Home
Redwinged Parrot
African Grey
Cockatoos
Parrot Diet
Parrot blog
Talking Parrot
Funny Parrot
Parrotcareplucking
Parrot Lexicon
Trick Training
"Second Hand"

LinkExchange

Kim Bear's Post On'
Getting Parrots Out Of Their Cages

Some of you had posted questions about getting your bird out vs. letting him come out, so I thought I'd post this as its own topic, rather than letting my answer get buried in another post.

I think that I've not made an important distinction: It's usually okay to let your bird play in and out of his cage as he likes, but the initial getting out
may be best done by you getting him out instead of just opening the door and waiting until he decides he feels like coming out. For some parrots, his IS okay to do, but others benefit from the additional 'command'. They may need to 'earn' the privilege of coming out. Parrots that are a bit too bossy often require this extra bit of control on our part. Shy parrots may need the command as they continue to learn that doing what people ask isn't the end of the world. Anytime they do something we ask, and
there's a pleasant result, they learn to trust more and more.

Don't feel guilty about providing direction to your bird. In many situations, parrots look to us for guidance and cues on how to act. So by asking your
bird to come out, you're not causing him anger or stress. It doesn't hurt his feelings when you provide this extra bit of control. This applies mainly to parrots that are already pretty well-adjusted and trusting of people. Some birds may be a bit stressed when asked to do something, and you have to use your judgment on whether or not to keep pushing. More on that later.

When might you feel it's okay to just open the door and let your bird decide? If he is already very well-behaved and trained, and doesn't have any handling issues; if he's good with the up and down commands, and you haven't seen any indication that letting him come out on his own is causing any problems, then it's most likely fine. But, IF you start to see him become a little too 'bossy' or difficult to handle, having him get out by stepping up can help correct this. We go through this in our own home. Sometimes my macaw gets a bit too 'cocky' when I try to put him away, so I just reinstate the up command when getting him out. A few days of that and he's back to being the good bird that he is.

Now, should you FORCE a parrot to come out if he really, really doesn't want to? Maybe. If you're working with a cage-bound parrot, you may have to make him come out or else he could stay cage-bound forever. However, this is a different circumstance than the bird owner whose bird is pretty much 'normal'. In this case, you can give your bird a choice to come out by looking for signs that he wants out. If he's coming to the front of the cage, hanging on the door, and so on, that's a pretty good indication he'd like to be out. He should step onto your hand or a dowel in order to get out instead of you just opening the door.

On the other hand, if you walk over and he doesn't appear to be interested in coming out just now, you don't even have to make the offer. Wait until you think he's interested. This avoids an argument, because once you ask a parrot to come out, you usually are going to have to follow through. Remember, this applies to parrots that ARE NOT having behavior problems such as cage-bound issues, biting or general bossiness. Parrots with certain problems may need you to be pushier than you need to be with a well-mannered, well-adjusted parrot.

And I know this may confuse the heck out of some of you but there are some cases in which it MAY be better to just let a cage-bound parrot come out when he wants, especially if the bird has other problems besides being afraid to come out of the cage. If he's afraid of people in general, and panics when you try to handle him, for example, he may be better off if you back away and let him make the decision. With some parrots, if you push too much, they get too stressed and you end up going no where with their training. It takes some observation and studying of your bird, and even then it's a judgment call. You can always try the 'I'm going to get you out no matter what' approach and see if it works or if it sets things back. If it seems to make things worse overall, you may have one of those birds that needs things to go reeeal slooooow.

What I REALLY don't recommend is letting a bird have the run of the house, where he's hardly in his cage at all, and just goes all over the lace. There are several reasons why it's usually not a good idea to let a bird just come and go as he pleases. Parrots do best when they have structure in their lives, like little kids. If allowed to do whatever, whenever, they can become harder to work with. When you're the one controlling the coming and going, you're providing a sense of structure. If you want to look at is as 'being the boss', that's fine, but it's a bit more
complicated than that.

Think about dogs for a minute. Anyone with a well-mannered dog knows that it takes guidance and training for that dog to NOT make potty messes in the house, tear things up, bark excessively, jump on people, etc. Dogs are given parameters. They're given limits as to what they can and can't do. It should be the same with parrots.

Horses are another example. If you let your horse do whatever it wants, not only will you have a difficult time riding him, but you could actually get hurt. Many of our animal companions need some sort of structure, training and limits in order to do well in our homes. We shouldn't look at is as though we're being cruel just because we're setting limits on our pets' behaviors.
In some cases, it's actually for their own benefit, not just ours.

Probably one of the biggest concerns I have about parrots who are kept at liberty is safety: The safety of the bird, and the things in the home. Parrots tear stuff up. They get into things, sometimes things that can be harmful to them. They get accidently sat on, stepped on, pinched by doors, and have other accidents that stem from the fact the bird is out and about without careful supervision.

Also, people who let their birds have the run of the house often find that their bird tries to RUN THE HOUSE! A home ruled by a parrot isn't usually a pleasant place to be.

I hope this clears things up a bit. The important thing to remember when reading information I've offered here is that it's pretty general, and may not apply exactly to your situation. If you're in doubt as to whether or not it would be better for you to ask your bird to come out vs. just letting him out, you can contact me and I can help you a bit more personally.

Learn Your Parrot to Talk!