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New bird lover here, I need advice about my bird outside the cage

Newbird789

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Jonah Allen
So whenever my bird come out of his cage he gets spooked and flys around my room, he runs into stuff and he isn’t fully trained to step up on my finger so it’s a struggle getting him back into the cage. I was wondering if I should be bringing him out if he isn’t fully used to my hands.(He can only step up on one hand and in certain places)… any advice
 

greenpeeps

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Laurie O'Brien
What kind of bird do you have? Usually they learn "Step up," pretty quickly. You can clip his wings until he is trained better since it's kind of dangerous if he's flying into windows and other things that he can injure himself on. The only way you can get him trained is my taking him out of the cage. I've only had two birds, a green-cheek conure that I had for 23 years, and an African Grey, and both of them learned "step up" quickly.
 

soundsfun

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Some great ideas I’ve seen for helping your bird get used to being out:
  • Let him out in a small tent so it’s a small, contained area with soft surfaces
  • If you don’t have a tent, drape bedsheets or large towels over the sides of a table to make a tent
  • Let him out in a closet
  • Hang lightweight drapes over the walls (3M hooks are a good way to attach hooks to the wall without having to drill permanent holes)
  • Make sure your bird has a variety of safe spots to land on in the room you let him out in
I’ve found it only takes several outings for birds to get the lay of the land and get better coordinated and stop running into things. You could clip his wings to make it easier for yourself, but those flight feathers take so long to grow back, that’s precious time lost for your bird to learn how to fly. I think it gets harder for them to get the hang of flying the older they get.

I also personally couldn’t bear to take my birds’ flight away from them - it’s such an essential part of being a bird, and part of its sense of safety.
 

Newbird789

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Omg thanks so much my fellow birb community, he is a cockatiel. He gets nervous very easily (don’t know about his previous home). should I let him be out just to get used to it, and what if he wants to go back in and freaks out. He is so used to train inside cage I fear everything he knows is useless outside the cage and I can’t get him back in because he can’t fully step up. Thanks you once again!!!
 

soundsfun

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Aww, I’ve had a tiel before and they do seem to be a more nervous species overall. I think you should definitely keep giving him out of cage time! But perhaps start with shorter chunks of time then extend it as he gains confidence and skills.
 

Shezbug

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He doesn’t need to step up to go back into the cage! He doesn’t even have to be tame… let him out before eating- he will rake himself back into the cage when he needs to eat. You can learn to time this so it’s more convenient for you.

Please don’t clip his wings- it’s not going to make things better for him. Without wings he won’t ever learn to fly well and every part of their health relies on flight… we all crashed and bumped about before being awesome at our main mode of getting about.

Use a smaller room (I personally don’t like the tent idea) such as a bathroom or study to let your bird out of the cage so that flight can’t be done at top speeds just yet- this will ensure he learns to fly like he should do and also will allow him to crash (because it will happen!) without serious injury.

Please don’t ever cut your birds wings to teach it anything- you will be back at square one as soon as the feathers grow back in and you’ll just have to start at the start- very disheartening and disruptive to your bonding and training.
 

camelotshadow

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Make sure to cover mirrors & close the drapes or blinds so he does not crash into windows. I'd close the bathroom as its a sall room with a mirror & they can fall in the toilet.

Tiels can fly pretty fast when they want & they will usually try to find a high place like a curtain rod or top of paintings to hang out.

The rest of the ideas are good. They will go back in by themselves but sometimes it can really take long so don't et him out
if you have to go out soon etc as if you have to catch them to put them back it will just scare them more.

Put some good treat in the cage to make going back more desirable.
 

sunnysmom

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Is he young? Baby tiels are very clumsy. And they have to learn how to fly and maneuver. Unfortunately, that usually means a few crashes- which are scary. As said already, covering windows and mirrors is important so he doesn't try to fly through them at full speed. As for getting him back in the cage, if he hasn't learned step up yet, I have found a cage only treat can be a big incentive. Like if he likes millet spray, put a piece of millet spray in his cage around the time you want him to go back in and see if he'll go in himself.
 

Newbird789

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No I don't think he's young but I think he hasn't had a anytime outside cage from previous owner. I put a perch in the outside of his cage and some times he freaks out and still can't get in. He doesn't want to kinda jump or fly in so he tries to climb and he can't do it, so I have to get him to step up then bring him in.(any tips on why he only steps up on one hand and not the other, and how do o get him to step up on the other hand)!!!
 

The_Mayor

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My birds had trouble with the logistics of getting back into their cage.

What I did was to attach a rope that angled down from an upright and ended up right under the door to their cage. They could fly to the rope and then they'd walk themselves to the perch I had outside their cage door. Sometimes they'd go in, other times they'd just hang out on the perch, taunting me. But, the important thing was that they could get in if they wanted to.

Oh, and my birds have never been hand-tame enough that I could put them in their cage. That required some scheduling on my part so I could only let them out when I knew I could wait for them to go back in. But they always did eventually.
 

reetybird

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So whenever my bird come out of his cage he gets spooked and flys around my room, he runs into stuff and he isn’t fully trained to step up on my finger so it’s a struggle getting him back into the cage. I was wondering if I should be bringing him out if he isn’t fully used to my hands.(He can only step up on one hand and in certain places)… any advice
Put him in a sort of enclosed area with soft (ONLY SOFT) surfaces to help train him
 
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