• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Untamed bird back in the cage?!

annoellyn

Walking the driveway
Joined
10/4/18
Messages
246
I let my new bird out who is not tame at all. Getting her back in the cage was a NIGHTMARE. While she was out, I hand fed her some millet which she took occassionally but not all the time. I kept trying to coax her onto a perch stick by holding it just out of her reach but she was barely interested in the millet before so no go.
She was spooked twice, not sure what, but got stuck in the curtains. Had one hell of a time getting her out safely because she would not go on the stick and was terrified of my hands. Then the second time she landed on the floor and also had one heck of a time getting her.
It took over two hours to get her back in her cage and I feel like she didn't really enjoy her out of cage time because I needed all the time to get her back in.
I tried to corral her in by moving the stick towards her but she just flattens down and attacks the stick. I gently push the stick against her tummy but she just runs off, flies off, or attacks the stick. I tried using my arm to get her to move into her cage. No go, she would bite me or fly off.
I had to throw a towel over her in the end.

But I don't want to traumatize her every day. How do I work on step up if she isn't motivated by food at all. Jupiter was relatively easy because she loves food.

It's only her second day here so not expecting any miracles, just am at a loss at how to even begin getting her back in the cage or teaching step up.

Thinking moving her to the bathroom during out of cage time so it's a closed space, no windows, cover the mirror. It's really really small but she was just flying into every thing.

She's fully flighted.
 

BirdLady13

Sprinting down the street
Joined
8/24/19
Messages
354
Location
Massachusetts
What kind of bird, and how old is it? Without knowing where she came from and such my only suggestion is to spend a lot of time talking to her while she is in her cage, and just being within her sight so she can start getting used to you. And I agree that when you do take her out, do it in an enclosed area. Sit quietly with millet and patiently wait for her to come to you on her own. It likely won’t happen the first time you try it, but it’s better than forcing her into a panic.
 

birdy.929

Walking the driveway
Joined
8/19/19
Messages
264
i would say to keep her in the cage for a couple days and let her get used to you then. feed her through the bars, talk to her, even just sit with her. if she isn't enjoying the out of cage time, you might be just worsening the situation. once she is more comfortable, open the door and let her come out on her own.
 

Khizz

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
3/31/19
Messages
4,495
Usually with a new bird it is recommended to leave them for a few days anyway, so they can get used to their surroundings.

I'd recommend at the beginning having a whole day and let her go back in her own time (which she will do as its a "safe space"). If you let her out before you feed her she will eventually go back in once you fill her food bowl. If really necessary, also turning the lights low might make her go back to the cage thinking it's bed time.

I usually just play around with their food bowls to tempt them back in, but different things work for different birds. That's why you need to let them out regularly with plenty of time to see what works.
 

Ripshod

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/18
Messages
7,529
Location
UK
Real Name
Linden
Once she has had a few days to get familiar with her surroundings and her position in the room give her the choice whether she wants to come out. Fix a couple of short perches just below her cage door, one inside and one outside so she has a landing spot right by the door. Make sure you have a good few hours before you do open the cage and no food outside of the cage, she'll go back in when she's hungry.
If she's the Conure in your profile pic then set a light up above the cage shining in (a small reading lamp is ideal). As a last resort if you want her to go 'home' leave that light on and dim the rest of the room - conures fly to the brighter area by instinct.
 
Last edited:

dollfish

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
12/10/19
Messages
1,000
Location
Istanbul
Real Name
Zeynep Dollfish
After you get your bird to be more comfortable around you, I would recommend out of cage time to be either before breakfast or dinner, so that your bird is the hungriest and is more likely to follow the food into the cage or come to you for treats. Some birds are less interested in treats so it is best to work with them at these times to increase your chances.
 

annoellyn

Walking the driveway
Joined
10/4/18
Messages
246
What kind of bird, and how old is it? Without knowing where she came from and such my only suggestion is to spend a lot of time talking to her while she is in her cage, and just being within her sight so she can start getting used to you. And I agree that when you do take her out, do it in an enclosed area. Sit quietly with millet and patiently wait for her to come to you on her own. It likely won’t happen the first time you try it, but it’s better than forcing her into a panic.
She's a pineapple conure, five years old. Was living in a very small cage, one of those round decoration ones. It does seem like she is used to being around humans while in her cage, she chirps when I come and go, talks to me a lot. Thank you for your advice, I definitely agree. I think I underestimated how hard it would be because she did seem to like me through her cage so I just went for it . My mistake!
 

annoellyn

Walking the driveway
Joined
10/4/18
Messages
246
i would say to keep her in the cage for a couple days and let her get used to you then. feed her through the bars, talk to her, even just sit with her. if she isn't enjoying the out of cage time, you might be just worsening the situation. once she is more comfortable, open the door and let her come out on her own.
Thank you for replying! When I let her out I just opened the doors and say on my bed, took her over an hour to come out on her own but once she did, she seemed really happy. Danced to some music with me for a bit and nibbled sometimes on millet that I offered from my hand (only sometimes, other times still very wary). I think I thought because she seemed to like me inside her cage, it couldn't be that hard to get her back in. Which turned out to be very not true. But I do need to take it slow!
 

annoellyn

Walking the driveway
Joined
10/4/18
Messages
246
Usually with a new bird it is recommended to leave them for a few days anyway, so they can get used to their surroundings.

I'd recommend at the beginning having a whole day and let her go back in her own time (which she will do as its a "safe space"). If you let her out before you feed her she will eventually go back in once you fill her food bowl. If really necessary, also turning the lights low might make her go back to the cage thinking it's bed time.

I usually just play around with their food bowls to tempt them back in, but different things work for different birds. That's why you need to let them out regularly with plenty of time to see what works.
I really appreciate your reply! She was out for four hours, i think I realized my mistake after two hours. Then the rest of the time I tried different ways until the end the end when she started to panic. I did try millet in the food bowl, pellets in the food bowl. But she likely wasn't very hungry then anyway being afternoon.
 

annoellyn

Walking the driveway
Joined
10/4/18
Messages
246
Once she has had a few days to get familiar with her surroundings and her position in the room give her the choice whether she wants to come out. Fix a couple of short perches just below her cage door, one inside and one outside so she has a landing spot right by the door. Make sure you have a good few hours before you do open the cage and no food outside of the cage, she'll go back in when she's hungry.
If she's the Conure in your profile pic then set a light up above the cage shining in (a small reading lamp is ideal). As a last resort if you want her to go 'home' leave that light on and dim the rest of the room - conures fly to the brighter area by instinct.
Thank you! Yes I did let her come out on her own. The first day, she did not. Second day she did and did seem to enjoy it if I didn't get too close. That's when I realized I may have a hard time getting her back in because she likely doesn't see this cage yet as being a safe space, it's too new. So I'll let her settle in. She did want out this morning when I got up lol.
And thanks for the advice, I totally forgot about lighting! If Jupiter is being stubborn and doesn't want to go back, I turn off all the lights and she always flies to me, then I pop her back in.
It is interesting, the differences in behavior. Jupiter could be corralled when I first brought her home but Seraphim just flattens her whole body and attacks, will not move.
 
Top