Out of Cage Time and Other Questions

[Vampiric_Conure]

It's officially been 2 weeks and 2 days that Yvons has been with me. He's turning out to be quite the vocal character. He's louder than I'm used to, which will not bother me as much with time. I whisper to him, and he immediately goes 'Noise bad' mentally. You can almost literally see the gears turning in his head! However, there is one major problem:

He won't come out of his cage.

It's only been 2 weeks. Does he just need more time to come out of his cage? I leave the door or the top portion open and he eyes it with disdain or outright ignores it. Can I encourage him to come out? He loves roasted Unshelled peanuts and slivered Almonds. I'm thinking of setting up a treat bowl outside his cage that he has to access once he's outside the cage. Maybe I'll do some clicker training with him. See if that works, too.

Then there's the question of boxes. I've heard that they're good destructibles for Greys, but I don't want to trigger hormones. Are they still safe? I figure since I'm changing out toys regularly (Okay, once, as it's only been 2 weeks), I can pop in a box. And I have a LOT of boxes that can be of use, LOL!

On a different note - On my list of 'to gets' is a Pack-o-Bird carrier and a cheap tabletop play stand. Weeeeeeeee!!

 

[TiredOldMan]

Treats outside the cage are a good idea.
You are dealing with a grey and they definitely have their own timetable. With Gracie it was over 6yrs before she would vocalize if the BOSS was home. She has just now started requesting that the BOSS give her treats

If it wasn't for cardboard boxes for her to chew on I wouldn't have a house left.

 

[rheashard2]

There's a bird toy company that I used from a post here.

https://cabirdnerds.com/product_index.asp

They have cardboard material in rolls, sold by length. My CAG enjoys the stuff. I weave a short length through cage bars. Scrunch, then skewer, hang in cage. Then the crunch fun begins. Take your time with getting Yvonn out of cage. He may be afraid to leave it. Briefly, to him every time he's left cage it ended with changes in surroundings, people etc. This is emotionally trying for any pet. Encourage him to come to your hand with treats. Leave cage door open, talk, read aloud, watch TV etc at intervals. Patience!

 

[AprilRobin]

He probably needs more time. I don't have experience with CAGs, but I can tell you that our Cockatiels would not leave their cage for at least a month, as I remember. Then they began sitting in the open doorways, then climbing up and sitting on top.

 

[wrench13]

More time needed, definitely.

I dropped peanuts from my parrot menu. To many instances of mold in the shells.

A home made table stand can be made from PVC piping for, well, peanuts (ha ha). Around $15 or so or less. And you can custom make it to your liking!

 

[texsize]

My CAG is mostly afraid of boxes.
She will tear up small boxes but not large ones.
No hormonal problems with boxes.
Her problem was going into the kitchen cupboards, she still try’s to get into some.

We had no trouble with her coming out of her cage, going back in (in the beginning) was a different story.

 

[TiredOldMan]

I armor plated my cabinet doors with aluminum sheet. It has become apparent that I need to redo with heavier material and thin angle around the edges I'm looking at 3/16"
She is determined

 

[DonnaBudgie]

As long as you keep the door open he will eventually come out on his own. Letting him do it at his own pace is so good for trust. Less than three weeks is way to soon to be concerned about it. Just make him comfortable and he'll come out when he's ready.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

As long as you keep the door open he will eventually come out on his own. Letting him do it at his own pace is so good for trust. Less than three weeks is way to soon to be concerned about it. Just make him comfortable and he'll come out when he's ready.

Thanks! I'm almost tempted to ask him to step up, but if it's too soon, I will let him go at his own pace .

It's odd. He'll play with new toys but ignore others for 2 weeks. Meanwhile, the cockatiel, conure, and pionus beat up most of their toys. Maybe Yvons will learn something from the others...

 

[rheashard2]

Being contrary about items esp toys is a parrot especially a CAG is normal. I have a container of rejected toys. I resorted to taking Nameliss to petstore. If she touched a toy, then she'd play with it eventually. She's has two identical bells purchased at the same time. They're in different positions. In 20 yrs, one she plays with one. The other is ignored. I've even switched them. But #2 is always ignored. I purchased a beautiful and expensive manzanita wood swing. In about 10 yrs it doesn't even have birdie poo on it! I refuse to remove it. She refuses to use it. Every once in awhile she'll give it a shove. She designated different perches uses. Napping, munching, TV, observation (spying) positions. She uses her enclosed food container to sleep. She takea 1 pellet to munching location and repeats. There's days where she refuses to leave cage. Then there's days for return to cage motivational treats aka bribes. Nameliss is healthy, happy, taking great pride in her disassembly hobby. I am her human pet. Give Yvonn time to take ownership. He may not know step up. My CAG is...come here or get over here. Can you find out what is term is first?

 

[AprilRobin]

Being contrary about items esp toys is a parrot especially a CAG is normal. I have a container of rejected toys. I resorted to taking Nameliss to petstore. If she touched a toy, then she'd play with it eventually. She's has two identical bells purchased at the same time. They're in different positions. In 20 yrs, one she plays with one. The other is ignored. I've even switched them. But #2 is always ignored. I purchased a beautiful and expensive manzanita wood swing. In about 10 yrs it doesn't even have birdie poo on it! I refuse to remove it. She refuses to use it. Every once in awhile she'll give it a shove. She designated different perches uses. Napping, munching, TV, observation (spying) positions. She uses her enclosed food container to sleep. She takea 1 pellet to munching location and repeats. There's days where she refuses to leave cage. Then there's days for return to cage motivational treats aka bribes. Nameliss is healthy, happy, taking great pride in her disassembly hobby. I am her human pet. Give Yvonn time to take ownership. He may not know step up. My CAG is...come here or get over here. Can you find out what is term is first?

Sprite, our Sun Conure, recently started playing with a certain toy that has been in her cage for three or four months. She also avoided one of the bird room play stands for the past six months or so, but now she refuses to leave it sometimes!

 

[TiredOldMan]

You know if we completely understood them they wouldn't be as much fun to live with.

 

[AprilRobin]

You know if we completely understood them they wouldn't be as much fun to live with.

Yes, pets are different from humans and we like it that way!