Help needed

[Kriffin]

Hello guys, i was wishing you would have some tips on my situation.

My lovebird(4 months) wont go back in its cage. If he goes in to eat the second we come close to the cage he flies out of it in a panic. When we go to the other side of the room, he goes back to eating. I can scratch his neck and call him by his name so he does trust me, but as soon as i take him near to the cage, he starts to panic and flies away. When i tried to spend the day as close to the cage so i could close it when i want, he went on a 2 day starving spree and didnt even try to go near the cage. The cage is big and clean, it has all sorts of toys and has plenty of space to fly around in, he should be happy with it. And the longer i cant get him in the cage, the more harder it will be.

Any tips?

 

[clark_conure]

First your bird needs nutrition, so get some saucers or bowls or whatever is small and right sized and give him a food and water source outside the cage. Health comes first. Then you can work on behavior.

Your bird should see his cage as his own house, in your house. Here's a few ideas.

Move the cage...put it next to your couch or bed or computer chair, wherever you spend a great deal of time. Do this AFTER you see him eating and drinking regularly from the other bowls or from your hand. Make no effort to put him in but let it sit there so he kind of realizes it's not doing anything. It's just an object. His own natural curiosity might lead him back to it. It might be a pain if it's a big cage so like I said move it to where you spend most of your time.

Slowly move his outside bowls closer to the cage, let him eat then move them an inch, or six inches etc. Add treats to the bowls.

This seems to be purely an acclimation problem... Don't be afraid to binge watch netflix or read a book or magazine and just let the bird get used to everything...BOREDOM IS THE OPPOSITE OF PANIC...let him get bored doing nothing watching you read or watching TV etc. Don't really even try to coax him to the cage, at first.

Eventually you might have to put him in his cage, for his own well being, but if you can stretch it out and have him want to see about it on his own, like you described he would go in to eat then all the better.

Also try this, once he's in don't shut the door. Leave it open, he's in there he's safe. Just don't go near it for a bit. Let him get used to it inside and out.

Hope this helps.

 

[clark_conure]

Oh one last thing i just thought of, when you take him to his cage when you have to, because you have some other pressing matter, and he needs to be safe. Just set him on top, not inside. Then walk away. Let him decide if he goes in or not, (he will eventually when your not around you said).

 

[Kentuckienne]

He doesn't want to go in the cage, would you? But sometimes he must. Is there anything about the placement of the cage that might be a problem? For example, if it's in front of a window, or near a scary painting....the best spot would be near a boring corner, which feels safer to them. Next, put his favorite toys in the cage along with treats, but don't close the door as soon as he goes in. Let him figure out it's just another place to hang out. Might take some time.

 

[Sunnyclover]

He could be scared of a toy in the cage. I buy and replace Ollie's toys very often and once I put this one toy in and he started hating his cage. I figured out what was scaring him in about a day but he to would go back in to eat but then freak out when I'd come in the room. Took out the new toy he hated and he was back to normal.

 

[ParrotLover2001]

My lovebird was like that at first, so was my cockatiel (he still is) my budgie taught my cockatiel not to be scared of the cage, but he still won't let me put him in the cage.
My lovebird, Jordan, she was scared of her cage, she preferred to sleep in my blanket, for days I had to set that aside for her to sleep in. Always with the fear of her climbing onto my bed and being squished. Luckily, after teaching her to eat millet, she would do anything for It, so I used it to get her onto the top of her cage. She's still scared of the door, but I can easily get her in through the top.

My cockatiel, Elvis, he won't let me do that, I have to put him on top, he has to climb in, he followed my budgies into the cage, so it wasn't and still isn't hard for me.



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