CAG in open plan home, help pls

Hi all! It's my first time here. I apologize if this has been covered. I have a 14 week CAG, Oscar (DNA tested male). My home is an open plan all the way through. His cage is in the playroom, which is just off the kitchen. (If I move his cage anywhere else, he probably won't see us all day.)

Issue is, I have 3 young children and as best I try, there is clutter on the counters & sometimes on the floor more often than not. I do my best to clear it, but you know how life is. Right now, when he comes out for playtime, though he is supervised, he flies to the kitchen counters & top of fridge where he can get into fruit bowls, papers/mail, and whatever my kids have forgotten to put away. I am training them as well, lol, but they are preschoolers, so this may take some time!

Is there a way to train him not to go to certain places, since I can't close any areas off-it's like my whole house is one big open space. I have standing perches on order, so I am hoping to get him trained to stick mostly with those when he is out for "free time." We were doing well with flight recall but he reverted a bit and I plan to start again with training perches.

Same thing with step up. I'm almost redoing it, but when he flies on the counter or fridge he does not follow the step up command bc he is way too interested in whatever is there. I end up having to pick him up and remove him. He might nip a bit and he is definitely mad at that point. I'm not sure if that messes up with the step up training?

Thanks a bunch!

I'm sure you will get some good advice from people owned by flighted parrots. I'll just say that kitchens are dangerous places for parrots. They can easily land on a hot burner or in a pot of boiling food. Many human foods like avocado and chocolate could be eaten if they happen to be out on the counter. I will be interested to hear how others deal with this...our Gus doesn't fly so it's not something I've had to worry about.

When you say 'pick him up' how is that meant? As in toweling him to pick him up, or placing a hand on either side of his body and picking him up? Unless you have made towel play a part of your interaction with him, toweling the bird is not going to do anything positive for your becoming closer to him. Stepping up should the kind of command that the bird should always obey, and only rarely be allowed to refuse it. when you give him your command , and the hand signal , he should step up without question. IMHO.

We are a fully flighted household with an open concept home and there are requirements to such a home for it to work well for everyone!
- The Parrot must be fully Step-up compliant
- The Parrot needs to be recall trained with nearly full compliance
- Safety for everyone requires Go To training
- Safety for the Parrot requires Stay training

Not sure who designed your kitchen without a full depth cabinet above the fridge. Either replace /upgrade that cabinet or build a cardboard box that fills that space fully. Without it, that space is a natural landing area - to get away from everything below. Even with great training, escape to a safe place like that is a reality.

Remember that you have a toy rich World that most Parrots can only dream of, target that it is all Parrot /Child safe and that all of them will work hard at breaking, crushing and making into small pieces. Special toys from the grandparents are kept in the proper room(s) and anything in that open area is likely to being trashed. Same is true for the monthly bills, mail and all other important documents and treasured items. Relocate them!

It sounds like you need to start from step-one and work forward. I am not sure you have the one-on-one time needed to make that all happen quickly. You need to evaluate your reality and determine what you can make happen.

FYI: Start with Step-Up!

@wrench13: I agree that the step up should be obeyed and the bird not be allowed to refuse. The sticky point is, since he's still training & he's learning to fly more & more each day, what do I do when he does refuse & I need to get him away from something?

What I mean by pick him up is I gently scoop my hand under him & he does end up stepping on my fingers & I cover his feet with my thumb so I can bring him away from the unwanted "thing." I don't wrap my hands around him or use a towel. Maybe pick up was incorrect verbage but what I mean is that he is not voluntarily stepping up at that point. I do distract him with something safe & fun at that point. Should I continue this method until he fully trains step up voluntarily without issue?

@Sailboat: The fridge is old fashioned & small but I blew my spending money on a parrot hee hee. You did give me an idea until I upgrade. I will block that top part of the fridge with (parrot-safe) boxes/baskets to store what is up there & make sure there are no gaps.

Believe it or not, I'm good on time (kids are out of the house during the day & I work from home PT). He does great during training sessions-it's real life that makes him stubborn lol. But we will work more on making sure everything is in its place & getting my paperwork a new home

I started to realize the regression with step up & recall coincided with his weaning. He basically weaned himself-outright refused the formula within a span of a few days. I even had the vet on call bc it was so abrupt. Turns out he was just in a hurry to grow up! Maybe that caused the blip in the training.

thanks.

"I started to realize the regression with step up & recall coincided with his weaning. He basically weaned himself-outright refused the formula within a span of a few days. I even had the vet on call bc it was so abrupt. Turns out he was just in a hurry to grow up! Maybe that caused the blip in the training."


You have likely made a connection! Even though he has fully rejected formula, it would be correct to make it available for at least a couple of weeks after he rejects it. This assure that he has fully stopped and there is never any fear that food may not be available. Its that fear that can drive behavior problems.

Any number of things can cause a set-back, never be concerned about 're-starting.'

Amazons that have been part of our home for years, still get a monthly tour of the home with an introduced to windows, mirrors, TV screens, tight corners, flight pathways, etc.. just like it was the first time! Also, anytime something new is added!

Such good advice. CAGs are stubborn ones. Birdman666 has a lot of good advice on training and boundaries. It's safer for the bird to be fully compliant when stepping up, recalled, etc. The CAGs will test you as time goes by but in my experience with them, they do well with consistency and an animated and full environment.

Welcome and welcome!

Pics please.

Thank you all for the advice & encouragement! I was ill so was away from the replies for a bit. I appreciate it very much
As an update, he is doing much better stepping up almost always on command & recall is improving.