I am considering maybe just an area for her? No cage? She gets so terrified in there and I wonder if she has such a problem with them because of how she has been treated her whole life. Considering converting part of my room for her, blocking off beneath my bed etc? What would you guys think?
I think it's a great idea! I have a cockatiel who spent 7 years stuck in a tiny, filthy cage (he was in much better shape than Maple is, but he was still a terrified mess with atrophied wings).
When I got him, I decided to keep the old cage temporarily. It was small, but in decent condition, and it was a familiar object to a terrified bird in a new, strange place, so I gave it a good scrubbing and left it open so he could come and go as he pleased.
I expected he would eventually ditch that old cage and set up shop elsewhere in the house. At that point, I planned to chuck the old cage completely. To my surprise, though, he was quite happy to hang out on top of the old cage as long as it stayed open. It was being shut inside that would send him into a panic. So instead of getting a bigger cage, which would still involve locking him in, I just built up the outside of the existing little one and promised him he would never be shut in unless it was absolutely unavoidable.
I didn't want to go 100% cage-free, because sometimes he has to be shut in - for vet visits, tornado watches, hurricane evacuations, etc. - so I left his water bowl in there. That way he would stay used to going in and out on a regular basis. Everything else, though, is outside the cage. I have stuff attached to the top and sides, and I also put big crepe myrtle branches in an old Christmas tree stand on the floor next to it, so he has branches arching overhead.
It's been several years now, and he no longer freaks when locked in, because he knows it's only for a short time. The top of that crummy old cage has become a preferred hangout for all the birds in the house. (Charlie is a gracious host).
He still doesn't care for hands, but he'll fly over and hang out and preen our hair and accept treats. He sleeps on the cage about half the time. Other nights, he prefers to roost on a boing in another corner of the room.
The other birds in our house have much more standard cage setups, but they also don't have the same baggage that Charlie did. For them, the cage is their bedroom - a private space of their own where they can retreat when they want some quiet time alone. For Charlie, it was nothing but a prison cell.
