts too. From there, the boxes open at a like rate. When it comes time to assemble it, have your parrot be part of the process, letting them be on the cage as it comes together. Normally, they are moving in as the final nuts are being set in place. Follow with the toys and food. Job done!

I have used this process with shy, fearful, rehomed Amazons with great success. Our most recent member, our DYH Amazon had the boxes broken down before I had the cage sides up!
 

SilverSage

New member
Sep 14, 2013
5,937
94
Columbus, GA
Parrots
Eclectus, CAG, BH Pionus, Maximilian’s Pionus, Quakers, Indian Ringnecks, Green Cheeked Conures, Black Capped Conures, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Budgies, Canaries, Diamond Doves, Zebra Finches, Society F
Gave her comfort level. I would put the cage somewhere else and treat it like a play stand for a day or two, letting her decide when to approach it. Once she is comfortable on and in it, I would set it up right next to her cage. Once that seems to be ok, I would simply move her favorite perch to the new cage, and then continue slowly moving things over until she is spending more time in there than in her old cage.
 

GraciesMom

New member
Apr 9, 2016
699
24
California
Parrots
Gracie - CAG | Rookie - BRHP
I just went thru this same thing. Silly me thought she'd love her new place.. Umm nope total rejection initially. I set it up close for a few days and would put her on it to play. She'd climb down run to her old cage and climb up it lol. I fed her on the new cage and slowly swapped her old favorite perches and toys one or two every few days and would add Toys she had previously found offensive for whatever reason to the old cage.

I also moved the cages further apart every day. Once she started to to hang out more and take naps in it. I figured she was good to go & made the switch

took us about 6 weeks but that was mainly because she totally refused it for awhile & well she's a brat :)

Good luck hope it goes smoothly
 

DRB

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2016
1,024
75
Ohio
Parrots
Perjo - Female CAG hatch Nov 2015
My only experience has been taking my 14 week old CAG home from the breeder where she was in a moderately sized stacked set up. I was nicely bonded with her for a month the day I drove her home and introduced her to her new King Cage. She adapted instantly and loved the room and few familiar items and new items.

I wouldn't stress too much if you're tight with your baby.
 
OP
VICTORYCC124

VICTORYCC124

Member
May 13, 2014
77
1
Minnesota
Parrots
Blue Headed Pionus 3yo (Jewel), Green Cheek Conure 3yo (Charlie), Congo African Grey 5yo (Baby Girl), White Capped Pionus 1yo (Leo), Blue Fronted Amazon 4yo (Zora)
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So I got Baby her new cage, and I went with the same color as her original cage. I set it up and then put Jewel (Pionus) on it, to show Baby that it's safe, and she went right on it! She's skeptical about going inside, but I think it's due to the wooden dowel. She's not a fan of the dowel inside her cage or the one on the playtop. I've even wrapped them in vet tape, which is what I had to do with the dowel on the play stand. So she's good with the new cage, just won't go on the dowels. I'm still considering this a success. We'll work on the dowels, I'm just happy she adapted to the cage so quickly!
 

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