Cockatiel Has No Ability to be in Cage

[Devin]

My girlfriend and I have made a few posts recently on different sub-forums about my two cockatiels, Russet and Baby. I had Baby for around three years and got Russet during this past Summer from someone who was rehoming him because they could no longer take care of him. It has been difficult to understand where most of the issues I have with these birds is coming from, but I think I am beginning to see the core of the problem. When I first got Russet, both birds were quiet as they got to know each other and bonded. I keep them in separate cages at the moment. They (especially Russet) love to explore out of the cage and are usually sweet to me. Recently, I believe the excitement has faded out and we have had extreme difficulty with stopping screaming and hormonal behavior. This post is addressing the screaming.

Russet seems to have very little, if any, ability to be entertained in his cage. Last night, I rearranged their entire cage layouts and introduced several new toys they had not seen that I thought he might like. This morning I had them out for a couple of hours and then had to put them in to go to work. Before I left, I set up foraging for them both, which Russet has been interested in at times in the past. As soon as they were in, there was almost constant screaming for the next 4 hours, wether or not someone was in the room. Later in the day, I placed them both in Russet's cage so I could open our door to go outside briefly. I watched as Baby went from toy to toy and played with them briefly, exploring the new cage. Russet, however, perched at the front of the cage, ignoring all toys, and began pacing and screaming. This quickly riled up Baby into screaming as well, even if he was not upset. The past few weeks Russet has been completely unable to be caged and completely unwilling to play with any toys I put in his cage, even with seeds and millet in/on them. He is only interested in chewing base boards and wires, which I have tried to simulate with toys, but he has very little interest in. His cage is quite large for a cockatiel and he has lots of time out of it, as well.

Russet and Baby are now completely bonded, and I am extremely worried about having to rehome Baby because I cannot take care of Russet. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PufF]

You mentioned that they are bonded so could you please briefly explain what they would do together other than screaming? Also did you change anything else at home in general? Doesn’t only mean the room that they are in could also be in any area that they can see. Could you also put in a couple of pictures of their cages as well?
And when did he start chewing baseboards and wires?
Edit- Also talking about those which room are they in and is the cage on the table/anything or on the floor.

 

[elitys]

The only thing we can think of is that Russet may have had free reign of the entire mobile home he used to live in. His previous owners obviously had a difficult time getting him in his cage (Devin had to do it himself with a towel when he went to pick him up because they couldn't) because he was flighted and not trained, so they might have just left him out of the cage all the time and that's why he never wants to be in his cage here.

How do we even deal with that? We live in an apartment, so we can't exactly build him an aviary. And I don't know if any cage is big enough for his standards.

 

[Aves]

Sorry but I don't have a lot of advice but it sounds like your bird likes to play with things that aren't his. Maybe you could grab one bird toy and play with it in front of him and go wild with it and if he wants it hide it partially. Then eventually leave out the toy in his cage while still playing with it. @sunnysmom @Tiel Feathers @Princessbella

 

[Aves]

Also maybe you could associate cages with good things like treats, attention, toys.. Is he target trained?

 

[elitys]

@PufF Here are photos of their cages. Baby's is on the left and Russet's on the right. They have foraging toys and a variety of materials, and several different perch types. These layouts are brand new, set them up last night. Baby's cage could be bigger, but he doesn't have a problem with it. It's mostly Russet that initiates and perpetuates the screaming.

​

(Sorry about the bad lighting.)

 

[elitys]

Sorry but I don't have a lot of advice but it sounds like your bird likes to play with things that aren't his. Maybe you could grab one bird toy and play with it in front of him and go wild with it and if he wants it hide it partially. Then eventually leave out the toy in his cage while still playing with it.

We have tried playing with toys to show him how. Russet purposefully ignores us and walks/flies away when we do this. He seriously has no interest in anything he's allowed to have.

 

[elitys]

And when did he start chewing baseboards and wires?

If my theory about him being allowed free reign of his old home is correct, he might have been chewing wires and baseboards the whole time they had him.

 

[elitys]

Also maybe you could associate cages with good things like treats, attention, toys.. Is he target trained?

We have worked on target training with him, and he pretty much gets it. But he is not very reward motivated. He won't work for any treats we've tried, he has no interest in attention or toys unless he decides he wants them. He doesn't stay interested in training sessions and just wants to fly away and do something else.

 

[elitys]

We have tried playing with toys to show him how. Russet purposefully ignores us and walks/flies away when we do this. He seriously has no interest in anything he's allowed to have.

@Aves We sometimes can trick him into playing with a toy by shoving it in front of the baseboard he's trying to chew or the crack he's trying to turn into a nest.

 

[Devin]

You mentioned that they are bonded so could you please briefly explain what they would do together other than screaming? Also did you change anything else at home in general?
Edit- Also talking about those which room are they in and is the cage on the table/anything or on the floor.

They preen one another, sing to each other, sleep as close as possible, and will loudly contact call if they are at all separated. I don’t believe we have made any major changes at home besides expanding the areas they are able to play while out by blocking wires and baseboards. They are in the living room and their cages are on the floor, but both are slightly lifted, Baby’s more than Russets.

 

[Aves]

@Aves We sometimes can trick him into playing with a toy by shoving it in front of the baseboard he's trying to chew or the crack he's trying to turn into a nest.

Is he motivated by anything or does he just want to do his own thing?

 

[elitys]

Is he motivated by anything or does he just want to do his own thing?

It really seems like he only ever just wants to do his own thing. He's very distracted during training, always wanting to fly to the ground or a cabinet or whatever.

He likes treats like millet and safflower seeds, but not enough to work for them.

 

[PufF]

@Aves We sometimes can trick him into playing with a toy by shoving it in front of the baseboard he's trying to chew or the crack he's trying to turn into a nest.

Turn into a nest? How old is he? If he is young enough maybe he just started to turn hormonal or something? I don’t really know much about them or cockatiels in general so right now I’m just guessing.
Edit- Who’s cage does he like more, Baby’s or his own? If he likes Baby’s more or stays quiet in there more maybe he prefers to be higher up?
Another random suggestion is that maybe you could try to line the bottom of his cage with cardboard to make it seem like a baseboard to see if he would chew it. Then try lifting the cardboard barrier higher up (make two holes in the cardboard and use a zip tie) to make it seem like the ‘baseboard’ just went up and if he still plays/chews it then keep going until it reaches the height of normal toys and whatnot.
He’s not treat motivated but you could still try to offer him treats when he does still remain interested in the cardboard ‘baseboard’.
Just a suggestion though

 

[elitys]

Turn into a nest? How old is he? If he is young enough maybe he just started to turn hormonal or something?

Russet is estimated to be around 3 years old. We adopted him as a fully mature cockatiel.

Edit- Who’s cage does he like more, Baby’s or his own? If he likes Baby’s more or stays quiet in there more maybe he prefers to be higher up?

He doesn't like either cage lol. He will scream and ignore the toys in both of them. But he seems to prefer his own slightly, probably because it's a little bigger.

 

[Shezbug]

@Monica might be able to help. I can not help but wonder if he has learned that making a lot of noise gets him let out of the cage?

 

[Devin]

@Monica might be able to help. I can not help but wonder if he has learned that making a lot of noise gets him let out of the cage?

He definitely has, and it’s a part of the problem. He certainly was rewarded for screaming in his past home, but now that that is his instinct it is very difficult not to react after long periods of screaming in an apartment setting. At points we have to briefly cover the cage to get him to stop at all. Neither of us like the ideas of approaching at all when they’re screaming or covering them, but our living situation does not allow us to ignore their screaming for several
hours.

 

[sunnysmom]

There's a good thread here on screaming I will try to find. It sounds like he has learned to scream to be let out. I know it's hard to ignore screaming (I live with a cockatoo) but completely ignoring is the only way to get it to stop. I also think as I posted in another thread that he's hormonal. Also do you think he wants to share a cage with Baby?

 

[Devin]

Also do you think he wants to share a cage with Baby?

We cage them together at least a couple times a day but Russet will still scream even with Baby in his cage.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Make sure you keep all food in the cage unless your training him, keep him on a loose routine, ignore the screaming, reward him every time he goes back to the cage, make sure he is getting enough darkness/sleep, sit next the cage and talk with him, reward being in the cage, target train him while in the cage, and take away any perceived nest sites. Any changes you implement might take several weeks to work, so be very diligent and consistent. I hope you can figure it out!