Not coming out of the cage.

[Sammied28]

I have two female cockatiels. Gracie is 11 years old and is hand tamed, I adopted her from her previous owner who couldn't have her in her retirement home. She loves to come out and sit on my shoulder while I'm doing class work. My other bird Kiko is three years old and not hand tamed. She doesn't enjoy coming out of her cage and freaks out when I try to coax her out. We are working on hand taming and just getting used to my hand being close by her. I don't force her out unless i need to wash the cage. Is there anything I can do to get her more comfortable coming out on her own?

 

[sunnysmom]

You can try leaving the cage door open (while supervised of course) and put a perch right outside the door, and then hang a favorite treat (like maybe millet spray) or toy there to entice her to come out.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Sylvi_]

I agree with @sunnysmom.
Patience and consistency is what will help.
You can leave the cage door open for a few hours each day at the same time, with a bit of millet spray as @sunnysmom suggested tied outside near a perch.
Good luck.

 

[Sammied28]

@sunnysmom @Sylvi_ I usually keep it open from when i get home from morning classes till when I have to leave for work. Which is usually about four hours. The door is hatch down so I lay millet on top of it but she usually just pulls it into her cage. I'll have to get a perch to set in front of her cage. For now I'll just stick with the hand taming and give her the option of coming out if she wishes. Thank you for the ideas!

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Use a clip to keep the millet outside the cage. Start with putting it close to the opening and moving it slowly farther and farther away from the opening of the door. Soon she will be coming out onto the door to eat the millet at the edge of the drop down door. Get that perch for outside as well. You can also put treats on the top of the cage and let her nibble them through the bars. Then, when she starts coming out of the cage and onto the door, she will remember there are usually goodies on the top of the cage and climb up to check them out. It worked really well with my hand shy GCC.

 

[lesliekiki]

Great ideas! I'm going to try them too!

 

[scoobdoo63]

If you have to get her out to.clean the cage this is the time to get a big shallow bowl with treats and food and sit in a chair like a recliner with it on your lap and the bird with you.don't put the bird back in the cage for a while..try doing this every day..the bird will soon bond with you and will be running to you.

 

[Sammied28]

@scoobdoo63 Even if i have to force her out would that be okay? I always feel so bad reaching in and grabbing her because she is afraid of hands. I just don't want to scare her even more.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

No Do not grab the bird. Big way to say you were lying about allowing her to be herself. If you can't remove the bottom cage mess by just emptying the bottom try, then just reach in and remove the dirty papers. Don't force her out of her cage.

 

[Monica]

If the cage comes apart, you can take the top of the cage off the bottom and clean the bottom, then reattach it. Not ideal, but may help in cleaning at least.


I had great success feeding first thing in the morning by hand. Feed one bird long enough, another will get interested. I only feed enough food to last one day, so it's easy to feed first thing in the morning, once the food or treats are gone, replenish the regular food dishes and repeat the next day!

 

[Sammied28]

@Laurul Feather Cat I never do grab her by hand. She is becoming more interested in gracie though, she stood on the drop down door on the ledge inside her cage when i had her out yesterday.

 

[alicat]

We have opposite problems
you can have some of Pipers outside energy for some of kikos cage love!

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Sounds like she is noticing the other bird is happy with you and may begin to emulate them. Having a tame bird to show a untrusting bird good behavior is a great way to help tame them. Make sure she sees you give the tame bird treats and then immediately go over and offer her a treat. Great way to become trusted.

 

[Sammied28]

Kiko came out of the cage! Of course it was when I was trying to close the cage doors so I could leave. She's now happily sitting on a chair looking very proud of herself.

 

[sunnysmom]

That's great!

 

[scoobdoo63]

No, I wouldn't grab her.. I would stick the bowl of food up by her and see if she steps up on it.. I still.do this when my bird is being a stinker..I need him out to clean and he don't want to be out.. I get some yum yum..more than likely he will.step up and I can put him up on the cage to clean..also stormy isn't a finger type of step up bird..he is a flat hand , side hand or forearm. Have you tried those ways??He has been that way since I got him..I just know that him being on my lap with bowls of food and me doing things with my hands made him trust my hands..using my kindle with a stylist, using the remote, eating in front of him, and offering him food..then one day he wanted me to scratch him..now he bugs me all the time..