Published by Joseph Calabrese on
For experienced owners, getting their birds back in the cage is an easy task as their birds are well-behaved and tamed.
However, new bird owners often struggle to do this with their scared or untamed birds.
Newly adopted birds are usually scared of their new owners, making them difficult to handle and control.
Scared birds typically try to get away when their new owners approach them.
In this article, you’ll learn 4 ways to get your untamed bird to go back to its cage voluntarily.
But first, I want you to know how NOT to put a bird into its cage.
Quick Navigation:
- How NOT To Put A Bird In The Cage
- 4 Ways To Get An Untamed Bird In The Cage
- 1) Putting A Treat Inside The Cage
- 2) Leaving Their Food Bowl Inside The Cage
- 3) Using Their Night-Time Natural Instincts
- 4) Utilizing Target Training
- How To Get An Untamed Bird Out Of Its Cage
- Conclusion
- Sources
How NOT To Put A Bird In The Cage
Although trying to get an untamed bird back in its cage can be frustrating, it has to be done the right way, without stressing the bird out.
This means you cannot grab and force the bird into the cage.
Doing that would break any trust you may have earned with your new bird.
Not only is it a huge trust breaker, but forcing them inside the cage will make them associate bad feelings with the cage.
This could result in the bird fearing or hating the cage.
These negative feelings will make this task harder in the future as you’ve made the bird even more determined to avoid the cage.
Grabbing is only appropriate in these specific situations:
- During medical procedures (nail trimming, giving medicine)
- When the house is on fire (or other disasters)
- During vet visits
- If they have been trained to accept grabs
It’s definitely not appropriate to grab a bird to force it into a cage.
4 Ways To Get An Untamed Bird In The Cage
By far, the easiest way to get a bird back to the cage is by perching them on your finger and placing them inside.
However, this requires the bird to be tamed and step-up trained.
It’s probably impossible to do this with your untamed bird.
So, here are 4 ways you can get an untamed parrot to go to their cage willingly.
1) Putting A Treat Inside The Cage
Simply placing the bird’s favourite treat inside the cage will encourage your bird to go in and eat it.
You may not know your new bird’s preferred treat yet, which is totally normal.
The best way to discover birds motivating food is through simple experimentation.
For smaller birds such as budgies and co*ckatiels, you could use:
- Millet spray
- Piles of seeds
- Fruit clipped inside the cage
- A honey stick
Larger birds such as African greys and co*ckatoos typically enjoy:
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Pellets
Whatever treats you use, place them inside the cage and make sure your bird can see them can from the outside of the cage.
Ideally, they should be watching as you set “the trap”.
For this to work, the treat placement needs to be far inside the cage.
If the treat is too close to the cage door, your bird will not go all the way inside the cage to eat it.
2) Leaving Their Food Bowl Inside The Cage
This method is similar to the first except it requires a little more patience from you.
Leaving the food bowl inside the cage will make your untamed bird go inside when they’re hungry.
You need to wait until they get hungry, then shut the cage door as they’re going in to eat.
Simple method, but it just takes time…
Birds usually take a few hours to get hungry again after they finish eating, so patience is certainly required.
Birds will eventually need to go into their cage to eat as long as there is no food outside for them to eat.
Hopefully, you aren’t in a rush today as this could take a while.
If you’re ever in a rush to get out of the house, the next 2 methods work much faster.
3) Using Their Night-Time Natural Instincts
All captive-bred pet birds have their natural instincts intact. Those natural instincts guide them toward well-lit areas in the case of sudden darkness. When it gets dark, a bird’s natural instincts will tell them to go to a better-lit roosting spot and get ready to sleep.
You’ll be using that natural instinct to get your untamed bird in the cage.
To promote the cage as a roosting spot, place a light near the cage while dimming the lights everywhere else.
If done correctly, the cage should be the brightest spot in the room.
Make sure you do this while your birds can see the cage, otherwise they’ll be lost in the dark.
Once they hop inside the cage, you can close the door and turn the lights back on.
They should go in the cage fairly quickly after the lights go out.
This method is great for untamed birds as you don’t need to touch them at all, they jump inside the cage all by themselves.
Credit for this amazing idea goes to Salvador Budgie on YouTube.
4) Utilizing Target Training
This method will require your bird to be at least partially target-trained.
If you haven’t yet started target training with your bird, I highly recommend you read this post:
Target Training Birds: The Complete Beginners Guide
It’s possible to start target training a partially tamed bird as long as they aren’t scared of you. They don’t need to be fully comfortable with your hands as target training is hands-off training.
How target training will help you get an untamed bird in and out of its cage:
Once your bird is at least partially target trained, you can use the target stick to guide them in and out of the cage. They’re motivated to touch the target because you’ve taught them that doing so earns them a treat.
It’s arguably the best thing you can teach your bird.
How To Get An Untamed Bird Out Of Its Cage
Since I’ve been talking about getting untamed birds back in the cage, I thought I’d discuss how to get them out.
So many people are googling how to get their untamed birds out of the cage.
But the truth is…
Birds will come out of the cage whenever they’re ready to do so.
There is no need to implement any methods to get them out.
I know, we want our new birds to be outside the cage so we can interact with them. But if they’re staying inside the cage, that’s likely what they want to do.
Believe it or not, pet birds actually enjoy spending time inside the cage.
Shredding toys, foraging for food, and resting are all activities birds enjoy doing within the comfort of their cage.
And when a bird isn’t comfortable with you or your environment, it’d rather stay inside the cage until it gets used to you.
There is simply no need to persuade your bird to come out of its cage.
If they love and trust you, they’ll hang out with you when they’re ready.
Conclusion
Trying to do simple tasks with a bird that doesn’t fully trust or understand you is difficult. Trying to get them in the cage is one of those difficult tasks.
I definitely ran into my fair share of problems while taming my co*ckatiel, Arthur.
However, no matter how difficult it gets, you cannot resort to clipping their wings to make it easier for yourself.
Wing clipping has horrible effects on bird health.
Sure, things will be easier for you with a bird that can’t fly, but it’s simply cruel to clip a bird’s wings for personal convenience.
If you’re struggling to tame your bird, I suggest reading the articles linked below.
These posts are taming guides for small birds:
10 Taming Tips For Brand New co*ckatiel Owners
How To Tame An Adult co*ckatiel (Step-By-Step Guide)
Although these articles are titled for co*ckatiels, the advice in these posts applies to other small parrots such as budgies and lovebirds.
Just a reminder, those 4 bird caging methods were:
- Putting a treat inside the cage
- Leaving their food bowl inside the cage
- Using their natural instincts
- Utilizing target training
I hope you found the information in this article helpful, and good luck getting that little rascal back in the cage.
Sources
- https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/tips-get-bird-back-cage/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVverLxvfnk (Salvador Budgie)
- https://parrotvolancy.com/wing-trimming-physical-health/
