cage bound bird

[thewiseknitter]

Hello everyone. This has been bothering me for a long time. My neighbors 4 doors up from us has what I think is an African Grey, maybe its one of the others.
Anyway, they never let Marty out of his/her cage. She has been cage bound for at least 10 years. They inherited the bird from there son, who married and had children, so the bird wasn't a priority anymore.
As far as I know, he/she has never shown any aggression toward Bill and Gail. There excuse is that an "expert" said it would be best, since she hasn't flown for a long time, she would just end up on the floor because of atrophy.
I know they love Marty, and Marty loves them, but it bothers me that they would think that its o.k for her to be cage bound and have no freedom.
I have tried to talk with them, but don't know what else to say. I think its cruel, but is there any compelling reasons not to allow a bird out of their cage ever?.

 

[Bandespresso]

That is 100% not okay. My poor CAG was incredibly atrophied and distrusting when I got her and she was only cage-bound for 2 years or so. Guess what the first thing she got was to help with it? Outside the cage time. If they love Marty, their first step is to find a new "expert" to talk to about her health.

 

[Kyoto]

This is so sad. The are not meant to be in a cage. Poor bird deserves to be let out at least a few hours each day.

Many birds are clipped and still come out and don't get harmed on a daily basis, so I don't see how she could hurt herself.

I hope that they come around eventually

 

[Weezerj]

Show them this site. A 1/2 hour of reading in here will forever change their relationship with Marty and they will thank you for it.

 

[Terry57]

It is not good for a bird's mental or physical health to always be locked in a cage. They are so intelligent, it is the equivalent of locking a toddler in a closet for their whole life
It is wonderful that you are hoping to help Marty and his parronts by coming here.
It sounds like they do love him, and just got some really bad advice. I have several birds who were never allowed out of their cages before coming here, and they do wonderfully out of their cages now. My African Grey can't fly because of how long he was locked up, so he just climbs around the outside of the cage.
I think that Weezerj had a wonderful idea in asking them to stop by the site and do some reading.it could be just what helps

Good luck and let us know!

 

[Birdman666]

Typical!

I'm the opposite... I don't know what to say. To me, one of the worst things you can do to a bird is to lock it up and throw away the key...

 

[Kiwibird]

How do they take her to vet appointments, change toys and clean the inside of the cage? Sadly, theres not much you can do or say. You could tell them you recently joined a *great* parrot forum, and happened to see that there was a lot of information about helping cage bound birds which made you think of Marty (and encourage them to join!).

My amazon was cooped up for an untold amount of years (I think he came out on occasion, but his prior owner seemed terrified of him and was keeping him in a crate). He adjusted fine to 'freedom'. So much so, he is now (with years of training in our home) is free to come and go as he pleases. He too cannot fly, but does climb. I treat it like a disability, and make sure he can make his way from his cage to his swing and play tree (and has a signal to let a human know if he wants a ride elsewhere) without his wings. Birds who have been locked up for a long time can and do recover from their experience with the proper training and dedication from the owner. These people have the fact that Marty already knows them, isn't aggressive towards them and has some level of trust in them on their side. He/she would be an excellent candidate to come on out of the cage and join the family!

 

[thewiseknitter]

Thank you everyone for your sage advice. I will talk to them and let them know about
this site, and will cross my fingers that they will do right by Marty.

 

[Kalidasa]

Atrophy can be reversed very quickly.

 

[rope]

our conures like to fly around for at least 10 to 15 minutes in the morning...then they hang out on the cage for about half an hour to an hour every now and then flying around again......during the day they like to go outside on the porch in their cage if its warm enough...they love the sun...we make sure they have a place to get out of the sun in their cage...we change stuff often in their cages...we try to give them choices ..we even try to make sure they get both of our attention everyday...any animal needs to move around..even us..people that sit all day can have many more health problems then those that are up and around...at night our conures love to have their cage covered..they seem to do best with lots of sleep hours..like 10 to 12...

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Amy,my BF,doesnt come out as much as I like her to. I can have her door open for hours and she'll just sit and play inside. She prefers to come out thru her treat bowl door. but when she does come out,she stays out for hours,on her play pen or climbing down the side of her cage and walking on the floor. She has flown just a few times,only if something frightens her. I got her at 16 weeks old and she is now 26 y.o.

My 'Too however,as soon as my back is turned,he is out of his cage and hopping and jumping and climbing all over his cage. He loves being out! It saddens me to hear that poor Marty is cage bound! He needs to come out! Please show/tell his humans about this great site,they,and Marty,wil thank you for it.

Jim

 

[Birdman666]

Atrophy can be reversed very quickly.

Anything caused by lack of exercise, can be gained back by gradually increasing exercise over time.