Out of the cage?

[Zirstonas]

Hi!

I was just wondering, at night my parrots are just always in their cage, they like it there.. are there also people who don't have a cage and always let their parrot just on a play stand or something like that? I just can't imagine you can keep a parrot alone a whole night

 

[Jayyj]

Assuming you have a bird safe room you can leave the bird in, I think it just depends on where the bird feels safest. Alice was a cage bird when I got her, and although she has the run of the front room as long as I'm home, she's still wary of being outside of a cage if I'm not there to stand guard for her and will retreat there if I leave the room for more than a few seconds. So, it makes sense to put her away for the night where I know she'll feel safe and comfortable. Plus I can throw a blanket over it and have a lie in!

I would imagine if your bird is used to not having a cage, it will have a prefered roost spot that would feel perfectly safe and the security of the cage is not needed, as long as there's no mischief it can get up to whilst there's noone to supervise.

 

[Zirstonas]

Assuming you have a bird safe room you can leave the bird in, I think it just depends on where the bird feels safest. Alice was a cage bird when I got her, and although she has the run of the front room as long as I'm home, she's still wary of being outside of a cage if I'm not there to stand guard for her and will retreat there if I leave the room for more than a few seconds. So, it makes sense to put her away for the night where I know she'll feel safe and comfortable. Plus I can throw a blanket over it and have a lie in!

I would imagine if your bird is used to not having a cage, it will have a prefered roost spot that would feel perfectly safe and the security of the cage is not needed, as long as there's no mischief it can get up to whilst there's noone to supervise.

I thought I read on the forums someone who didn't put the bird back in the cage, I was just wondering if people did that but you're right, if the bird feels safe, then he can be out of the cage of course, my birds aren't used to it, they like the cage more too

 

[khaiqha]

My bird sleeps on a perch on top of his cage. In the morning he just flies over and wakes me up.

 

[weco]

I think you'll find many macaw owners don't cage their birds, many times it's simply that macaw cages are very large a not everybody has the physical space to accommodate a three foot bird and its appropriately sized cage...and while some may take wing and fly, a lot of large birds, lacking good, indoor flying space will just climb down from their perch and go walking where they want to go.....

 

[thekarens]

I know more mac owners who do cage than don't.

Even if I had a bird safe room I'd have to worry about Zoe eating the paint or the electric plugs. She's easily bored.

When we had our grey he had a cage but we never put him in it except when we went out of town.

 

[Scott]

I have as many as 6 parrots out of their cages during the day and night; as long as the room is safe and the birds get along, why not?

The 15' x 15' room has a Moluccan, Citron, Timneh, and 3 Goffins that peacefully co-exist; there is a seventh Goffin that has to be rotated with his mother and one of his siblings. While the room does not have a night light, enough peeks through the blinds such that there is considerable movement of individuals from the time of lights-off at night to morning. I'm convinced parrots either have good night vision or are adept at feeling their way around the environment.

To me, the kindest thing we can do for captive parrots is granting them as much freedom as safely possible - that IMHO means lots of out-time from the cage. That said, there are periods they seek comfort in a familiar enclosure!

 

[SilverSage]

Because of our living situation right and the number of birds I have, they are caged when I am not there. However when I had just Sam, Lady, and Flick, I literally had to coax Sam and Lady out of their cage. When they finally decided to come out, there is no WAY I was going to put them back in unless forced! So they and Flick basically lived on the top of their cage. Once I also fell asleep on the couch while my rescue budgie chicks were out on their play stand, and woke up in the morning with them having been out the whole night, but they were right where they belonged and everyone was fine. It really has to do with where your bird feels safe. I dont think that leaving a bird out means leaving them alone.