Need advice getting skittish birds back into their cage?

[buurd]

My Bourke's parakeets finally came out of their cage! Yay!

And they stayed out for the next 13 hours, because I couldnt lure them back into it, even with millet bribes

So I really need some tips, here. Specifically on how to get wild/skittish birds to go back into their cages. My Bourke's werent hand raised and wont step up.

 

[Taw5106]

Food and water, leave the cage door open and make sure their food and water dish are visible. They will identify that location to get food and water when they are ready. If they have a favorite treat, show them the treat and place it in the food bowl then walk away. Mine love grapes and peanuts so put a grape or peanut in their bowl.


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[GaleriaGila]

Good idea, Taw. To this day, the only way I can usually get His Majesty back into his cage is toss a green chile in there.

buurd, you sound like a kind and patient person. Thanks for taking these 'keets on. Keep us posted.

 

[Taw5106]

Good idea, Taw. To this day, the only way I can usually get His Majesty back into his cage is toss a green chile in there.

buurd, you sound like a kind and patient person. Thanks for taking these 'keets on. Keep us posted.

The Rickybird is a whole other level, lollllll!!!!!!!


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[Laurasea]

Good idea, Taw. To this day, the only way I can usually get His Majesty back into his cage is toss a green chile in there.

buurd, you sound like a kind and patient person. Thanks for taking these 'keets on. Keep us posted.

The Rickybird is a whole other level, lollllll!!!!!!!

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The RickyBird has properly trained his human. I'm going to have to deleat this thread , least my fids get any ideas!!!

 

[LeslieA]

Every bird is different. What works for one doesn't always work for another.

This is only advice given me. (My commentary is added.)

With the cage door open, scrape your nail along the bars to get their attention. (Yeah, right.) It works!

Do it, again, today. (That was just a fluke! You really want me to do this, again?)

Try it everyday. (HMM, this may actually work, but I doubt it......... You've got to be kidding. This is all there is to it?)

 

[buurd]

Food and water, leave the cage door open and make sure their food and water dish are visible. They will identify that location to get food and water when they are ready. If they have a favorite treat, show them the treat and place it in the food bowl then walk away. Mine love grapes and peanuts so put a grape or peanut in their bowl.


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Thanks. These guys are pretty fussy about things. I havent found anything they really like a lot, other than millet. So i would bring the millet out, twirl it a little so they really got a good look and then put it inside their cage. But they never even tried to take the bait/ Finally i put it down next to them, and of course the were then all over it. So I tossed it in the cage, but they didnt care enough to go to it. I got one to sit on a tennis racket, but he flew off when i tried to walk with it.

I dont blame them, though. The person they grew up with didnt let them out of the cage for their lives (2 years).
So now that they finally got up the nerve to leave their cage, they were probably overjoyed. My heart swelled up, seeing them out and enjoying themselves. But at about hour 10, I needed to get out of the house, and so that meant they needed to get back in their cage. But they didnt get the memo :54:

I hope we can work out some communication where they can learn to go to in their house when I need them to, but these guys are somewhat wild.

And pretty bossy! Rosy Bourke's are supposedly bullied by other birds, but with me, they're a bit sassy, I would say

 

[buurd]

Good idea, Taw. To this day, the only way I can usually get His Majesty back into his cage is toss a green chile in there.

buurd, you sound like a kind and patient person. Thanks for taking these 'keets on. Keep us posted.

Thanks, GG! I actually have been laid off, so I'm hauling @ss trying to find another job, so that I can afford to keep them. I bonded with them in less than an hour, and it would kill me to have to give them to anyone. id always be wondering if they were being treated right, and worried that they werent.

Im so glad that they finally decided to come out. I was beginning to think that they were afraid of me, even though they were showing signs that they were comfortable with me.

They're just naturally skittish. They have no problem being around me, and hang around me when outside of the cage. They just dont like to be touched.
Actually the female did let me lightly touch her front today, and her tail, so. Then I asked her if she would step up and she, looked at me like, Wut?, like I had asked something inappropriate. I probably did.

 

[noodles123]

It is going to be harder to get a flock back in, because they tend to follow the leader...If one goes in, others may want to go in as well, but if one stays out, the rest will be inclined to do the same. My only thought would be to separate them into multiple cages temporarily and give them time out of the cage in shifts....This may be a terrible idea, so I will let other users chime in..I honestly have never owned a group of birds...I just know that when I walk outside in the morning and startle the birds in a bush by the door, one takes flight, and the rest follow...I imagine (but don't know for sure) that a similar mentality may be at play here.

 

[ParakeetLuvr]

My parakeet only likes to sleep in the cage so if I turn off the lights and close the window but leave a dim lamp on so she can still see she will fly back to her cage, up my new lovebird needs to be scooped up because he doesn’t step up yet and put back into his cage. I’m always sure to make it quick as to not stress him out or anything.

 

[buurd]

It is going to be harder to get a flock back in, because they tend to follow the leader...If one goes in, others may want to go in as well, but if one stays out, the rest will be inclined to do the same. My only thought would be to separate them into multiple cages temporarily and give them time out of the cage in shifts....This may be a terrible idea, so I will let other users chime in..I honestly have never owned a group of birds...I just know that when I walk outside in the morning and startle the birds in a bush by the door, one takes flight, and the rest follow...I imagine (but don't know for sure) that a similar mentality may be at play here.

I have two parakeets; male & female, and theyve only ever been in one cage. The female finally did go back inside the cage after about 1o hrs, but the male sat atop the cage. Maybe he thought he was guarding their house?

They werre so happy, when they were out. I saw them almost cuddle. It was adorable. They are birds that dont preen each other, so that's the coziest they gotten. I hope this doesnt mean theyre going to move on to having babies, though. I guess I need to get some fake eggs? Im not sure on what to do. I dont want to psychologically damage my femle by giving her fake eggs; wont she think they're dead? Other than separate them in cages (which Im not going to do), I dont know what's the best method of birth control for them.

 

[buurd]

My parakeet only likes to sleep in the cage so if I turn off the lights and close the window but leave a dim lamp on so she can still see she will fly back to her cage, up my new lovebird needs to be scooped up because he doesn’t step up yet and put back into his cage. I’m always sure to make it quick as to not stress him out or anything.

Ah, changing the lights... I'll try this. The Bourke's are most active at dusk and dawn, so maybe if i put the lights on bright...

 

[LeslieA]

My parakeet only likes to sleep in the cage so if I turn off the lights and close the window but leave a dim lamp on so she can still see she will fly back to her cage, up my new lovebird needs to be scooped up because he doesn’t step up yet and put back into his cage. I’m always sure to make it quick as to not stress him out or anything.

I so agree!!!

I keep a blue LED night light in bird's rooms for just that! Even birds that have been going in and out for years may not want back in. Another common problem is night frights. This allows the bird to return or recover on his own.

I still remember being told why we put the bird's into dark rooms to sleep even though we stay up! I think about my other animals. They live by dawn and dusk, not MY clock. HAHA

 

[buurd]

I guess from what Ive read, Bourke's are the odd ones out, when it comes to grass parakeets. They like to sleep through the day.

Now I have the opposite thing happening , here: they dont want to come back out of their cage. I encouraged them to do so, with millet tied out on a perch outside their cage, left their door open ...and they are content inside the cage, for now, once again. I dont know how to figure these little guys out .

 

[Ephy]

I wish I had something helpful to add... But my Kiwi loves bed time. He looks forward to his bedtime mealworm snack.

There was a time when i was trying to get him comfortable with sleeping in his larger day cage and he refused for months...! For months i would hold his night cage up to his daytime cage after waking him ,then spend forever trying to coax him in...finally he would go in and I would tell him how much of a good bird he was.
Suddenly one day, he shocked the hell out of me by going straight to his day cage at bedtime...i even waited with the door open, pointig at his bedtime cage with his mealworms in there but he was not interested.
My mind was blown. I so very very slowly closed the day cage door, asking him "is it bedtime?" And he then gave his usual baby beeps..telling me yes bedtime, so I gave him his mealworms.
Trying to get him comfortable with his cage lasted for months but now he is so happy to sleep in his day cage. But it truly can take FOREVER for a bird to be comfortable.

A little history probably wont help much but, before Kiwi had a day cage he had free run. He was with us, out of his cage all the time, but he developed horrible aggressive tendencies once his hormones kicked in.
The only way we have had luck dealing with the constant screaming/biting was by reducing the amount of space he had free access to. He was constantly trying to fight and dominate us and as a soft bill bird could bite almost hard enough to pierce the skin. So we made changes. Bought a large flight cage and left him in there until (at least) after lunch. We tried experimenting with letting him out at different times but he would never calm down enough unti at least mid afternoon.
When winter comes he wil calm down significantly, but spring to fall forget about it!

Anyways long story, short...we wouldnt give him food or water outside of his cage, and would only have food and water in his cage where he could always see it, cage was close to us (in reach) and where he cold see us. He would go eat from time to time but we never jumped up and closed the door...so he learned he could safely enter and exit his cage.
When we really needed him to get ready for bed, we would casually darken the room over a period of time to encourage sleep mode, we would repeat "bedtime" in a happy voice and show him mealworms. Smaller flight space is always helpful.

Then we would wait for him to go in to his cage, and make a huge deal about how a much of a good bird he was. Then slowly darken the room more and very slowly close the door repeating bedtime goodbird.

If he lunged for the door, we would let him out, rinse and repeat.

Today, he begs me to go to bed in his day cage, screams at the tv because it keepz him awake or flies back and forth from me to his cage until I get up and put him to bed.
When i give him his mealworms, i still pause before I closse his door, saying bedtime...and when I cover him up for bed he tells me how much of a good bird I am. Lol

 

[buurd]

Birds are so psychologically complex. It's fascinating, but daunting. My female seems more expressive than my male. Is this normally noted? She's also started making a new noise to me that sounds like she's trying to mimic something closer to a human sound.

I didnt know that house sparrows could talk? I know starlings can, but common everyday house sparrows?

Thanks for your reply. I just assumed that any bird would want to leave their cage, whenever they could. They had a good time, when they were outside of the cage, before. It's not like they were afraid of me. They spent nearly all of their time around me, when they were free. I didnt have to put them back in their cage; they eventually just went back in by themselves. So it seems perplexing as to why they dont seem interested in coming out, again. They can see the new perches I put up, leading out the door. And the millet I have placed on the outside part of the perch, but they dont seem interested. Which I know is a lie, because they love millet. These guys, lol

 

[Caitnah]

My GCC has been hand raised so he is very tame. However, like most birds, he loves being out of his cage, with me.
When it's bed time, he is usually sitting with me in my chair. He realizes that it's time to go back into his cage and he doesn't take kindly to this. When I get out of my chair, he is usually perched on my hand. He runs up my arm, and here's the funny part, and immediately runs behind my neck and down my back a little. He has learned that I cannot reach him there...and there he sits.

After a little coaxing, I reach back and he will either perch on my hand or if he is being really stubborn, I have to gently pick him up. Either way, he then gives me some "tender" bites to let me know that he is not happy going back in.

 

[buurd]

Update: Basically they are just going to go back in when they feel like it, lol During their regular eating and sleeping times. It's out of my hands. I just make sure they are safe in the room and cannot get into anything, while I am away.

Maybe at some point they will be docile enough for me to get them to step up or let me usher them into their house. The female actually perched on my arm today, so that was progress. Of course she did it when she felt like doing it; i had no say in the matter, lol