Conure Purposely injuring herself to come out

[heliwr123]

My cinnamon conure is always out of the cage, but lets say i need to cook food, which usually takes 5-10 minutes she needs to go in her cage.

I put her in and leave, and then around 1 min later i hear her screeching and she is bending her tail between the bottom grid of the cage like a pretzel.
I know she isnt accidentally getting stuck cause when she sees me she magically is fine and runs to the door.

I am worried for her overall health as her tail is starting to bend at a 90 degree angle (literally)

I dont know how to fix this it is really pissing me off. she is out literally 98% of the day and has a giant cage (waaay over the recommended size) with toys, and everything she needs to keep her happy yet whenever i just want to have that 10% to me she needs to injure herself to get out

I am really stumped with this one
The reason i cant remove the grid is because under it is where the droppings get caught and the bar spacing grows down there so she will for sure be able to get out

 

[CherylCali]

As, I'm reading this I'm thinking oh , please do not let this happen to me...

I'm sorry, and honestly I did giggle. If it were my Early, just out of curiosity I would have to record it secretly with my phone.

Does your bird do this when it's bed time also?

Hopefully someone will have more helpful advice. The only thing I can think of is a nutriberry or favorite snack when she goes in?

CherylCali

 

[heliwr123]

As, I'm reading this I'm thinking oh , please do not let this happen to me...

I'm sorry, and honestly I did giggle. If it were my Early, just out of curiosity I would have to record it secretly with my phone.

Does your bird do this when it's bed time also?

Hopefully someone will have more helpful advice. The only thing I can think of is a nutriberry or favorite snack when she goes in?

CherylCali

her favorite snack is her pellet food! she hates millet, stick treats, etc. she is terrified of them. when the lights go out at night she is hopping in her snuggle hut so it doesnt happen at night.
she seems to be terrified of bright colors so i might try putting some construction paper on the bottom in pink or yellow.

 

[Flboy]

Cage should equal treat! A sunflower seed? Piece of walnut?

 

[CherylCali]

Putting paper over the grate might do the trick, at least to keep her from putting her tail through it. What a strange thing she's doing! They're so smart. Please let us know when you find something that works.

CherylCali

 

[heliwr123]

Im going out to my petstore because i saw online they have a spray for birds called "bitter apple"
its supposed to make them stop biting certain things that you spray it on and maybe the smell on the grid will make her stop doing it.
i brought her to the vet to check up if what she was doing actually posed a risk to her health and its more urgent then i thought. the avian vet said she is having touble balancing and i did notice that she never sleeps on her perches anymore and just in her hut.
i really hope the spray works, the vet was clueless about why she was doing it and i dont blame her
she was a rescued conure and she is REALLY attached to me (previous owners moved out and literally left her in a hamster carry case) and the spca was called to investigate the house cause of other animals neglected and they found her almost starved.

i didnt want to get another bird but my eyes locked on her in the shelter. she looked so sad and out of it </3

 

[Anansi]

...she seems to be terrified of bright colors so i might try putting some construction paper on the bottom in pink or yellow.

I wouldn't go this route, as you'd be making her safe place feel considerably less so. You never want to do anything to make her cage feel like anything less than a refuge.

The tactic she's adopted is a difficult one to counter, however, and I can understand your frustration. Seems, though, that she's associated her actions with the desired result of bringing you to her cage. I'd say the key here is to break that association. Her doing this should visibly cause you to turn around and leave the room. Make sure to wait until she is no longer doing the tail thing before going back in to take her out. And at that point, reward her for the appropriate behavior.

Another thing to try at the same time is to work on station-training. If you start station-training while she is outside of her cage, with a recognizable and consistent command for that training coupled with a good reward for it, you might be able to transfer that discipline over to her time in the cage. Basically, once she's been successfully station-trained outside the cage, you'd try giving the station command to her while she's inside of it. If the association is strong enough, the discipline may well transfer.

And yet another approach, though a variation of the station-training tactic, is to practice putting her in the cage, waiting maybe 5 seconds (and before she gets the chance to do her tail bending maneuver), and then taking her out and rewarding her with enthusiastic praise and a treat. Then, after a minute or two, putting her in again and waiting fractionally longer before taking her back out. Maybe 6 or 7 seconds this time. Slowly, gradually, you work her up to minutes rather than seconds. And while working on increasing the time duration, you'd also work on increasing the distance. If done slowly and consistently enough, you should eventually be able to leave the room without a negative reaction from her.

Any of these training approaches could take a good amount of time. Maybe even weeks. Just be patient and consistent. The final outcome will be worth it.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Good advice above. I'm just adding my support. Good for you, for seeking help and consulting a vet.
Patagonian hugzszszs!

 

[Flboy]

A suggestion from my daughter(vet tech). If you have one, swap out his cage, along with the other behavior mods!