GCC doesn't use most of his cage

[marsie]

My gcc (about 2-3 years old, not sure on his actual gender) doesn't really use most of his cage. He sticks to his food and water dishes basically 24/7, and just climbs around that area. I moved the 2 bowls farther apart to get him to move more, but they are still more towards the front so I can access them easily. He will every once in a while go around his cage, but looking at his droppings on the floor he basically never even touches the back corners at all. He has foraging toys and such, and I will even put millet in plain sight in them, but he just doesn't go for it. I am not really sure what to do (if it even is a big issue tbh). I have tried putting his favorite types of toys in the back to encourage him back there, along with the millet I mentioned earlier, but he just loses interest.

 

[Mizzely]

Can you take a photo of his cage and setup? Maybe we can give you ideas?

Does he get a lot of time out of his cage?

 

[TulsiVana]

Mine uses only the top 1/3 (it’s a large, tall cage) where her fur and water is. But she’s also out of her cage 90% of the day. I leave the cage doors open and she goes back and forth, in and out, climbing on all the apparatus (her stands, ropes etc) but when she’s in it she never really ever used the bottom 2/3 of the cage. I’ll take a picture for you. Days your gcc send time order of the cage?

 

[TulsiVana]

We move her cage at night to her sleeping room and in the daytime we bring it out to the rest of the house where the action is lol

 

[Emma&pico]

Definitely as @Mizzely says post a picture of your setup

both my gcc use every inch so does my lovebird but their favourite is at top and that’s where most of their toys get use at top well part from coconut which they love that’s bottom of their cages always down there emptied it

 

[sb sigmund]

A cage wider than it is tall is always better. Birds in those tall skinny cages will usually just stick to the top and not use the rest

 

[TulsiVana]

A cage wider than it is tall is always better. Birds in those tall skinny cages will usually just stick to the top and not use the rest

Right? First timer over here we ended up buying a second cage, longer, did it all up with her stuff and she just prefers this one overall. She transitions really well though, from diet to diet, cage to cage. She’s a super chill bird. Even her travel bag- I gave her space and time to explore it on her own and she loves it.

 

[marsie]

i usually have him out for a few hours in the evening since I can't have him out 24/7 unfortunately. What i meant specifically is that he stays in the front mostly and never really goes into the back corners, and he has been like this no matter the cage location. He's been in this cage almost the entire time i've had him too. I'm not too worried about him not going into the lower half since that's just how a lot of birds are

 

[TulsiVana]

i usually have him out for a few hours in the evening since I can't have him out 24/7 unfortunately. What i meant specifically is that he stays in the front mostly and never really goes into the back corners, and he has been like this no matter the cage location. He's been in this cage almost the entire time i've had him too. I'm not too worried about him not going into the lower half since that's just how a lot of birds are
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Have you tried moving around some of the toys etc. that are in the back? Maybe they’re intimidating him/keeping him from wanting to go back there? I don’t know about that, it’s just an idea because sometimes Tulsi gets intimidated by new toys and take a bit for her to warm up and actually play with everything. Does he play with the toys at all?

 

[Zara]

A couple of things I see,

1. the perches at the back are both platforms (?), whereas the ones to the front are like branches. Maybe he prefers the branch type? Could you switch the perches around?

2. the window is at the back of the cage. Could he be afraid of the window? Could you move the cage anywhere where there is just a wall behind?
edit to add; what is that to the right of the cage? Could it be moved to the left and put the cage to the right so it is backed up onto the wall?

And the last thing I could think of, could there be a toy that is frightening him at the back? Sounds strange but sometimes birds just dislike or fear something for no reason (to us).

Another edit;
in the middle of the cage at the top, is that a bridge? could it be that it is unstable and he doesn't like going near it? If he doesn't use it, maybe try removing it for a little while.
You could also try emptying the cage, and the rebuilding it slowly over time. Start with just two natural branch perches, one on the left, one on the right, both up near the top and in the middle (front to back) , put one toy to start (a fave) to not leave him without any toys.
Add one item in the cage daily. See how you get on.
You could leave all of the toys and perches laid out flat in front of the cage or somewhere else he can see them to condition him.

 

[marsie]

i will try changing the layout, though he has acted like this no matter the layout (i usually switch it around every few months). he doesnt seem really afraid of the larger toys, just like not interested? he likes sleeping behind the big toys, i remember reading somewhere some birds do that because it gives them a sense of cover (i could be wrong though). everything in there he has played with / perched on at some point in time but he just loses all interest when they are in the back for some reason.

I think maybe something that could contribute to this is the fact he doesn't seem to really want to fly that often, if anyone knows about that. he was originally clipped at a young age and grew up with humans, so I assume that's why. he can fly and has good control while flying, he just only really does it when he has to or gets spooked.

 

[AW2023]

I think maybe something that could contribute to this is the fact he doesn't seem to really want to fly that often, if anyone knows about that. he was originally clipped at a young age and grew up with humans, so I assume that's why. he can fly and has good control while flying, he just only really does it when he has to or gets spooked.

The amount of stuff I have in each of my cages depends on each bird's preferred method of movement. Yuli likes to fly from perch to perch, so she has shorter perches with lots of space between them (sort of like your current setup) so she has space to flap her wings absolutely anywhere in her cage. Tatu likes to hop, so her cage has about 15 long perches in it, all within about 7 inches from each other (be it horizontal or diagonally up) so that she can hop between them. Gattaca likes climbing, so her cage is covered in perches that are connected by huge swings/boings/etc. Peekaboo likes to climb, but also really likes climbing his cage bars for whatever reason, so I make sure all his perches are easily accessible from the cage bars.
I tend to have 3-4 "levels" of perches around the sides of my cages in a spiral of steps up from the food bowls.

Observe how your bird tends to move around the cage. Then picture building a 3d path for them through the cage. Maybe your bird wants perches close together like steps around the sides of the cage?
Always make sure there is room to open wings of course, but it isn't necessary for full flapping room 100% of the cage. Things can be closer together in places if that is what your bird prefers