He's avoiding the entirety of his cage. . .

[Brittany0208]

except for his sleep perch and his favorite platform that is on the door. He'd rather hang on the cage bars than explore, and he's very much against any type of cooperation that involved going to any other part of his cage. I've tried bribing him with food, toys, but it has all been a fail. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

 

[Brittany0208]

His setup. I don't know what else to try. He's now licking the cage bars because he can't reach his favorite perch

 

[chris-md]

I doubt it, some can just be more timid than others.

Is he target trained? If not, do so. You can help use targeting to get him over this hump.

 

[Brittany0208]

I doubt it, some can just be more timid than others.

Is he target trained? If not, do so. You can help use targeting to get him over this hump.

I've glanced at target training, but didn't consider him a good candidate because of his limited mobility, but if it'll work with him, I'll gladly give it a go. What do I need to do?

 

[ChristaNL]

Not that I know off ...


EllenD already said it is "normal" for breederbirds to act a bit disturbed (at first anyway) when confronted with a real parrotlife-


and although Sunny has never been a breederbird as far as I know...
(but was in a waaaay to small cage by herself most of the day for far tooo long )
she got a larger cage once she arrived here: and it took her a full 4 months to finally visit the cagebottom (afaik she went there only once and only because she sees the greys chickenscratching and having fun on that level in theirs) and she got to the other upper corner only 2 months ago (that is about 8 months after being put in this particular cage...) because I placed a bunch of willowbranches/twigs in such a way she had to detour to reach the waterbowl.
She mostly sits in one corner of hangs from the ceiling in another ...


she is kind of "insane in the membrane" that way.
I was expecting her to climb around a lot and be curious, but no... she sits and stares (or hangs and rocks herself) unless I ask her to do something, most of the time.
She is getting more and more into gnawing branches and chattering to herself (or the TV) but it is a slooooow process.
(She has *no* clue what to do with toys)



Java has not been around you that long, is he?
(I met Sunny about 10 months ago, and I am happy she is at least making progress - a friend asked to see a picture of her and I was shocked when I found the one taken in januari - she really changed a lot and I did hardly notice.)


Anyway- if you are doing something wrong... then I am making the same mistake

 

[ChristaNL]

Just noticed the photoos...
do you think the lamplight might be bothering him?
(it had me squinting a bit)



Since all his favorite places seem to be in the shadowy side of his cage?

 

[Brittany0208]

Not that I know off ...


EllenD already said it is "normal" for breederbirds to act a bit disturbed (at first anyway) when confronted with a real parrotlife-


and although Sunny has never been a breederbird as far as I know...
(but was in a waaaay to small cage by herself most of the day for far tooo long )
she got a larger cage once she arrived here: and it took her a full 4 months to finally visit the cagebottom (afaik she went there only once and only because she sees the greys chickenscratching and having fun on that level in theirs) and she got to the other upper corner only 2 months ago (that is about 8 months after being put in this particular cage...) because I placed a bunch of willowbranches/twigs in such a way she had to detour to reach the waterbowl.
She mostly sits in one corner of hangs from the ceiling in another ...


she is kind of "insane in the membrane" that way.
I was expecting her to climb around a lot and be curious, but no... she sits and stares (or hangs and rocks herself) unless I ask her to do something, most of the time.
She is getting more and more into gnawing branches and chattering to herself (or the TV) but it is a slooooow process.
(She has *no* clue what to do with toys)



Java has not been around you that long, is he?
(I met Sunny about 10 months ago, and I am happy she is at least making progress - a friend asked to see a picture of her and I was shocked when I found the one taken in januari - she really changed a lot and I did hardly notice.)


Anyway- if you are doing something wrong... then I am making the same mistake

I've had Java for 9 months, and I'm not sure if the light is the issue. Even when the light is off, he's still reluctant to move away from his favorite spots.

 

[Brittany0208]

Not that I know off ...


EllenD already said it is "normal" for breederbirds to act a bit disturbed (at first anyway) when confronted with a real parrotlife-


and although Sunny has never been a breederbird as far as I know...
(but was in a waaaay to small cage by herself most of the day for far tooo long )
she got a larger cage once she arrived here: and it took her a full 4 months to finally visit the cagebottom (afaik she went there only once and only because she sees the greys chickenscratching and having fun on that level in theirs) and she got to the other upper corner only 2 months ago (that is about 8 months after being put in this particular cage...) because I placed a bunch of willowbranches/twigs in such a way she had to detour to reach the waterbowl.
She mostly sits in one corner of hangs from the ceiling in another ...


she is kind of "insane in the membrane" that way.
I was expecting her to climb around a lot and be curious, but no... she sits and stares (or hangs and rocks herself) unless I ask her to do something, most of the time.
She is getting more and more into gnawing branches and chattering to herself (or the TV) but it is a slooooow process.
(She has *no* clue what to do with toys)



Java has not been around you that long, is he?
(I met Sunny about 10 months ago, and I am happy she is at least making progress - a friend asked to see a picture of her and I was shocked when I found the one taken in januari - she really changed a lot and I did hardly notice.)


Anyway- if you are doing something wrong... then I am making the same mistake

I've had Java for 9 months, and I'm not sure if the light is the issue. Even when the light is off, he's still reluctant to move away from his favorite spots.

I've been very tempted to move his food bowl to the bottom of the cage, but knowing just how stubborn he is, I'm afraid he'd starve himself.

 

[Laurasea]

Just noticed the photoos...
do you think the lamplight might be bothering him?
(it had me squinting a bit)



Since all his favorite places seem to be in the shadowy side of his cage?

That was my thought too...

 

[Laurasea]

And even though I'd handicapped he might like some branch type perches, might be more of what he is used too. You can try a wide one

 

[Brittany0208]

I added the light to his cage so it wouldn't be so dull, but I never thought of it bothering him. Hmmm, since it's marketed toward birds, I thought he'd benefit from it. He had a Featherbrite, but I've since replaced it with his current light. I've just adjusted his light, tilting it more toward the wall so that there is still light in his cage but it isn't beaming down him.

 

[Brittany0208]

Does this look better? The light automatically goes off at 3:30

 

[ChristaNL]

If he is sort of comfortable being on the ground...why not?
(moving the food bowl)



One of the basic enrichtment-things they do at the veterinary college here is put marbles in the foodbowls - parrots love the feel of the glass and rummaging around for food or toys keeps them busy, but not overly stimulated.


Since Java loves to lick things...why not give him something with a nice smoot texture to have fun with?


I know you are busy with the whole prostetic-leg thingy, but maybe make a photo of his undercariage for us as well?
Maybe one of us gets a bright idea (or has experience) about how to help him get around easier with what he has atm.

 

[Laurasea]

It's not that anything is wrong with the light per say, just that it may not be this guy's preference....

 

[Brittany0208]

He actually hates being on the ground. Whenever he is, he looks for me to rescue him.
I'm not understanding the last question.

 

[ChristaNL]

Oh, you clever person!
You move fast


I have no idea, leave it like this for a week or so and see what he thinks?


(It's like that 'change toys every few days'rule that I break all the time: my greys need to look at something for at least a week till they are ready to engage - so some toys are in there for months - and all of a sudden turn out to be favorites after all)


(I meant: can you take a photo of his legs - I would like to see what he uses to get around with. We know there is damage, now is the question: what *can* he use)

 

[Brittany0208]

Oh. I'll keep it off for a few days and see if there's a noticeable difference.

 

[Laurasea]

If he is sort of comfortable being on the ground...why not?
(moving the food bowl)



One of the basic enrichtment-things they do at the veterinary college here is put marbles in the foodbowls - parrots love the feel of the glass and rummaging around for food or toys keeps them busy, but not overly stimulated.


Since Java loves to lick things...why not give him something with a nice smoot texture to have fun with?


I know you are busy with the whole prostetic-leg thingy, but maybe make a photo of his undercariage for us as well?
Maybe one of us gets a bright idea (or has experience) about how to help him get around easier with what he has atm.

Neat! Guess who will be getting marbles at my house??? Everyone!!! Great idea! Where you been hiding that one heh?

 

[Brittany0208]

Oh, you clever person!
You move fast


I have no idea, leave it like this for a week or so and see what he thinks?


(It's like that 'change toys every few days'rule that I break all the time: my greys need to look at something for at least a week till they are ready to engage - so some toys are in there for months - and all of a sudden turn out to be favorites after all)

Same. If there's a certain toy he seems particularly interested in, I won't take it out when I rotate, and right now, he's really obsessed with those boingy wrist straps.

 

[Brittany0208]

If he is sort of comfortable being on the ground...why not?
(moving the food bowl)



One of the basic enrichtment-things they do at the veterinary college here is put marbles in the foodbowls - parrots love the feel of the glass and rummaging around for food or toys keeps them busy, but not overly stimulated.


Since Java loves to lick things...why not give him something with a nice smoot texture to have fun with?


I know you are busy with the whole prostetic-leg thingy, but maybe make a photo of his undercariage for us as well?
Maybe one of us gets a bright idea (or has experience) about how to help him get around easier with what he has atm.

Marbles sound like a great idea! However, the first thing that popped into my head was some of them chipping and then having glass shards everywhere. Is there a particular brand that is less likely to chip?