Tia Cecilia
Moving in
Okay, so here's some backstory. My green cheek is just a few months old, his name is Ziggy. He has a MASSIVE cage and it has plenty of fresh veges (and sidenote, I've just successfully converted him to pellets!!). Problem is, Ziggy LOVES being out of his cage. So much.
It's not that he just loves me, he loves EVERYONE in the house and he loves the house itself. Or, rather, being able to roam it freely.
At the moment I'm on the Australian equivalent of Summer break and we have just spent three weeks away at our holiday house three hours away at the beach. Ziggy came with us, because I can't be apart from him for that long PLUS I don't trust my brothers enough to care for him properly. Now, I certainly don't deprive him of outside time, trust me. I bust my bum trying to let him out for a minimum of 3-4 hours during school Semester. And on weekends, he's pretty much always out.
During our vacation, in which I was home all the time, I noticed that Ziggy has started to scream when he's in his cage for more than five/ten minutes. I will have him out for hours and then put him back in to have something to eat, and less than ten minutes later, he starts to scream. Loudly and constantly. Didn't matter how long I ignored him, didn't matter how many times I wait for him to stop and then let him out as a reward for being quiet, nothing worked. So I resolved to get him some new toys, chewable and colorful, his favourite type. Nope, didn't matter. He would be interested in them for maybe two minutes, then continue to scream.
By this point, I was getting scared. What would happen when I returned to school!? I tried to slowly lengthen the amount of time I left him in the cage, in the hope of acclimatizing him. But he would just scream and scream. Even when he EATS, he screams between mouthfuls and runs to the door of his cage.
So, we're back home now and the problem continues. School resumes in just a couple of weeks, in which I spend 7 hours away from him every weekday. My Mum doesn't work on Mondays, so she lets him out a bit when she's home, and that's good. The brother who likes Zig most (but is paranoid about getting pooped on) lets Zig out of the cage for short periods of time, too, but only when he's in the living room. This brother is also starting full time work soon, so he won't be around as much. My other brother is scared of Zig, and my eldest brother LIKES the bird, but only chats to him through the cage bars.
At the moment, I've had twenty minutes of blissful silence because it seems the only thing that will stop him from screaming for a little while is foraging toys. I've placed two new ones in his cage. This is great and all, but I'm still extremely concerned. What if it's not enough? I've done EVERYTHING to make his cage more interesting! New perches, rearranged and swapped toys around, bought new toys, etc, etc, etc. Foraging toys seem to be working a bit, but can anyone else help me? What else can I do to make cage time more enjoyable!? I'm so worried about his mental health. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
He's just started screaming againnnnnn
It's not that he just loves me, he loves EVERYONE in the house and he loves the house itself. Or, rather, being able to roam it freely.
At the moment I'm on the Australian equivalent of Summer break and we have just spent three weeks away at our holiday house three hours away at the beach. Ziggy came with us, because I can't be apart from him for that long PLUS I don't trust my brothers enough to care for him properly. Now, I certainly don't deprive him of outside time, trust me. I bust my bum trying to let him out for a minimum of 3-4 hours during school Semester. And on weekends, he's pretty much always out.
During our vacation, in which I was home all the time, I noticed that Ziggy has started to scream when he's in his cage for more than five/ten minutes. I will have him out for hours and then put him back in to have something to eat, and less than ten minutes later, he starts to scream. Loudly and constantly. Didn't matter how long I ignored him, didn't matter how many times I wait for him to stop and then let him out as a reward for being quiet, nothing worked. So I resolved to get him some new toys, chewable and colorful, his favourite type. Nope, didn't matter. He would be interested in them for maybe two minutes, then continue to scream.
By this point, I was getting scared. What would happen when I returned to school!? I tried to slowly lengthen the amount of time I left him in the cage, in the hope of acclimatizing him. But he would just scream and scream. Even when he EATS, he screams between mouthfuls and runs to the door of his cage.
So, we're back home now and the problem continues. School resumes in just a couple of weeks, in which I spend 7 hours away from him every weekday. My Mum doesn't work on Mondays, so she lets him out a bit when she's home, and that's good. The brother who likes Zig most (but is paranoid about getting pooped on) lets Zig out of the cage for short periods of time, too, but only when he's in the living room. This brother is also starting full time work soon, so he won't be around as much. My other brother is scared of Zig, and my eldest brother LIKES the bird, but only chats to him through the cage bars.
At the moment, I've had twenty minutes of blissful silence because it seems the only thing that will stop him from screaming for a little while is foraging toys. I've placed two new ones in his cage. This is great and all, but I'm still extremely concerned. What if it's not enough? I've done EVERYTHING to make his cage more interesting! New perches, rearranged and swapped toys around, bought new toys, etc, etc, etc. Foraging toys seem to be working a bit, but can anyone else help me? What else can I do to make cage time more enjoyable!? I'm so worried about his mental health. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
He's just started screaming againnnnnn