Walking human babies and parrots

[bluecrownmama]

I need some brainstorming help, and I'm hoping some one out there may have been in a similar situation and can offer experience?
I have a one year old daughter who LOVES our blue crown conure Yenko-is fascinated by him, loves to say hi to him, wants to touch him. Yenko feels the exact opposite way-he "HATES" the baby. Has never liked her. As soon as she comes near his cage he is trying to bite her though the bars. So for the sake of keeping all her fingers we moved his cage several months ago (when the baby learned to pull up on things and wanted to pull up on the cage). We moved it from the busy main floor (open floor plan of livingroom,kitchen, etc) to the less occupied den. First I must say that Yenko quieted down here-less constant screaming and seemed less stressed. However I don't like that he receives a lot less interaction in this new location. I'd like to bring him back to the family room but I'm not sure how to keep the now walking baby away from his cage (shes even a good climber).
Does anyone else have babies and parrots in the same house? Yenko's cage is on a 20in stand and is 30X30X34. I've contemplated getting a slighter smaller cage that I can raise significantly higher (out of baby reach). I have been recently informed that height dominance is a myth so I thought Yenko might like this option too?
Any thoughts or cage suggestions?

 

[ParkersMom]

No experience with babies but when I first adopted my 5 now 6 1/2 year old pit he was fascinated with Parker...I got one of the puppy play pens and just put it around the cage about 2 ft away from the cage so that Blue our pit couldn't get to the cage... after about a month Blue no longer showed any interest and we were able to remove the puppy play pen and they have been fine ever since...not sure if that would work with your baby put it might be worth a try...Parker's cage has always been in the kitchen

 

[bluecrownmama]

We also adopted a pit so we have one those those puppy pens from the glorious potty-training-a-kennel-dog days. Perhaps that will work! Oh and our pit is still waiting for our Blue Crown to "play" with her...shes needs some other dog friends lol

 

[getwozzy]

We have a crazy 18 month old boy. Two words: baby gate.

The only spot we can put our cages are accessible to the kid. Except we put the cages in a corner and have it blocked off with this gate: http://amzn.com/B000U5FOT2

It has a swinging door so it's easy to go in and out, it comes with wall mounts so it's nice and sturdy while mounted to the wall. Annnnnd it keeps the kid from terrorizing the bird area. Plus, I don't want him to have access to bird poop and food on the floor.

When we had Jackie- he was on the fence about the kid, but would've bit him no doubt about it. So it was important for me to keep them separated the best I could. But Jackie could retreat to the safety of the bird corner and the kid wouldn't be able to get him...Jackie knew to steer clear of him, but I never left them unsupervised together.

Now, Chili on the other hand, uses the baby gate to her advantage. She uses it to get to the couch, or she'll slide down the bars like a little firefighter (lol) and then run around the floor doing who knows what. I still have to keep them separated even though chili likes the kid- but he likes to whack and smash right now, so it's just not safe for chili.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I love the idea of a gate as well, but just for another idea--if you wanted to have your bird with you but still keep his primary cage in the den, you could maybe use a "travel cage/sleeping cage" and put it high enough, but on something that can't be readily climbed.

 

[getwozzy]

I have different stations set up for chili that are out of the kid's reach... There's a boing in our living room area, and then a table-top stand which I can move around wherever. But her big cage and PVC jungle gym are behind the baby gate.

 

[bluecrownmama]

Getwozzy:Thats a really great gate-i haven't seen that type that thats also wall mounted. We have 3 babygates up in the house for stairways..whats a few more right?

Ruffledfeathers: Ya know I really thought about getting a sleep cage/smaller cage that I can put up high but I wasn't sure if that would be well received by people. Her cage right now is so big it takes up a ton of space so it fits better in the den. I'm happy you suggested it. Any thoughts on what would be an acceptable size? Like if he was going to spend a couple hours in the cage around us. Maybe this sounds odd but he really doesn't "use" all his big cage space-just a few favorite spots really, so I don't think he would be too cramped in a smaller cage for a bit.

 

[forbey]

Let me see, the problem ISN'T the parrot... it's the kid!

Put the kid in a cage and let the bird free. The kid can't get to the bird (or anything else you don't want him to have) and the bird won't go near the cage cuz he doesn't like the kid. Sounds like the perfect solution!

 

[bluecrownmama]

hahaha I saw an ad once in an old Readers Digest for a baby cage-literally made out of chicken wire...if only that were acceptable now-I could get so much more done around the house! I think with the next kid we're going to have her "play pen trained". Unfortunately unless that thing was nailed to the floor, this baby would plow through it.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I am surprised how happy my blue crown is in his travel cage. He stays in it when i am at the beach for long weekends all summer (like, every other weekend, we are away 3-4 days and that's his summer home). I keep 2 perches and a bunch of toys in it and he really enjoys it. It's the size of a dog crate and collapses. I have this one:
Bird Cages: Fold 'n Go Travel Cage at DrsFosterSmith.com

 

[bluecrownmama]

awesome! super awesome! out of curiosity-when you travel do you put him in the cage or allow him out of the cage for car rides?

 

[getwozzy]

Lol ha! I know, right?! What's a few more baby gates?! Sometimes I feel like I might be good at scaling hurdles constantly hopping over gates hahaha

 

[ruffledfeathers]

He has a travel carrier for the car with a seat belt attachment. It is the one he used for his airline flight as well. I have never let any of my birds out in the car....i guess i'm just too much of a worrier!!

 

[bluecrownmama]

Lol ha! I know, right?! What's a few more baby gates?! Sometimes I feel like I might be good at scaling hurdles constantly hopping over gates hahaha

haha yes an excellent deterrent for burglars, and our guests probably hate us for the obstacle course they have to go through just to get to the bathroom. But great for corralling babies and pets. Sometimes I feel like our house is a zoo....

 

[bluecrownmama]

He has a travel carrier for the car with a seat belt attachment. It is the one he used for his airline flight as well. I have never let any of my birds out in the car....i guess i'm just too much of a worrier!!

I didn't even know a cage with a seatbelt attachment existed...I have so much to learn!

 

[ruffledfeathers]

lol i have the same obstacle course just to get to my bathroom!! and i don't even have human kids. it's for the three chihuahua rug rats!! I may get a different gate to get to the bathroom though because a lot of people complain!!

 

[getwozzy]

I've had these door gates on my wish list for a while now:
http://amzn.com/B0038OLMX4

 

[ruffledfeathers]

yup, that's the kind i'm thinking of putting at the top of my stairway. Right now i have a baby gate on the bottom step and i just straddle it but people look at me like i'm a gymnast when i go up the stairs....and one time, carrying laundry, i took a spill while kind of leaping over the gate like a madwoman.....

 

[bluecrownmama]

Yeah thats similar to what I have, but by DreamBaby. To make matters worse (for guests) is that we have our cats potty trained-so then theres instructions to leave the seat up and door open when you're done. We just put a catdoor in the middle of the bathroom door this past weekend to make things easier...may not be great for resale value but then again neither are the holes in all the walls from mounted babygates....