Caged or not caged

[Eppie]

Your replies suggested I coax my B&G Macaw Casey to step up onto my arm with his favorite treat and then put him on his cage then reward him with the treat. He is not going for it. He will step up onto my 11 year old grandson's arm and he can take him out of the cage and place him on top, but nobody else can. I want to get him to step up for me and place him on top of the cage so my question is....
IF HE WILL NOT STEP UP SHOULD I LEAVE HIM LOCKED IN HIS CAGE?
I know he really wants out on top and I plan to leave him and go back and try every 15 or 20 min. but I can't stand it. I open the door after about 2 hours and walk away. He, of course promptly comes out and climbs to the top of his cage with a happy "Hello" and wants me to scratch his back. Blast! I am such a wus. I don't like to see such a wonderful creature in a cage all the time.

 

[phearcat]

Reward positive behavior. Ignore negative behavior. When he does something you don't want to do I would avoid doing much like scolding him or putting him away in his cage. Maybe I would just walk away and stop playing with him.

Any reaction you give during a negative behavior even if its a bad reaction still re-enforces the behavior.

 

[Gristleboy]

Have you tried having your grandson pick him up & then hand him to you. This is how we get ours to go to people they don't know. Also, he might be more receptive if you are away from his comfort zone (cage).
Good luck!

 

[Eppie]

Thank you. Yes I have had my grandson hand him to me. Once he is away from his cage he will eventually step up for me.

 

[Shmexay]

The cage is like a jail to them, you must let him out for 8 hours a day.

 

[Darius]

My Macaw's cage door is never closed he can come and go as he likes he has lots of toys wood playgyms hanging gyms boings atoms and swings he has been well trained and behaves himself very well so I have no need to ever lock him in his cage.

 

[Eppie]

Thank you. I do close the door at bed or when we leave because we have a young cat loose in the house and I would absolutely die if something happened to Casey(our Macaw). He is in our main living area, not in a room where the room door can be closed and our aviary here said to lock the cage because if unattended they sometimes wonder around the house and can get hurt. Do you agree?
Eppie

 

[Gristleboy]

I sure agree. Our B&G has trashed too much furniture to be running around when we're out. Plus they could easily find something toxic to get into.
I knew someone whose cockatoo escaped, found it's way to their basement & chewed through the water line of their washing machine. Massive flooding ensued before they got home to discover it.

That being said, if we're home they have the run of the house.

 

[Darius]

The room my Macaw is in is parrot proof so when I go out I do shut the door to his room but because I live in the middle of nowhere there is usually either me or my 14 year old daughter at home so its very very seldom that I have to worry about it. I only work 3 nights a week for 6 hrs a shift I usually shop after work so I don't have to go out I live 20 miles from the nearest town and thats where I work and 5 mile to the nearest store to say the least with the price of gas these day I only go out when absolutly nessesary.

 

[Gristleboy]

How do you parrot proof a room???? Nothing short of a concrete bunker would stop my birds when they put their devious little bird brains to something!

Srsly, ours also have a dedicated room but they also have a 5' x 5' coop. Sounds like your birds have a great life, Darius seems like a very well adjusted bird for a rescue (must be the GW in him!).

 

[Darius]

Yes your right he is very well behaved for a Rescue I think his 1 owner was very experianced with birds I'm his 3rd owner it was his 2nd owner that was so bad and she loved him she just didn't know anything about birds and their needs. She never took the time to learn either. she stuck him in a 24x32 inch cage with a steel bar for a perch no toys not even newspaper to line the bottom of the cage she just hosed it down every few days. The cage was ful of rust holes. She fed him 2 times a day only parrot bulk seeds no pellets no fruitsand veggies no nuts she was so worried that he would make a mess she would remove his food dish as soon as he stopped eating in case he dumped it. when I got him he only weighed 650 grams he's the size of a GW he should weigh a minumum of 1300 grams. poor guy was slowly being starved to death. she was a very ignorent woman when it came to the needs of birds. Darius fell in love with me over night and was gurging for me after his first meal. which he gobbled up so fast and continued to eat everything I gave him for the first 2 months He has slowed down a little now but he still likes to eat thats for sure he weighs about 1000 grams now maybe a little more. So he doing good my Vet said its lucky he was still young and that his body could deal with that kind of abuse if he had of been an older bird he probably wouldn't have survived anyway he's a great bird he has his moments when he can be a brat but I love him to pieces he is spoilt rotten now he has a whole room ful of swings atoms boings ropes and chains wood to chew to his heart desire and tons of toys I keep him busy and spend a ton of time playing with him. I'm so glad he has come into my life I never want to find out what life would be like with out him

 

[Gristleboy]

That's fantastic! I'm so glad he was lucky enough to be found by someone with the dedication these guys need & deserve. Cheers!