I need help...

[BindiWW]

It seems whenever I take Piper out anymore, it's impossible to get him back in his cage. I may do some great training with him, but I feel like it all goes down the drain when I have to chase him around the room to get him to go back in his cage. I don't want to lose his trust but I can't just leave him in his cage all the time. If anyone has any advice on what I should do, I would love to hear it!

 

[tarad]

Is there a treat he likes that you can use to bribe him to get him into his cage, such as millet or avicakes?

 

[Skyler]

The only way I get Rika (sun) back in is that her "love" for me is trumped by her addiction to pine nuts. So when I get up and put some treats in her bowl she gives me that disgusted look ("I know what you are doing, Mom) but climbs in her home/cage.

 

[LunaLove]

My love Luna can be a pain at time to get into his cage.

1) at night I turn all lights off and use the light from my tv to walk to his cage lean over and he will normally hop off me into the cage


2) drying he day I will just slowly walk by his cage a few time parenting to do other things and then will quickly lean my shoulder in the cage so he has to hop off.

3) as last repeats I've bright him in the bathroom with only a small light on so I could grab him but I almost never resort to that.

It defiantly took time for me be able to get him good about returning to the cage. The big thing is I found he must be out for 1 hour at least or he won't go back so I never take him out for quick out of cage time it's always for a min of 1 hr which means most of my friends have not gotten to play with him as they just pop by

 

[shesocalifornia]

I always give them incentive. I put their most favorite treat and lots of attention of scratches and love when I put them away. They love to come out and go back in because I make the process fun for them.

 

[tarad]

The big thing is I found he must be out for 1 hour at least or he won't go back so I never take him out for quick out of cage time it's always for a min of 1 hr which means most of my friends have not gotten to play with him as they just pop by

. Same here. Minimum of one hour and it's easier to get them to go back into their cage.

 

[BraveheartDogs]

It seems whenever I take Piper out anymore, it's impossible to get him back in his cage. I may do some great training with him, but I feel like it all goes down the drain when I have to chase him around the room to get him to go back in his cage. I don't want to lose his trust but I can't just leave him in his cage all the time. If anyone has any advice on what I should do, I would love to hear it!

I would see if you can identify a very high value reinforcer and use that when he goes back to his cage. After I put Joey, my WCP away, I also give him treats AND sit and talk with him and sometimes put on music and dance around. I want going in the cage to equal something really good for him.

 

[webchirp]

Pistachios are sometimes the only way I can get Zephyr to go in at night. I also feed everyone before bed and sometimes I can time it so that he is in his cage eating.

 

[Jenphilly]

Okay I might get yelled at, but if your bird is flighted and refuses to step up to go back to the cage, clipping wings can be a training reinforcement. I prefer my birds be flighted, but when they use that to avoid all the training and taught behaviors, my last option is to clip. It even happened with my beloved Ivory who I spent a year teaching her to fly and use her wings. But when we moved into the new house and had 14' crilings and loft areas I can't reach without a ladder and she flies there and ignores her recall training, the last option was clipping. Its been a few months and her flights are growing back, shes back to being my good girl so she has free flight privileges again. I never thought I'd clip her, and I won't again unless there is no other choice.

 

[webchirp]

I did the same thing with Zephyr once Jennifer. I haven't had to do it since (knock on wood). While he is a little brat, I can still get him to go in with treats or trickery. But the one time just after hormones set in, he was a stinker and took me forever to get him in his cage. But you are right, once they grew out he didn't revert back to being so stubborn.

 

[Princessbella]

Maybe it's because I got Bella at 7 weeks old or because she is a cockatiel but I started early with the commands nite nite and go into your cage. It does help that her cage is nicer than my house and I have a lot of toys in there that are not anywhere else. It took some time but now if I have to go out, I do this routine and she goes into her cage by herself and when I tell her nite nite, she allows me to pick her up and put her on her cage. She is a troublemaker that gets into all kinds of mischief and she thinks her name is NO but going back into her cage is not one of her problems. Maybe there is something your bird likes that you only put in the cage at night, either a favorite treat or toy. I know how stubborn these birds can be.

 

[sunnysmom]

When I first got Sunny, he would only get millet spray as a "cage" treat. That was big incentive to get him to go back into his cage. Also, I had been advised to spend time with him when he was in his cage so he didn't just associate his cage with my leaving him alone. That helped too. I also made going back to his cage fun- singing silly songs, etc. Now, thankfully, I have no problems at all with Sunny going back to his cage and he's really good about going back in himself.

 

[BindiWW]

Thanks for the advice everybody! I figured out that if I don't feed him until after play time in the morning, after about an hour or so he's ready to go back in without much trouble.