Wondering why my Green Cheek Keeps Flying Away

[Gxg]

Although the boy conure I have has been well behaved, it has been a recurrring theme with the female constantly running away the moment the cage is open - she has done this several times whenever I have opened her cage to get her food and she runs around the house. It has become problematic for a couple of weeks now and whenever she does this, I place her in the cage by herself - and I have considered that this is a point where I need to ensure that she has her wings clipped.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Personally i'd look at some in-cage target training, plus some step up training inside and outside the cage.

If everytime she gets out, you cage her, I'd imagine she's going to feel like you want to keep her locked up, and this may encourage her to want to escape more.

If you can get her to go to a perch away from the door of her cage and reward her through the bars with something that will take her a little time to eat, it should give you enough time to change the bowl without escape.

On occasions where you aren't changing the bowls, get her to go to different perches inside the cage followed by rewards. Get her to step up onto you and onto perches in the room and ideally onto a perch affixed to the inside of her cage door (whilest the cage is open). Change it up a bit so she starts focussing on getting that treat from you by going where you want her to go.

This what ive been doing with my female ekkie as she always wants to come out the moment the door is open!

 

[EllenD]

I agree, I think the way you are handling the situation is counterintuitive to your bird. She has developed a fear of being locked inside her cage all the time, so she flees every chance she gets and does everything she can to not have to go back in.

I have never used a bird's cage as a form of punishment or as a "time-out" location because it's the bird's home, it's safe-haven that it should like and want to be in at certain times. If you use it as punishment or the time-out location, your bird only becomes totally confused and will try to avoid it at all costs.

How many hours does she get out of her cage per day? Do your birds have a separate T-stand or playstand that they sit on during out of cage time?

I do not think clipping her wings is the answer at all in this particular situation, and I'm actually a fan of clipping wings when initially training a new bird. As explained by Violet_Diva you need to train your bird to do what you would like her to do when you open her cage door, as birds do not "just know" or "just realize" what they are supposed to be doing. If you train her using POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT, like showing her where to go and rewarding her with treats when she does, rather than using negative reinforcement and punishment when she just wants as far away from her cage as she can get because she now knows that she will be stuck inside it for a long period of time once she is caught, you will see positive results fairly quickly. Birds are very intelligent and they respond to positive reinforcement very well, but in my experience birds very seldom respond to any type of punishment. They are not dogs.

The other thing you need to remember is that both of your birds need at least 3-4 at a bare minimum of out of cage time each day to keep them happy, entertained, and healthy. I don't know what your situation is regarding their daily out of cage time, but if they are not getting 3-4 hours per day at a minimum then this also has had an impact on her behavior. If you couple a regular, daily, sufficient and quality out of cage schedule and combine it with training and positive reinforcement, and you remove all negative reinforcement and punishment, you will get the results you are looking for and more importantly you'll have a happier bird.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."