Can birds be afraid of their cage?

More of a general question, but can they be afraid of their cage if they were in it for a long time? What would you do to help heal some of that fear?

Hello. Things can happen to make birds afraid easily. Especially if they haven't been with you long.
Here is a link on stress in parrot has lot of good info I think.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

This one covers a lot of different behavior
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/bird-behavior/

I don’t have one afraid of it because of being in it but I have one that gets nervous & neurotic when it’s too large. For awhile I had him in a large one but he went a little crazy & only huddled in one spot. I had him in a relatively small one after that. Then, moved him up to a 40x30 stacker cage. Each cage is 30 inches tall so it’s not a gaping hole of empty below him in that cage. He still likes to stay on one spot hiding in the back a lot of the time but he comes out to rip apart toys and eat. I will find him hanging out in the middle sometimes but the corner is the safe place in the cage. He’s my abused psycho/neurotic rescue cockatoo boy so I doubt many birds will have the same issue.

Actually a lot of unfortunate bird have been in the same situation. They shut down, they become fearful, they become bumps on a perch.

I hope you take the time to read the other links I gave you. I will link one that is a personal account on fearful parrots, and a behavioral specialist helped them. https://blogpamelaclarkonline.com/2018/06/19/teaching-a-fearful-parrot-to-step-up/

I will also go and link Sailboats on going journey with rescues. He deals with many of the same behavior. It's titled I love Amazon's, an ongoing journey. http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/65119-i-love-amazons-going-journey.html

Myself I have worked with rescues. And I rescued a quaker I named Penny, who has some if these problems and we have made progress.

Since reading those links it seems as though I'm on the right path. I rescued him and he's extremely fearful of certain things. His last owners we not pleasant to him in the least.

Thanks both of you!

squirrlsong said:

Since reading those links it seems as though I'm on the right path. I rescued him and he's extremely fearful of certain things. His last owners we not pleasant to him in the least.

Thanks both of you!

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I'm so glad he is with you! It takes time and effort and all the good things you are doing. But when they open up, get that spark of life in their eyes it's so worth it!
Thanks for rescue

Folgers 5 years in being here and still doesn’t handle open spaces very well. You can actually visually see him getting twitchy when he’s been out too long & can’t handle it anymore. He is also one of those abuse cases & a thousand & one homes. So some don’t bounce back completely. But he was one of the worst neurotic messes the rescue had ever dealt with so he’s doing good haha. I’m still the only one he trusts to do anything with him. He responds fine with me but only me. I think his trust for people in general will never be there. Doesn’t matter how long people sit & try to talk & bribe him the second they move too close he either runs to hide or launch’s at their face. If they sit there too long by his cage he starts this twitchy/shivery thing & looks like he kind of spaces out. He would definitely be on some drugs if he was human.

Some you just make allowances for & work around, most bounce back just fine! I’ve worked with a whole lot of rescues & Folger has been one of the few I’ve met that still has so much distrust with people after being worked with for so long.

Yes-- a new person/environment/major change can cause a once-brave bird to fear even the things it trusted before (EVEN IF THOSE THINGS SUCKED!!!).
Once you establish trust with your new bird, I think you will see this decrease, but be VERY patient and don't push physical contact. DO allow your bird out of his cage (even if you can't touch him--if it can be done safely). DO associate yourself with favorite treats---even if you just put them in a bowl. Do quiet things and narrate what you are doing without being overly assertive in terms of physical presence.

Most definitely normal to be afraid of even mundane things when brought home, and especially for a rescue.
Maui (not a rescue) was scared of his cage and the open space of the house when we brought him home, which was weird as he is actually a very confident bird. I dealt with the cage fear by encouraging him into it and then targeting him around it with a chopstick from the outside. Then he was fine. Plus I have him watch whenever it's cleaning time or cage furniture swap out time. He's all good with it now.

I'm doing the same thing with the house open spaces, particularly the floor as he's terrified of being down there and won't move even if his floor perch is right next to him. Success yesterday when he finally toddled around the carpet whilst I was unpacking a package before scuttling back to his floor stand when he got too overwhelmed.