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Starting to fly and when to transfer to a cage?

TielTA

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I have a 35 day old cockatiel that is starting to fly more and more but he seems to not have much control over it yet. He will fly in the wrong direction while looking at me so sometimes I need to go catch him on my arm. He frequently takes flight without thinking what he's going to land on. Or overshoots things and has had a few crashes that have caused a scrach on his cere. Do I just let him continue to do this, supervising him and making sure he doesn't have too bad a crash?

He's also started to escape from the brooder box when he wants to. When can he be placed in a cage? Does he still need the heat of the brooder to digest food at this age? My brooder is 24 degrees. My home temp is about 20.
 
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TielTA

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I've placed him in a smallish cage 60x40x40 with a heating mat on the floor perches low and food on the floor about an hour ago. Is that ok?
 
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Shezbug

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:bump7:
 

Zara

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I've placed him in a smallish cage 60x40x40 with a heating mat on the floor perches low and food on the floor about an hour ago. Is that ok?
If your bird is flying, then he is ok to go into a normal flight cage. Avoid small cages as they can damage feathers. (It sounds like the cage you list here is in CM and a travel cage of some sort)
Putting the perches a little lower to start with is always a good idea, you can even lay a blanket on the cage floor just incase he falls whilst adjusting to his new environment :)
 

TielTA

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Hi thanks, anything I can do about the flying? I'm not sure what I can do apart from supervise. He's very uncoordinated at the moment. He'll try and land on the back of the sofa and overshoot the landing and hit his head or his wings on the wall. His method to fly to me is to crash into my chest and then climb to my shoulder.

Are a few bumps and scrapes to be expected when learning to fly?
 

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JLcribber

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Hi thanks, anything I can do about the flying? I'm not sure what I can do apart from supervise. He's very uncoordinated at the moment. He'll try and land on the back of the sofa and overshoot the landing and hit his head or his wings on the wall. His method to fly to me is to crash into my chest and then climb to my shoulder.

Are a few bumps and scrapes to be expected when learning to fly?
The only way to become a good bike rider is to get on that thing and pedal. You will fall off that bike and skin your knee a few times. That is how we learn. Your bird is no different and will become a proficient flyer in time.

Your job is to make the environment he's flying in safe. Like a smaller room to keep distance and speed down for a while. Closed doors so he doesn't end up somewhere else. Like in the toilet. LOTS of easy and soft places to land without risking injury. It will not take long with practise for him to fly well. Your priority now and moving forward is "safety". You need to adapt your home to be fly friendly. Landing stations need to be sturdy and "permanent" so your bird always knows where it is and always has a place to target. Changing things too much in a flyers environment can be dangerous. It's all about familiarity and "knowing" their environment.
 
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JLcribber

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(Shameless plug :D )

You need a dedicated landing station (I also make smaller ones)

 

Zara

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(Shameless plug :D )

You need a dedicated landing station (I also make smaller ones)

OP is in China, I would think the shipping will be expensive.
 

sunnysmom

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A landing space is a good idea. My tiel always flies back to the top of his cage. Baby tiels tend to be pretty clumsy in general. You just have to keep an eye on him and you can either close curtains or put decals or something on windows so he doesn't try to fly through them.
 

Ripshod

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Like John suggested I'd let them learn in a toilet or small bathroom. Make sure the lid's down, cover taps with towels and just let them fly. There's always going to be bumps - the most we can do is avoid/prevent the worst - it's nature.
Again though although we warn not to change things once the bird is a confident flyer once you move them to another room you'll have to go through the bumps all over again.
Of course there's going to be even more bumps when you move him to his large permanent cage, young tiels are notoriously clumsy when learning to climb a cage. Start with the perches low and a folded towel or two in the bottom for when he falls.
 
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Monica

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Six to seven weeks is generally about the age that's recommended to transition them to a cage.

Your baby is a little shy of that, but if your home is warm enough it may be fine.


As mentioned though, flying is learned. It's instinctual to fly, but they aren't born knowing *HOW* to fly. If you want to help teach your baby, then teach target training! You can teach your little one how to land by teaching your baby to jump from your hand to a soft landing spot - such as a bed. Start with a short distance of maybe a few inches and slowly work your way up to longer distances.

You can also do the reverse of this behavior! Having your baby fly from a spot to you. Again, start small! Such as a 'step up' and slowly increasing the distance to get to you. If at any point your baby is hesitant and wont make the 'jump', go back a step.
 

TielTA

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Thanks for the replies. He may be a little older than 35 days, it's only an estimate.
Right now he tends to sleep a lot and rouses around his 4 daily feeding times for an hour of activity and flying.
He's choosing to perch rather than stay on the heat pad.

Is this normal chick behaviour? (sleeping inbetween feedings?) previously his brooder was in my bedroom not in my living room so I was not monitoring how much he was sleeping. Now he's in the cage I can watch him all day. If it was an adult I'd be concerned but I'm not sure if this is normal for babies. Weight is increasing daily.
 
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Monica

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Yes, it's normal for babies to sleep a lot. As long as your baby seems bright eyed and alert during the awake times and doesn't seem otherwise lethargic, more than likely normal.
 

TielTA

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Yes, it's normal for babies to sleep a lot. As long as your baby seems bright eyed and alert during the awake times and doesn't seem otherwise lethargic, more than likely normal.
Yes during the wakeup times they are crying for food, looking for me to come get them out the cage. And flying around. After I feed they want to sleep for a few more hours.
 
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