Cageless Conure

[KaleighMaeA2488]

Hi I am incredibly new to this forum, and I am 48 hours into a new theory. I thought I would get some opinions, and see if anyone else does this. I have a Nansun conure. When I got her she was pretty cage bound out of fear (her old home at 5 cats which tormented her). She loved when I went to her cage and petted her, but was terrified to leave her cage. Once I got her out she acted like it was the best thing ever and cuddled with me and played, but getting her out has been a huge struggle. I did a lot of research and decided to try a cage free lifestyle for her. I went out and built her a huge (5 1/2 foot tall) activity stand. It is completely open. I am 48 hours into this theory (I still have her old cage just in case) and she really seems to love it! She is playing a lot more, gladly steps up when I ask her, and has just come out of her shell so to say.

I work from home, and someone is with her nearly 24/7 365. She is rarely home alone. Her open perch is sitting right next to my desk, and I can close the door to that room if need be. I have all the outlets in that room covered just in case, but she seems completely content to stay on her perch unless I ask her to come down. This lifestyles seems like it will be very compatible for our situation, but I was wondering if anyone had precautions I had not thought of.

 

[yann]

wow i love it!! she's a real lucky fid if she's safe in the room i don't see any problem with it. but i would be worried about your personal belongings that might get destroyed once she has the courage to explore…at least from my experience, my conures love picking at random stuff, especially electronic devices.

 

[MrsKay]

I think that sounds very nice as long as she is supervised. If it is only a bird room she would be fine. Since you have electronics and some other personal items in the room I would be leary of leaving her alone just in case she decides to explore (as yann said).
I believe I would have her cage in the room, open, and be sure she goes inside her cage once in a while so that you can keep her in there when you leave periodically

 

[KaleighMaeA2488]

Thanks for the advice, I will keep a close eye on her and I will cage her if need be. I am hoping I can catch her starting to get interested in my computer and teach her it is off limits, but we shall see how it goes!

 

[TessieB]

So long as a person is with your bird things should be fine. Remember she can drown in the toilet, a sink filled with water, chew on wires, walls, electronic equipment and so forth. She can slam in to the window, mirror, accidently fly out an open door. Other pets can hurt a bird.

I do know people who give their birds a cage-free life style but the bird lives in one room and who/what enters the room is strictly monitored. Birds who live cage-free in a house without supervision, in my experience, don't live as long as a bird who lives in a cage when left alone.

All tame birds deserve to be out of their cage for a certain amount of time. Some find exiting the cage a difficult thing to do as a cage represent a safe place to be. Or possibly your bird was traumatized at one time by exiting the cage-a small cage door. Screaming kids or nosy pets make a bird reluctant to leave the safety of their cage.

Teaching a bird to exit a cage on your hand/stick/command can help create a trusting bond that you both will enjoy for years. Remember you are responsible for the safety of your feathered friend, and you have to think of all possible scenarios when leaving a bird out of the cage-even if you are gone 'just for a minute'.

Good luck and keep your pet safe!

 

[Sterling1113]

My conures used to be cage-free. They didn't act much different, really, just quieter because they never had to ask to be let out of their cage. Now they use their cage, since the arrival of my Pionus in March I wouldn't trust them to leave his cage alone. And I don't want all 3 of them being cage-free if we can't supervise them. (His beak is much bigger than theirs.)

It was cute, though. I liked waking up in the morning and instead of hearing squawking Kiwi would just flutter down to my bed. (they used to be clipped.) Now though I feel like if we tried to go cage-free again they would get into too much trouble, as they are all fully flighted and we are unable to put them in a separate "bird room".

And what Tessie said is entirely true. Kiwi has tried to dive into the toilet before. And she attempted to do so in between me standing up and putting the lid down, so if the bathroom door was left open and the toilet seat was up I have no doubts she would try it again. She's quite the water enthusiast.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

And she attempted to do so in between me standing up and putting the lid down

...Oh dear. Poor Kiwi! LOL!

Your conure is so beautiful! I'd love to have Sootie in a cage-free home but it's just not possible considering I live with my brother. Partly because I can't rely on him to keep windows closed when I am out of the house and partly because my conure is OBSESSED with men and she would climb over her own mother to get to him. If she wasn't caged she literally would hurt herself trying to get to him when I'm not home.

 

[OneHorseRanch]

Welcome! I love the bird stand I cant be on my lap top with my bird out. He crawls down my arm and pulls off the keys. I've got 9 and ] chewed up and am unable to snap back on. We try to let him out to crawl on his cage as much as possible, but most of the time he's on the floor where he knows we'll pick him up. Like the others were saying, "keep an eye on the electronics" and important papers. Keep us posted on this "theory". sounds like it could work for you and him.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think it's a lovely concept IF you have a dedicated bird room. You do need to be extremely diligent to keep cords unplugged and any/all dangers away. You also can't be mad if she chews up your desk or something on it, that's what they do. Also keep in mind, many parrots do like their cages even if they don't want to be in them all the time. Our amazon is pretty much free (as long as someone is home, which is most of the time) and enjoys spending time all over the apartment. However, sometimes he just likes being on his cage and wants to chill in his house. He knows that's his home. And while he is allowed to be out when someones home, we do put him up when we go out for his safety since there are dangers around and he could harm himself if unsupervised (electrical cords, houseplants, certain foods we eat he could get into like avocado or chocolate ext...).

I hope this works out for you, and since you are in the beginning stages, please look into a dedicated room that is safe, easy to clan and nothing to destroy for when you aren't home. I have admired this room for a LONG TIME. It is AWESOME for housing a parrot and maybe you can work something like this into your concept

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCvMd7z87w"]Ginger Cleaning Santina's Room - YouTube[/ame]