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what in your opinion is “quality “ out of cage time

DORIS123

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6/29/21
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I don't cage them at all. They are flying free at home. But you just need to be ready for cleaning up their poo all the time.
 

Oscarbird

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But you just need to be ready for cleaning up their poo all the time.
Agreed! I have a pack of wipes on hand at all times to remove poop from my furniture and clothing.
i say all this because i’d love to know what everyone thinks is enriching quality time + it would be nice not to stress myself out about having the perfect care 24/7
Quality time for my bird usually entails him doing whatever I'm doing. If I'm reading, he insists on coming out and tearing up my book's pages. If I'm eating, he wants to have a bit of my food. (good stuff like fruits and veg) Also letting him fly around, flexing/stretching his wings and just spending time with me in general is important to my bird. Oscar is really social though, so quality time really does depend on the bird and what they feel comfortable with.
 

Princessbella

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I think that Bailey gets a lot of enrichment out of his out of the cage time. When I am home, I open the cage when I wake up. He then decides what he wants to do. He climbs to the top of the cage, plays with or shreds his toys, then he climbs down to eat or drink, then he climbs onto his computer and plays with the toys on there. Or he climbs all over the bureau. He sings, he flies, and then he wants to see what I am doing and ask for scritches. Although I am with him a lot when I am not at work, I am not entertaining him. But he entertains himself. Except when he wants to sing with me or play peek a boo. Or sing to my feet. Or ask for kisses. Or he takes a nap so he can play more. He doesn't really stop.
 

clarousel

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I've been feeling guilty about this too, recently.

Preeno doesn't really play with toys but instead kisses them. Despite my efforts to place perches around the house, he has just one favourite one and then he'll fly around and land on the mirror (this seems to be his thing) or the laundry carousel. I guess the human things are way cooler :wacky: I usually leave him be and he'll alternate between kissing and chilling with me. Oh and of course his other favourites are playing with his ball and foraging. Not sure what else I can give him for enrichment!
 

Wardy

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Oh and of course his other favourites are playing with his ball and foraging. Not sure what else I can give him for enrichment!
if Preeno likes to forage offer more foraging oppertunitys for him.
 

KiwiConure

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i’ve found myself questioning the way my pets lives are and if they’re as happy as they can be i do this to make sure i still have property husbandry and routine, i beat myself up a lot because i don’t take my girl out for 10+ hours a day. when ppl talk about free out of cage time, the thing i see a lot is the “quality of it” i’ve only seen one person expand and say it has a lot to do with training. while i think training is nice i don’t think it’s realistic for a 10 minute training session to enrich 4 hours out of the cage. my girl knows how to target and get herself out of sticky situations if they come about and that’s all i ask for
but i do wonder if our time together out of the cage is enriching enough for her. birds are intelligent and need a lot. usually we sit and cuddle and play, she’ll have breakfast and dinner outside of her cage with me (she eats more that way ;)) and she’ll destroy a piece of wood or ball that i give her. i say all this because i’d love to know what everyone thinks is enriching quality time + it would be nice not to stress myself out about having the perfect care 24/7
I also thought about this a lot when I first got Kiwi! When researching before I got her I saw so many different ways and "proper" ways to spend time with our birds, that for the longest time I wasn't sure if what I was doing was right! I've taught Kiwi a few easy tricks, target training (for a bit, she usually got bored after a few minutes), spinning, some recall, but she never seemed overly thrilled. Occasionally she does like to have snuggles, we eat snacks together and play music, we go on car rides when the weather is good, but I felt like I could be doing more, but I wasn't sure what because she wasn't interested! Now, after about a year, her wings have grown out and I've realised now she just really likes to explore and fly around. When she's out of her room and in the living room/kitchen of the house, she's constantly flying around and finding new places to chill on, using me or family members as climbing gyms, I'd like to think she's happy!

We do still do the previous stuff, but I think I was comparing myself and Kiwi to other people and second guessing myself, which is never fun for bird or human.
 

Chaddlee

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8/9/21
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Quality time with my parrot is usually him sitting on my shoulder while I do things inside the house and watch tv. He likes to get on arm rest of couch and have my hand lay gently on him. I guess he feels secure. I may start taken him riding around in car.
 

FeatheredM

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I just give my birds out-of-cage-time as much as possible, I like letting them out when I do homework or crafts because they like to visit me alot as I work,and work isn't as boring, but they are in my room with the door always closed, so I'm either in there with cage door open or out with the cage door closed, when they are out I make it interesting with millit!
 

Laurie

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I think quality means giving the bird access to choose to do what they want (to a degree).
This is to me one of the most enriching things. The ability to choose. Just to sit in a different place if they would like and see something different. It doesn't have to be constant interactions.
 
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