Should I be worried?

[Dinosrawr]

Shiko is as active as ever! But he's doing one thing lately that's starting to worry me. The breeder clipped him, but only a few primaries so he could safely land if he happened to take off. He had also fledged at her home and was flying around everywhere, so he's confident in it and knows what he's doing.

... except when he's in his cage. I mean, his cage is decently sized for crawling around, but it's definitely not an appropriate size for flying, an that's what he's doing. Constantly. He flies from on side to the other, and will sometimes topple to the bottom of his cage. Or he won't remember to let his feet go from the cage and flap like a mad man. It makes me happy because Avery is the opposite - flight is almost purely a fear response. She'll flight recall with me, but is seriously hesitant. Shiko just goes for it.

But because he's doing this in his cage, I'm seriously worried he's going to hurt himself. I don't want to clip him, but I don't want to come home to a bird with a broken neck on the bottom of it's cage. Any suggestions?

And here's a picture because he's so cute!

 

[witchbaby]

You might want to consider moving Shiko into a flight cage or something with enough space to safely fly around in. I think his age would explain why he's still a clumsy flyer. That's pretty normal for young birds as they're still learning and experimenting. He'll get the hang of it eventually.

 

[Anansi]

Hey, Chantal.

Sounds to me like you just have an active little guy. The flapping-his-wings-while-holding-on-thing is a way some birds use to burn off excess energy and exercise their wings.

I would suggest that you take him out for a lot of flight training. Pick up a training perch or two and have him fly from you to the perch and back again, with treats here and there as added incentive. Or he can fly back and forth from you to your boyfriend. Just make it lots of fun for him.

If he burns off all of his excess energy playing flight games with you, he'll be FAR less likely to be doing it in his cage. And the practice will also serve as another bonding activity between the two of you. He'll absolutely love you (even more) for it. Hope that helps!

 

[Anansi]

Oh, gorgeous pic, btw!

 

[Dinosrawr]

The only cage that would be bigger would be ones made for Amazons or Macaws. It's 36x24x68, so it's by no means small, but I'm wary of one inch bar spacing for him considering how clumsy he is and flying cages to me would be something that measures a minimum of 6 feet by 6 feet by 8 feet. Unfortunately I can't build him an outdoor aviary at the moment, but hopefully one day I will be able to!

I'll have to try flight training, but with him bluffing it makes it rather difficult since he gets so angry with me for having fingers, haha! He also can't really fly-fly... it's more like he can flutter. There's not enough lift for him to fly any distance, but he can climb and propel himself upwards with wings, or jump and use his wings for a little bit of extra help. I'll have to see if he'll take to hopping and maybe I'll just have to run around the room and hold his feet while he flaps away (if he doesn't get angry at me for it ). He's definitely a high energy bird!

We do lots of trick training during the day, and I'll sit down and simply let him play on his blanket with foot toys for an hour at a time throughout the day as well, so I'm always surprised by how much go-go-go he has. I think it's great though, because it means he's healthy and happy, and is consider him my minor preparations for my hopeful future birds (a galah, a B&G, a mini macaw) that my boyfriend and I want to add to my flock 10 years down the road, hehe

And thanks! He's dang gorgeous. I fall in love all over again every morning when I take his bed time cover off

 

[Dinosrawr]

Hahaha, soooo... quick update since I posted.

Shiko already perfectly understands flight recall. Like, perfectly. He knows back to perch already and he flies on his name to me (the short distance he can manage), without second thought. Looks like I found the new best way to burn his energy! I did about 10 minutes of it and my boyfriend finished two more with him until he lost interest.

It blows my mind because it took me so long to get that far with Avery, and she still hesitates taking off. That, to me, is the huge difference between a bird that has been allowed to fledge and a bird that has not. Thanks for the suggestion, guys! He's just quietly exploring right now and preening I can't wait until his harness arrives, I have a feeling he's going to be a BLAST to take outside!

 

[witchbaby]

The only cage that would be bigger would be ones made for Amazons or Macaws. It's 36x24x68, so it's by no means small, but I'm wary of one inch bar spacing for him considering how clumsy he is and flying cages to me would be something that measures a minimum of 6 feet by 6 feet by 8 feet.

Ah, nevermind then. 36x24 is already a good size and it's better to stick with the appropriate bar spacing. An outdoor aviary would be great, wouldn't it? That's on my to-do list as well. I do like Anansi's suggestions. Flight training sounds like the way to go.

 

[Anansi]

Sweet! He is so going to love his flight time with you both! I'm glad he's taken to it so swiftly.

Enjoy!

 

[Taw5106]

He's beautiful. My cockatiel would flap her wings in her cage while holding on to her perch or the side of the cage. Most times she did it to get a rise out of the dog, not kidding. She never tried to fly in her cage though. Like you I'd be nervous about flying in the cage because of limited space. I'm curious to what options will come up so I'll be watching to see how you make out.

 

[chippy]

Pippin hangs upside down and flaps his wings like a madman all the time... and when anyone is home his cage is ALWAYS open so he's welcome to fly around...he just LIKES being "Bat-Bird!"

 

[Dinosrawr]

That's cute! Ever since doing flight recall with him, he's stopped doing it as often. Every now and then he will, but I do my best to tire him out with a few 10 minute sessions (or however long he'll tolerate) throughout the day. It seems to be helping his crazy energy levels too!

 

[Allee]

Hi Chantal,
So happy to hear Shiko is enjoying his flight training, and so quickly too.

All I can add to Stephen's excellent advice is to put a perch across the widest part of Shiko's cage and arrange his toys and all other perches so he has room to hold and flap when he wants to exercise his wings by himself. Two of my birds fly outside their cage daily, but also enjoy cage exercises.

BTW, Shiko is a really beautiful fellow.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Thanks, Allee! I have long perches that go across the length of the cage for him Because the breeder clipped him I can't allow him free flight like I do Avery, but with time and as he molts he'll have that freedom. Thankfully she did a very gentle clip, so I'm sure he'll be flying relatively soon

He's a very active fellow, I can't wait for his harness to arrive so that I can begin training him with it and allow for him to really burn energy outside! Avery is a work in progress with her harness and is a big wuss when it comes to flying. Has AMAZING flying stamina, but won't do it unless frightened.