Moving my Conure to travel cage.

[Cagzo]

I have an art studio upstairs and would like to take Connie up with me for a few hours freedom away from my cats.
I have put the travel cage (which is quite big) on the coffee table at night when she comes out,and tried to entice her into it with sunflower hearts etc.
It has toys,pellets etc ready to go,but short of stuffing her in there (I dont want to do it that way) she shies away from it. I have a ladder going up to the door,but she just stands on the edge of the coffee table desperate to step up back to my lap.
Such a shame as she would have freedom all day,and company,plus a nice house to go and get a snack.
Any suggestions anyone??

 

[dhraiden]

Birds are naturally wary of new situations as a survival mechanism. Are you not able to carry your GCC with you upstairs, and then present the cage (with food in it) to her to eventually go in?

 

[Cagzo]

I havent tried that yet,its quite far to carry her on my shoulder or finger,and my feeling is that she will fly back to her cage. But I think thats going to be the only way to go,anyway I will give it a go, it may all go smoothly you never know.��

 

[Laurasea]

Can you attach a picture of the travel cage. That would help with ideas.

 

[Alehner529]

I got a small travel cage for my sun, and it took a solid month before she would comfortably enter the cage. It took lots of sweet talking, all of her favorite treats, and patience. Start small. Walk her towards the cage. As soon as you see her start to be uncomfortable, give her reassurance and a treat. Each time try to get her a little closer to the cage until you can stand next to it with her. Then try to get her to reach her head into the cage by holding a treat inside. The last step would be getting her to actually step onto the perch in your cage. With time she should be comfortable with it and even go into it on her own.

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[Cagzo]

Thankyou Alehner529,
I think thats the best way forward,maybe its a mistake having the cage low down on the coffee table,as Conures like to be high. I will raise it to the sideboard instead.

Laurasea. I'll do a pic.

 

[Alehner529]

No problem. You should also try to just carry her upstairs on your shoulder. If she is bonded to you, I doubt she would fly away back to her cage.

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[Shoegoo]

When I need to move my GCC to the travel cage I put food and water in the travel cage with a toy and remove food and water from her habitat. Wait until she goes in, close the door and off we go to the vet. Its much easier when we return home.


I think that if you move your bird upstairs everyday she will be trained in a short time. Especially if there are fun things to do upstairs.

 

[bill_e]

I guess I'm confused by this, can't you just have the bird step up and put her in the cage and close the door?

As for walking her upstairs, have you tried holding her toes while she's on your finger to keep her from flying off?

I do agree that making a perch for the top of the travel cage and having food and water inside will entice her in eventually, likely at night when the lights go dim but training her to be put in a cage or carrier and not having to wait until she decides to go in is a must in my opinion. What happens if you have to quickly leave the house in an emergency? Do you have a small carrier (like cat carrier) for that. I needed to exit quickly when I caught the stove on fire

 

[Cagzo]

Hi Bill, yes I would have to hold her toes.�� Ive had her on my finger,talking quietly to her approaching the cage and as soon as she realises whats about to happen she runs up my arm. Theyre such clever little birds.
I know I could just put my hand over her back and plop her in,but I want her to be keen to do it herself. If there was a fire,thats the treatment she would get. Might try the cat basket,something that doesnt look "cagey"

 

[Cagzo]

Meant to say Bill,what beautiful birds you have, Nike is something else,what some amazing feathers! Love it!��

 

[Cagzo]

I got a small travel cage for my sun, and it took a solid month before she would comfortably enter the cage. It took lots of sweet talking, all of her favorite treats, and patience. Start small. Walk her towards the cage. As soon as you see her start to be uncomfortable, give her reassurance and a treat. Each time try to get her a little closer to the cage until you can stand next to it with her. Then try to get her to reach her head into the cage by holding a treat inside. The last step would be getting her to actually step onto the perch in your cage. With time she should be comfortable with it and even go into it on her own.

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Just to let you know Alehner,your suggestion worked! I took the cage to the kitchen work top,and made sure she watched me put a grape between the bars,then ran the pellets through my fingers so she could hear that the dish had food in,and suddenly she sidled down my arm and onto the nearest perch for the grape! She did it twice for about a half a minute,but it felt like a big step forward after a month of her not even looking at the cage! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Alehner529]

Hey that's great! They sure can be stubborn little beasties sometimes. [emoji846]

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