No, Stay Up THERE!

[lizardsmells]

I'm having an issue with Kazi I'm hoping the hivemind can help with. He's not caged during the day as long as I'm home (which is most of the time, I'm self-employed and work out of my home office). He's normally on his play gym which is great, he likes it well enough, eats there, sometimes naps there although he prefers to nap on me. I don't have a problem with this (it's unceasingly adorable, in fact) but I do have a problem with him wanting to be on me all the time.

I can NOT keep him on that gym. Despite the fact there are 7 predators running around loose in my house he climbs down to the seed guard on the gym, then flips over so he's hanging by his beak. If he's not near a leg he'll wave his legs around until I stick my hand under them. If he is near a leg he'll grab it, slide down and hop on the floor. I can't decide if he's brave or stupid.

He comes right over to me (as long as there's not a sleeping cat he can go try to bite first) and asked to come up. He has successfully terrified two of the cats, the other two are scared but curious, but the ones he's terrified just run when they see him now. The dogs don't seem to care too much, but I don't trust their predator instincts not to override their good sense.

Lately my strategy has been to 'rescue' him from the floor but that's it, and then he goes right back up on the gym. If he dangles from the guard I'll put my hand under him and then make him step down onto the gym. I do this with no comment or expression whatsoever.

I'm wondering if this is the best route to take to fix this issue. He needs to learn that he has to stay on his gym until I say it's ok. I'm not always able to supervise him 100% when I'm working so I need him to stay where I know it's safe. I don't want to cage him when I'm home. He hates it and so do I.

Any suggestions?

 

[roxynoodle]

I have the same problem with Pete. He seems to be able to climb down things that other birds can't. I may have to put some tall guard around the bottom of the parrot tower. If it comes down to it, he will just launch himself off the platform and onto the floor. He can't fly yet, and maybe won't ever learn after all these years of being clipped, but he doesn't seem to mind plopping down to the floor.

I do have to lock up my cat when the birds are out or I will end up with a bird/cat emergency at the vet's. I wish they could coexist, but they can't. I figure the cat sleeps the whole time they are out, but she doesn't like it that the door is closed to her.

 

[Safira]

Safira does this to me all the time, except she'll jump in an attempt to fly (wings clipped) and land on the couch or the floor. I leave her there and let her walk around, even with my 3 large dogs running around her trying to sniff. I'm hoping that she won't like to be on the floor, and will learn to stay on her stand.

It hasn't worked so far, she just licks the dogs nose and waddles into the kitchen. I supervise, then after a few minutes when she starts looking for things to climb I'll pick her back up and put her on the play gym.

What I'm going to start doing is giving her more treats and attention when she's on the gymn instead of when she's on me. I'm hoping that'll make her want to stay there.. but she's an explorer!

 

[angeleden353]

My Bella does that too, but its when my husband has her she does everything she can to get to me, I dont have a play gym for her yet so she stays on her perch or on top of her cage, But when she is on top of her cage she tries to fly to where I am. I just keep putting her back with a treat of some kind and sometimes she stays there or she will fly again to me.. So i have the same problems. Good luck!!

 

[Remy]

Puck's previous owner did a good job of training him out of this type of behavior. I can put him down someplace and leave the room, and even though he might call for me, he stays put. This week I left him on a table and went into the other room to do some home repairs, and he stayed put.

She said that whenever he'd leave the place she left him, she would just tell him "No" and put him back. I guess she did this a lot with him, and it took time, but since I've had him he's been very good about staying put.

 

[BillsBirds]

I think we all have this problem! I believe it comes from their flock mentality. They want to be where you are. I don't have any suggestions on how to fix this, or my fids would be more well behaved. LOL I just try to remember when I get annoyed with them for it, that it's because they love us so much that they want to be with us all the time.

 

[lizardsmells]

Ok, I'm going to keep going like I have been with him then. I think he actually knows what I'm saying, he just chooses to ignore it, because I've looked at him as he's started to come down and said, "No, get back up there," and he did it immediately. But I also know how I am and while I can't recall a specific instance, I'm sure at some time I told him 'no' but didn't make it stick, so I need to work on that for sure and make sure I'm consistent.

 

[Remy]

Yeah, I think consistency and repetition is the key.

Now if I could potty train Puck...

 

[Mare Miller]

When I take my dogs on a walk and Amigo is out and about, he will fly from tree to tree and follow us. Once in a while, I'll stop and sit on a downed tree, the dogs, all 4 of them will come around and sit or lay down for a bit and Amigo will fly down to my shoulder and hang out with us, also. I'm with you, BillBirds, I definitely think it's about being part of the flock.

 

[wencui841006]

When I take my dogs on a walk and Amigo is out and about, he will fly from tree to tree and follow us. Once in a while, I'll stop and sit on a downed tree, the dogs, all 4 of them will come around and sit or lay down for a bit and Amigo will fly down to my shoulder and hang out with us, also. I'm with you, BillBirds, I definitely think it's about being part of the flock.

Your Amigo is great. How do you get him free flying like this? Did he come to you fully flighted at first?
I am training my parrot free flight right now. He is doing great with recall in the room. Once we get outside, he is not so focused and just wants to fly back to the house.

 

[Mare Miller]

hi wencui, Amigo came to me with clipped wings. If you go to Archives, then to training, then to free flight training, you can read my post on how I got Amigo in the air. I have no clue what, or how to do, recall. Amigo and I are flock buddies, I do know that. He'll come to me when I call or when he wants something, like food or cuddles.

 

[Dogmom1958]

I feel as though I’m always saying no! I’m trying to stick with one word when disciplining my Caique. So now all I hear coming out of my mouth is NO! I hope it works one day when he is older and more mature. I keep my Caique out of the cage most of the day. But I was wondering if any of you put your bird in the cage at all for a few hours. Just to relax and chill. Both you and the bird. And be able to eat without having him jumping on my dish.