Cage-Bound Bird

Crystal, my Too, was rescued from a shelter a month ago or so, but since then, I have wondered why she doesn’t want to come out of her cage. When it’s morning and I stick my hand in the cage for her to step up, she bites the side of the cage to hold on, and refuses to step up onto my hand. I’ve had to grab her hand and wait for her to let go of the side- and when she does, she grabs the top of the cage door with her beak. It’s like a waiting game to see who will win. Even once I take her out of the cage, she’ll do a ‘bounce, head up, down, up, down, and then to the side and repeat’ dance.. it’s amusing, until she screams so loud I’m pretty sure the whole neighborhood can hear. This is the only point of the day she screams..

I know this means ‘LET ME BE IN MY CAGE!’, because when I put her on the floor to see what she wants to do, she’ll go directly running to her cage. She also feels some sense of security or dominance when she’s up higher, so the rest of the day when she’s not begging to be in her cage, she’ll be running to find the highest object and climb it. And then dance while on the highest object, LOL. It’s the most embarrasing when we’re in the supermarket or the pet store and she dances on my arm and screams at the top of her lungs. It doesn’t bother me too much, i know a Cockatoo came with this sort of responsibility, but it does leave me wondering why she wants to be in her cage all day, and how to get her to not beg to be in her cage all day..

I know too's love stimulation, but maybe you are overdoing it a bit?

(NO idea what she was used to before ending up in a shelter!!)

Sunny took a few months or so before even wanting to come halfway out of her cage.
The greys took about 4 months to get used to me, the new house, different routine etc..

That gives me the idea you may be rushing her a bit.
(I could be really, really wrong of course - I do not know your bird and they are all different.)

If any of my birds tells me in no uncertain terms they do not want to leave their cage...I will not make them (unless it is an emergency or real need -like getting their meds-) they will come out on their own when they are ready.

I think it is great she sees the cage as a good place to be, but (just like cats who will explore a new house bit by bit from a safe base and return there regularly) I think she needs to do this on her own pace, not yours.

Maybe take a couple of pretty big steps back. To me you're describing an incredibly good natured, but frightened / uncomfortable bird.

Cage = safe place is a great association for your Too to have, but every time you are effectively forcing her out, by "winning" it gets that little bit less safe. She's very clearly communicating with you...listen! Possibly if you don't she'll have to be clearer, which will mean biting you or she'll feel unsafe everywhere and might start plucking.

I would just give her the opportunity to come out by leaving the door open and maybe putting tempting treats or interesting toys just outside, but don't force her. I think in terms of taking her out on your arm I'd maybe stop. Don't believe the height dominance thing, think of it as seeking safety not trying to be the boss.

If she's ready you can try target training her. She might then follow the target out of her cage, but even then I'd let her hang out on it rather than taking her away from it. You can easily do this training with a bird in their cage.

Aerski said:

Crystal, my Too, was rescued from a shelter a month ago or so, but since then, I have wondered why she doesn’t want to come out of her cage. When it’s morning and I stick my hand in the cage for her to step up, she bites the side of the cage to hold on, and refuses to step up onto my hand. I’ve had to grab her hand and wait for her to let go of the side- and when she does, she grabs the top of the cage door with her beak. It’s like a waiting game to see who will win. Even once I take her out of the cage, she’ll do a ‘bounce, head up, down, up, down, and then to the side and repeat’ dance.. it’s amusing, until she screams so loud I’m pretty sure the whole neighborhood can hear. This is the only point of the day she screams..

I know this means ‘LET ME BE IN MY CAGE!’, because when I put her on the floor to see what she wants to do, she’ll go directly running to her cage. She also feels some sense of security or dominance when she’s up higher, so the rest of the day when she’s not begging to be in her cage, she’ll be running to find the highest object and climb it. And then dance while on the highest object, LOL. It’s the most embarrasing when we’re in the supermarket or the pet store and she dances on my arm and screams at the top of her lungs. It doesn’t bother me too much, i know a Cockatoo came with this sort of responsibility, but it does leave me wondering why she wants to be in her cage all day, and how to get her to not beg to be in her cage all day..

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You need to slow WAYYYY down
This is not the behavior of a cage-bound bird. It is the normal/healthy response of a Too who doesn't know you yet. Mine wouldn't step up for 3 months. You need to allow her to build trust with you and go in and out of her open cage whenever possible. Sit nearby, go about your routine, read to her etc and prove that you are not a threat. Remember, this is not a baby bird. Start with learning to read her signals. Do not pet her if she doesn't want it. I would back up to getting her to take food from your hand...Then see if she will allow you to pet her head. In all likelihood, she knows how to step up but is afraid because things have been rushed by her standards.

Welcome to the community, and thank you for adopting this Moluccan, one of thousands in shelters and rescues across the US and the world...

Now, you need to take a step-back and think about some things for a minute...First of all, and most importantly, you've only had this Moluccan Cockatoo for a month...A month is like a second in bird-time, especially a Moluccan Cockatoo that has been re-homed probably multiple times...You didn't give any history about your new bird, at least what you know or were told, such as how old is your bird, was your bird DNA-tested for gender, and if so, what is your bird's gender, how many prior owners has your bird had, how long was your bird in the Rescue/Shelter, and what is your bird's regular, daily diet? This is information that will help us to help you...

Regardless of the anything else, it's quite obvious that your bird is still not entirely comfortable in your home or with you, which is to be expected. Your bird has not yet given you his trust, which is also to be expected. And until you fully earn the bird's trust, the bird is going to exhibit a lot of territoriality, dominance, and just plain skepticism and distrust. That all being said, by-far the most important thing that you need to stop doing immediately is "forcing" your bird to come out of their cage the way that you have been doing. If you keep forcing your Moluccan the way that you have been with regards to his cage, you will never earn your bird's trust, he will never want to willingly come out of his cage whenever you open the door (which is what should eventually happen, but should not be expected to happen any time soon), and your relationship with your bird will only regress and become volatile and eventually aggressive.

Right now you are in what is know as the "Honeymoon Phase", and with parrot that has the intelligence of a 4-5 year-old human child like your Moluccan has, if you continue to force him to come out of his cage every day, with your hands inside of his cage, his territory, the "Honeymoon Phase" is going to end very quickly, and when it does you are going to have a very serious, huge problem...You are expecting way too much of your bird after only a month of being with you and in your home, and you need to stop and instead of going at "Your Pace", you absolutely must go at the "Bird's Pace". If you don't go at your Moluccan's Pace, especially with regards to his cage, he is going to become aggressive, unable to be handled at all, he'll never come out of his cage, and when you do put your hands in his cage, he's going to attack them and hurt you.

You said that you "don't understand what it is with his cage", and that's a really big issue...I wrote a post yesterday or the day before to a new member having issues with his Cockatiel, and I'm going to go find it and then copy and paste it in another reply below for you to read. It's all about birds and their cages/stands and the the relationship between "their territory", their new Flock (which is now you and anyone else who lives in your home), dominance, and respecting their "safe space", which in the case of your Moluccan is inside his cage....I'll post it below, disregard any specific reference to the other member's cockatiel, and pay attention to what I say about their cages/territory, the location of their cages in your home, and their "flock", and the relationship between all of these...It will answer your questions regarding why your Moluccan is acting the way that he is about his cage...

***You need to to stop doing what you have been doing as far as forcing him out of his cage...You said "it's like a little game to see who will give in first", but to your Moluccan this is not a "game" at all, to your Moluccan you are reaching your hands into his territory, his only "safe space" that he has in the world, and you are physically forcing him to come out by actually "grabbing his foot"...None of this is good, and even though you mean well and are just trying to get him to come out of his cage, if you keep doing this your bird is going to eventually say "okay, that's enough of this" and he's going to become extremely aggressive and very possibly hurt you. Birds learn best from "Positive Reinforcement", which in the case of a very intelligent parrot who totally understands logic and reason, means rewarding him with both lots of verbal praise and whatever his favorite food treats are; this is the absolutely best way to teach your Moluccan what you want him to learn to do (and really the only way). Right now, from your Moluccan's point of view, you reaching your hands into his cage, grabbing his foot, etc. to FORCE HIM to come out of his cage is very much "Negative Reinforcement", and in the end this is only going to get you the exact results that scolding him verbally, yelling at him, and physically punishing him with spanking or smacking him on the beak, etc. would get you...which is nothing but aggression, bad behavior, constant screaming, etc. It has been proved time and time again, over and over again, that neither "Forcing" a bird to do things, nor using "Negative Reinforcement" of any kind as "punishment" when a bird doesn't do what you ask them to do will completely fail to achieve the results that you are trying to get in the first place, and only results in MORE bad behavior from the bird...So you really do need to take a step-back here, because you have been simply expecting way too much from him after only a month, and honestly you are being quite brave, yet maybe a bit wreckless, by taking him out into stores and such with you already, as it's quite obvious that you have not earned the bird's full-trust yet, nor is it expected that you would have. This is not a new Dog that you adopted at the SPCA, this is a Moluccan Cockatoo, probably the most-intelligent of all parrots, period. And this is a Moluccan that has been yanked from at least one home, his first home, and he has not been given ANY REASON to trust human beings at all, just the opposite...So you really do need to slow-down and go at HIS PACE, not your pace. Work on your interactions with him at home first, a little training using only Positive-Reinforcement at home every day, before you start taking him into the Grocery Store or Pet Stores with you, and certainly before you start reaching your hands into his cage, grabbing his foot, and physically forcing him out of his cage...

A month is no time at all for a Moluccan Cockatoo to be in a new home, with new people, having a completely new routine/schedule, and basically an entirely new life with people that they do not know and do not trust. This is going to be a Marathon, not a Sprint, and it can take months and months to well-over a year to fully earn a parrot's trust, so you're really pushing him at your pace, not his, and that just won't work and will only end badly.You must respect his space, his territory, and his wants, and instead of forcing him to do things, you need to TEACH HIM to do things using Positive-Reinforcement only. This isn't a newly-weaned, hand-raised baby parrot that you just brought home from it's breeder and is all cuddly and wanting to please you...This is an adult Moluccan Cockatoo with the intelligence of a 4-5 year-old human child that has been taken from their home and their people, at least twice now and probably more times than you even know, regardless of what the Shelter/Rescue told you, because often they don't know the real history of the bird themselves, they only know what they were told by the people who surrendered the bird, and unfortunately they often lie for a lot of different reasons...A month is not even close to enough time to earn this bird's trust, and what you need to realize is that even after you've owned this bird for a year and you have successfully earned this bird's full-trust, he may very well STILL not want your hands inside of his cage!!! This is not at all uncommon, and if you read my post that I will copy below, you'll have a better understanding as to why. The bottom-line here is that you need to "Hit the Reset-Button" and completely "Start-Over" right now, TODAY, like you just brought your Moluccan home from the Rescue TODAY. That's how you'll need to go about doing this the right way...You need to STOP FORCING him to do anything at all. You should not ever "Force" him to do anything. Instead, from this point forward, as of right now, you need to start acting like your Moluccan is the extremely intelligent, frightened,
frustrated, displaced bird that he is, and you need to fully respect his Territory, his "Safe-Space". You need to never again "Force" him to come out of his cage, but instead you need to simply open his cage door up, verbally ask him to come out in a very friendly, gentle voice, and then you need to visibly show him a treat that you know that he likes, and again in a friendly, gently, loving voice you need to ask him to come out of his cage, showing him the treat...Then you need to wait until he voluntarily,
on his own, comes out of his cage, and then you need to verbally praise him to death and give him the treat. This is "training" him using "Positive Reinforcement", and you need to do this all the time, not just when you absolutely need him to come out of his cage for a Vet appointment or something...And if he doesn't come out of his cage on his own for hours, then that's just how it's going to be for now, just keep asking him and when he finally does come out you verbally praise him and reward him with the treat...It's also important that whatever his very favorite treat in the world is, that you reserve this specific treat for use as "Positive Reinforcement" ONLY, and that you never give it to him any other time but when he does something you've asked him to do, and that's it. It has to be a very special treat that he loves but does not get regularly. And most importantly, especially in the next few months, You need to totally respect his cage, and keep your hands out of it unless you are changing his food or water, cleaning it, adding a toy, etc. Basically you need to stop putting your hands inside of his "Territory", his "Safe-Space", in order to physically force him to come out by grabbing him. You just cannot do this anymore, because if you continue to disrespect his Territory like this, you will never, ever, ever earn his trust, and if you never earn his trust, you will never have the type of relationship with your bird that I'm sure you desire and are thinking it should be like.

****And this goes for anything else that you want him to do or ask him to do; you need to always do the exact same thing, you need you ask him to do whatever it is you want him to do in a friendly, gentle voice, show him that special treat that he only gets when you ask him to do something, and then you need to be very patient and wait for him to do it, all the while continually talking to him gently, asking him to do it...And if he doesn't do it, he doesn't get the treat, nor does he get your praise. Parrots are not at all like Dogs, Cats, Ferrets, Rabbits, Pigs, etc. If anything they are like human children or a pet such as a Primate, like a Monkey, Lemur, etc. They will NEVER respond the way you want them to if you use any type of Negative-Reinforcement, such as scolding them, yelling at them, spanking them, taking a toy away from them, etc. They are very smart, and you must use logic and reasoning with your Moluccan if you want him to learn to do things, learn to listen to you in-general, and basically learn to trust you and even more-importantly to respect and love you...

I will copy my reply on cages/territory below...

Okay, here is my post regarding "Cage/Territory". It was actually a Macaw with very much the same issues you are having now, and this person had already had their Macaw for much longer than a month I believe, so you can see how important their cage/territory is to them, and how important it is to respect it:

"Does this only happen when he's inside of his cage and you ask him to step-up or come out? Does he willingly step-up for you outside of his cage? (You didn't mention any problem getting him around the house or back into his cage)...

***If the answer to that question is yes, or even yes 90% or more of the time, then it's most-likely a territorial issue about his cage...Remember that his cage is his "safe space", that's the only thing in that house that is all his and that no one else ever goes into, and some birds are just way more territorial/protective of their cages than others...Some species of parrots are pretty-much ALWAYS territorial over their cages, such as Quakers, which I can personally attest to, but it's also dependent on individual birds as well...And if Rhage is perfectly happy, friendly, gentle, and having fun once he's out of his cage and is only acting this way when you go to take him out of his cage (or rather when you put your hands/arm inside of his cage, that's probably the best way to think about this), then he's upset that you're invading his territory/safe-space...

***It's not so-much the "step-up" that is the issue, and it sounds like you've been approaching the problem with that thought-process, that his issue is that "He just doesn't want to step-up"...But if he's readily stepping-up when outside of his cage with no argument, then you have to think that it has nothing at all to do with him not wanting to "step-up", nor does it have to do with him not wanting to come out of his cage, which it also seems you've been thinking...as you said, "he has a great time once he's out of his cage"...So if you stop thinking of this issue in-terms of him not wanting to step-up and not wanting to come out of his cage, but rather he just doesn't want anyone's hands/arms inside of his cage, then you're going to be able to figure this out a lot more quickly and find a solution. Worth a try.

Basically you need to simply respect his territory and his "safe space" as being his and only his, and find another way to get him out of his cage. The best way that I've found with my female Quaker Parrot, who is now 3 years old and has been acting the exact same way from the age of 13 weeks old about her own cage, is to simply open-up the cage door and ask them "Do you want to come out and play?", or whatever you're wanting him to come out to do (they understand the differences between "play" and "shower" or "cuddle" or "eat", etc., so if you ask him if he wants to "come out" and do something he'll know what you're asking). At first when I started simply opening up Lita's cage door and waited for her to come out on her own, it took a while and it was important that I be patient. I would open her door up and say "Come on Lita, do you want to come out?", then I'd simply wait there for her to come out on her own, which would ALWAYS happen, but in her own time...However, once she figured out what I was asking her to do, she started doing it immediately (which probably took a couple of weeks for it to happen automatically). At first I think that she didn't know what to do when the door opened, like it was a trick or something...What helped tremendously was obviously Positive-Reinforcement with her favorite treat, which is a piece of granola...Doesn't have to be Rhage's "favorite" treat if you don't know what that is yet, but surely there is something you can reward him with as soon as he comes out of his cage on his own, plus lots of verbal praise.

So the key here is just to keep your hands/arms, well, basically YOU staying out of Rhage's cage and showing him that you respect his territory...Once he comes out of his cage on his own, which again may take a while and you'll have to be patient, then immediately start verbally praising him and offer him a treat that he likes in your open, out-stretched palm...This is important because his territoriality may also extend to the outside of his cage as well. So if he comes out of his cage but is sitting on the cage door, or climbs to the top, he may still be territorial..."

Lots of great advice thus far!

Might find some helpful tips here: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

I really admire your dedication and care. I'm so glad you're with us, getting suggestions and support.

Hang in there, hero!

Thank you!! I’ll take a step back; I have noticed one thing,. if I go up to her at a later time ( a few hours after), she’ll be on her gym and go up to my hand willingly. Her sleep schedule is 10:00 PM - 10:00 AM-, which I suppose is enough? I have to stick my hand in her cage quite often, she throws her food in her water to ‘moisten it’ and the water will begin to turn the color of the food.. yuck. She’s not extremely territorial at all, she won’t even bite if I put my finger right in front of her beak, even if she’s mad, or inside her cage. I can only think it’s not a territorial issue or just a fear of humans but rather her settling in or due to past abuse.. however it only happens inside her cage, doesn’t happen outside. She doesn’t exactly know what to do with toys either. We have seven toys in her cage and she ignores them like they weren’t even there. The only toy she likes are the destructive ones- where she can tear and shred which is fine by me. She has her own little party piñata for birds, that she can slowly tear apart. The only problem I have is that she doesn’t respond to treats- I’ve tried many fruits and veggies (my fridge is full!) and she’ll eat them if I give them to her (sometimes). If I give it to her while she’s in her cage, she’ll turn her head and run away. She does calm down when I talk to her in a whispering calm voice, and she’ll talk in a hushed voice too. It is strange though, because if she sees me walking into her room, she’ll go up to the cage bars and stay there, but won’t go outside the cage door or to the gym. My best guess with all of your responses is that she hasn’t exactly settled in yet. I guess time, and a lot of work, and treats will tell

I am very glad for you both you have a non-bitey bird.
That makes life so much easier.

Mine is slowly getting around to not puncing holes in my flesh whenever something is bothering her (or maybe she is less bothered about things? )

Just keep building the trust - you both are being good to each other and I really really hope Crystal has found a forever home with you.

I don't know a thing about Moluccan cockatoos, but my own Galah, Dominic, whom I inherited from a neglectful background never *ever* learned to play with toys. The most he would ever do was to chew wood and for a brief period when I was teaching my Alexandrines to play soccer, he would disdainfully beak a whiffle ball in return for a treat. Then he got sick of that so I stopped trying to make him do it.

Be patient with your bird and she will gradually let you know what moves her. Keep trying different foods as treats. Have you tried sunflower seeds? While those are absolutely *not* recommended as part of your bird's regular diet, they make great 'persuaders' when used judiciously. Also, bits of peanut, almond or walnut work well, as does a smear of peanut butter or honey on your finger. Just be careful with that big cocky beak! My Alexes have recently taught the new Corella how to lick politely and I'm rather pleased about that. Saves me fingers. (Although I got caught a beauty today as I was moving the cage: Madge snuck up on my blind side and gaily removed a few layers of skin from my finger).

Regarding coming out of the cage, all I can think of suggesting is to simply leave the cage door open and just wait. You could try waggling a treat (once you find one that works), but if your bird is indeed fearful she might resist even that. Or, you could try teaching her target training in the cage and gradually ask her to come further out over time.

Thing is, *you* know her best, since you're the one who studies her and wonders daily about how best to help her. Just watch and learn from the signals she gives you. Slow down (there's no hurry) and see if you can't make yourself so darned attractive to your bird that she can't help but come out to you.

Betrisher

Hello everybody! I know this is veery late- but Crystal isn't cage bound anymore. She will now step up to my arm whenever I present it to her. Thank you for all your replies, it helped alot!!

Thanks for the update!

Oh, that's such good news! Congratulations! And thanks heaps for the update - so often, people don't bother and we never get to know whether our advice was helpful.

Wonderful, we appreciate the feedback!!