Feeling like a failure..

[lolsavannahh]

As I ranted about in my Dory post.. I am having a lot of trouble with her :(

She refuses to go back in her cage whenever I get her out, and it honestly takes 30 minutes to get her to go back in :( She just flies away every time she sees that we are going to her cage... I haven't gotten her out in a week because of it, and I feel like a failure. She was not used to getting out of her cage at all when she came to me because she is from a rescue so she and most other birds spend their time in their cages.. but I still feel bad. For a while she did really well, and even when she wasn't hand tamed she would go back in, but it has become too much of a hassle. I have to leave aside 2-3 hours a day for her to be out, and sometimes with work it doesn't work out well :(

She also is very interested in the guinea pigs, and not recall trained.. She will try to go IN the cage and check them out, and she will bite me very hard when I try to get her to get out, and it is just stressful. I want our relationship to be very positive, and right now its all downhill. I had to towel her the other day in order to get her in her cage because I was going to be late to work.. She has a bad opinion about me now and I just feel so bad. I need to have another room for her so when I get her out she won't be distracted by Nash or the Guinea pigs.. but theres no option for that. Do any of you have any suggestions? She is losing her already small amount of tameness, and I don't want her to hate me! Whenever I get her out she always does because I have to kind of 'force' her to go back in the cage and she gets upset.

I still pet and feed her treats through the cage bars, but I know it's not enough.

[Mare]

Ugh..I'm sorry you're having these issues :(. Our Sassy goffins has been known to be stubborn in this way and I find it's at it's worst when she is being hormonal, (80% of the time), although, she's never laid an egg!

I've often thought about maybe a wing clip might help,,buuuttt..I don't think so, I don't think that would be a cure, only a bandaid. Is there a way to put a screen over the Guinea pigs cage so she can't get in? As far as getting her back in her cage..?.. i don't know about Dory but Sassy loves to be covered up with a blankie, might be a cockatoo thing, this makes it easy for us to get her back in her cage. I wish I could be more helpful..

[Dragonlady2]

So sorry that you are having these difficulties with her. I have had similar issues in the past but we're in a routine now. The only suggestion I have is to save a favourite treat and try to lure her back to her cage with it. Do you feed her anything when she is out....maybe if she is a little hungry, she will be a little easier to get back as well.
Mare may have a point regarding being hormonal?
I have heard that others do clicker training with their birds. This would possibly give her some direct time with you and she may learn to respond to your direction. It's probably hard to give a lot of positive reinforcement right now because you know how it is going to end. Clicker training may turn that around for you.
I hope things do turn around for you. I've been there when I had to leave and the little stinker wouldn't go back in his cage.

[lolsavannahh]

Ugh..I'm sorry you're having these issues :(. Our Sassy goffins has been known to be stubborn in this way and I find it's at it's worst when she is being hormonal, (80% of the time), although, she's never laid an egg!

I've often thought about maybe a wing clip might help,,buuuttt..I don't think so, I don't think that would be a cure, only a bandaid. Is there a way to put a screen over the Guinea pigs cage so she can't get in? As far as getting her back in her cage..?.. i don't know about Dory but Sassy loves to be covered up with a blankie, might be a cockatoo thing, this makes it easy for us to get her back in her cage. I wish I could be more helpful..

Well I personally am not very for wing clipping... and she is also not my bird technically so I wouldn't want to do anything like that.. She hates to be "toweled' so I hate to do it to her.. but once I did and I really regret it :(


So sorry that you are having these difficulties with her. I have had similar issues in the past but we're in a routine now. The only suggestion I have is to save a favourite treat and try to lure her back to her cage with it. Do you feed her anything when she is out....maybe if she is a little hungry, she will be a little easier to get back as well.
Mare may have a point regarding being hormonal?
I have heard that others do clicker training with their birds. This would possibly give her some direct time with you and she may learn to respond to your direction. It's probably hard to give a lot of positive reinforcement right now because you know how it is going to end. Clicker training may turn that around for you.
I hope things do turn around for you. I've been there when I had to leave and the little stinker wouldn't go back in his cage.

I have tried clicker training with her, just like I did with Nash but she just doesn't pick it up! I don't understand why.. I started to clicker train with Nash like 8 months after I got him and he picked it up really well, but I have been trying with her for forever and she just won't do it! ALso the clicker noise scares her, so I try to say " good bird!" instead, still no luck.

I try to bribe her back in with millet and nutriberries and she will eat them as we walk to the cage but once we get too close she flies right back to nash and his cage.. It's a struggle! no matter how slow or fast I walk, or what I do.. she always goes back. She used to be very good about it when I first got her, but now that she steps up on my finger, and is no longer afraid she is being really tricky! It could be the hormones or something but I am not sure.. I hope she gets over it... :(

[Mare]

I just had a thought! When I moved Amigo from the outside to inside to put him in his cage..I would hold him close to my chest on my right hand and hover my left hand/arm around his head area so's he wouldn't get any ideas about taking off towards the other birds in the room, I would also keep my back to the others as I walked towards his cage. I do this with Sassy when taking her out of her cage to leave the room.

[Cedardave]

i dont have alot of advise other than to say the name lovebird is misleading.We have had alot of success with our smaller birds when then take flight,by placing a shelled unsalted peanut in their cage.Of course they love their peanuts.But if you can "addict" which I mean in the most posative of ways, your little bird into a favorite food, that may help you along.Dont feel to bad over this issue.Remember your starting off with a bird that came to you with some baggage.It will take time and a bucket load of patience to get her where she needs to be.I have a hunch you may just be the right person for the job.

[lolsavannahh]

Thank you so much for the word of advice Dave.. that's really inspiring me to not give up! I will get her out tomorrow and see how she does! I am off work so I hope it goes well(: Maybe I can just leave her out ALL day while I'm home and eventually tire her out enough to where she will go in willingly when she is hungry!

and Mare, I don't know if that will work with her.. she is a biter for sure! She's scared enough of humans as it is idk if covering her will work, but ill give it a whirl, who knows, maybe it will work!(:

[Dragonlady2]

I am with Dave on this one. Most of my birds are treat trained in that there is one specific treat they associate going back into their cage for. I put it in their dish as well. Sometimes they just have to see me get the container and they will beat me to the cage.

I know you will be able to figure this out because you are so committed.:goodjob:

[The Pinkertons]

tire her out enough to where she will go in willingly when she is hungry! That's what I do with the grass keets ...I make them fly around until they get tired , I don't give any food to them when their out ,that way they associate their cage as a food source . :exactly:

[Cedardave]

The interesting sidenote on an inshell peanut is two fold.
One they getba treat they love and two..most birds love the challenge of getting thevpeanut out..doubles your success rate

[Lady]

Aww Savannah,

She now has a taste of how wonderful it is to be out of the cage as well as having Nash and you. This is all still new to her. It reminds me of when our children got in the walker. They at first just stood still but once they realized they could go everywhere and touch everything we had to start blocking things off, moving them out of their reach or teach them no. What happened when we told them no....I know mine like most would fuss, cry and show us they didn't want not to be allowed to do what they now could do.

I agree that with patience and time, and a trying some of the suggestions you have been given here that you will find a way to teach her what is acceptable and what isn't.

You could also open the cage door, allow her to step on your finger then put your hand back in the cage and have her step off and give her a reward like the millet. Teach her a word to associate that when she steps back down in her cage she will get a reward.
When I trained dogs, we would give them "Jackpot" rewards when they did something that we really wanted to associate with what they did. So sometimes you can give her some millet and something else that she doesn't get everyday but really enjoys.

You will get there~:)

[lolsavannahh]

Thank you all! I will give everything you guys suggested a shot! Unfortunately I had to run errands today and didn't get home til just now, almost 8 PM and I would rather not get her out now, knowing my family will be going to sleep soon and so will I.. I want to get her out when I have many hours ahead of me to be able to get her back in