Alone Time....

[brownterri83]

Good afternoon all. I was just wondering if it is ok to put Blake back in his cage for a while, like an hour, every day? he stays with me in my office all day out of his cage and he thinks my hands are for his little head scratches and naps only. I do have to work and it is kinda hard to type with one hand. He is just an awesome little guy and I put him in there about 30 min ago and he looked at me like....what are you doing? I'm supposed to be out there with you! This is our 2nd week together and don't want to mess anything up. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Alembic772]

I think you want to establish some boundaries and alone time early. Otherwise you will run into issues as the bird gets older.

Yes it is heartbreaking the way they look at us when we put them back, but it’s also important for them to know they have time to themselves. Just make sure to have plenty of toys in the cage.


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[brownterri83]

Oh, he has a lot and some in waiting to rotate them out. He is rotten already lol

 

[SailBoat]

Also, you could consider having a smaller desk top perch that you can place your Parrot on while you are working. Possible one with both a water and food bowls.

Set Blake on it for a couple of minutes and pick him back up. Over the course of a week increase the time and number of times during the day in which he spends time on the perch with the goal being creating his time on the perch. Over several additional weeks try taking him to his cage using the same game of a few minutes at a time and increasing the number of times and length of time.

This allows your guy to develop the concept of Alone Time and that you are not abandoning him.

 

[Alembic772]

For example to what Sailboat is saying. My male eclectus sites on a tree stand just a few feet from my desk when I am working. He comes over to me when he wants and sometimes he just sits on the stand preening, eating and playing with his toys.


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[noodles123]

You do NOT want him out all day everyday. You will create a monster who freaks out when you finally have to live your life. YES, it is okay, and essential to make sure they spend some time in their cage and can be okay without you. Make sure he gets like 4 hours of time out of cage (including quality interaction). During COVID, I have made it a point to leave Noodles in her cage at times because if I didn't the shock of returning to normal would be too hard on her.

Play perches are great, and I use them a lot, but even then, you will want some boundaries.

DO NOT do anything repeatedly that you cannot maintain in the future (excluding the bare minimum hours out a day, of course..).

 

[T00tsyd]

When Syd was small and first with me I was very conscious of his need to have alone time simply for the chance to rest properly. I don't know how young your little one is but what you see now is not the bird that will be with you when he matures so you need to start now to show him what your relationship really is. You must be a parent rather than best friend and plan for the sort of traits you hope for in your growing adult.

I thought I had the balance right but it didn't avoid the chaos that happened on puberty, but as time has passed he has evolved into a great companion and I am sure it is largely because of the tips on here for me as a new bird parront that gave me the courage to set boundaries regardless of the looks and sometimes screams.

We are into a bit of a battle right now because he has got used to having me at his beck and call much more since lock down and I am suddenly aware that he is suddenly calling the shots. It's tough trying to ignore the slow crescendo of screaming that comes from such a small body when he decided that because yesterday he came out at a certain time, he is determined to repeat the routine today, even though my life is not going to run that way today.

I have suddenly realised that the balance of power in the house has tilted slightly. We say that our parrots train us far more easily than we train them. It's no joke bless them!

Progress report: The 'discussion' has lasted 30 minutes so far. The shouting got to the level where I had fingers in my ears. I have ignored his demands and now he has gone quiet and is happily playing/preening. When I am ready of course he will come out and have shoulder time but later when I have to leave him to paint the garage doors he will understand and be happy.

Update - we have now enjoyed over an hour of out time most of which has been spent on me. I am conscious that he should fly for the exercise so my next job will be to walk away and call him several times. A bit of target training will follow then back in his cage so I can start painting.

 

[brownterri83]

Thank you all. He is only 8 months and is already very smart. I am trying to avoid creating a monster for the future. At 5pm I take him back to the family room when we are all home and he remains in his cage until the next morning when I roll him to my office for the day. I will definitely work on the office boundaries so he will be a happy little bird in the future.