Anxious to come out, Anxious to go back in

[Stock350]

Whenever I put my hand in the cage to get Archie, he is more than willing to come out and play.

But as soon as I move him three feet away from his cage, its like he doesnt want to be out anymore. I work with him everyday..we go sit on my bed, sit around the computer and most days he is pretty calm with a back massage. But generally speaking, he wants to go back to his cage immediatly. There is nothing around that scares him, the music is low level and I dont move fast around him. I talk in a soft normal speaking voice to him and I give him lots of attention.

Ive had him for about 3 months now and he turns one in July. So hes still fairly new. But hes very healthy, he eats just about everything and has plenty of toys.

Any suggestions on what his deal might be?

Thanks in advance.

[Kathy]

I'm curious as to what the others are going to say. Nemo does this sometimes but I also realized that it depends on his mood. Sometimes he just doesn't feel like playing.

[AndreaFahy]

What kind of interactions exactly do you have with Archie outside of the cage? And what size cage is he living in?

[Mama2ManyMouths]

I've read that Parrotlets are fiercely indepedent and have seen this in Skyler. BUT, he loves his play cage, and likes to be in it a lot (most of the day). We have a routine: bed-cage only for night-nights, playcage most of the day, and then his play-gym in the evening. He's a stickler for routine and makes sure that we know where he should be at any given time. LOL

Maybe your birdy really loves playing in his cage, and is conflicted because he also loves time with you.

[wiggletail]

In my case, Wednesday lived in my hair (under my ponytail) for the first 2 months whenever she was out of the cage. I am a tutor and reader for a history professor, so I spend a lot of time at home reading assignments and term papers – this made me highly available to her and made the bonding process a breeze. In fact, she was my daughter’s bird. She had short hair and birdie preferred the ponytail – thus she became my bird like it or not! (My daughter was ticked too!)

I know that keeping a bird in one’s hair isn’t terribly practical for most folks, no matter how much they want to do for their birdies. But, in your case you might consider wearing something that might offer your baby a sense of security and preoccupation. Parrotlets love to hide and are often referred to as “Pocket Parrots.” My parrot climbs in and out of my t-shirts: a hold-over from an incident where I accidentally bundled her in my dirty laundry – a near disaster, but it led to an obsession with hiding in my shirt thereafter.

My suggestion for you: wear a hooded sweatshirt with the hood down. Having the folds of fabric gives her an easy place to cling on and play. I will even give her bits of bread, cracker, millet and she will tear it up, then forage in the folds later for any leftovers. Basically, you need to become her perch – the safest zone – as well as being able to preoccupy her from fretting over everything around her.

[Pado]

Stock350 – have you noticed any difference in Archie’s behavior? Ex: is he fluffing and chattering at you when you go to get him from his cage? – Have you noticed him being attached to a certain toy in his cage?

I ask because this is how my male Mr. Peepers started acting when he was getting close to a year old. He had become infatuated with a certain toy and was torn between coming out of his cage and staying with his toy. He would always come out but like Archie wanted to get back to the cage after getting only a few feet away from it.

[Mamabird]

it may be time to rearrange the items in his cage. They can become over attached to their cage and then not want to leave it.

[Stock350]

Archie and I just kind of hangout. He stays on my finger, or I cover him in my hands and talk gently to him. I think he's just so independant, that he just wants to do what hes comfortable with. Or maybe he's just playing a game.

[AndreaFahy]

Archie and I just kind of hangout. He stays on my finger, or I cover him in my hands and talk gently to him. I think he's just so independant, that he just wants to do what hes comfortable with. Or maybe he's just playing a game.

Parrotlets are not keen on being controlled, they very much like to think they are in control. He probably does not enjoy being covered in your hands while you talk to him.

[Pado]

I think the cupping in the hands they will tolerate when young. My male loved this when he was much younger – he would burrow into a hole I would make while cupping my hands together or cupping him while he sat on my chest. He would sit in there and groom himself or groom the edges of my hands around the ‘hole’ [he had the freedom to come out at any time, I wouldn't hold him in there - he'd walk right in.

BUT I wouldn’t even let him try this now that he’s older, he'd bite the hand off me :D

They will do a lot of cute cuddly things when they are young that they won’t do when they are older.:eek:

[AndreaFahy]

I honestly didn't even think about that, the fact that when they are young they do like that. I guess it's been a while :) Similar to how they often like to snuggle in your hair even if they don't want to be touched, they do want to be snuggled.

[wiggletail]

Wednesday is 3 1/2 years old and still loves to be cupped! Loosely of course, without resriction. After all, on a cold winter day it is very cozy. She likes to preen my fingers, between them, etc. (p.s. I am very careful to be sure they are very clean).

She pets herself by rubbing up against my fingernails for a good scratch. As long as I don't wiggle the fingers much, she won't bite. In fact, her version of biting is far gentler than what she is capable of (I can still remember the first few nips when I first got her! Yikes, they can pinch - draw blood even!)

There have been times when being able to cup her was handy as far as safety goes. She will even tolerate being put under my shirt, which saved her life once (story is in another thread). I agree with Andrea to the extent that birdie might not like it - but I think it comes down to the individual personality of the bird. I've been amazed at hearing the differences among our birds along with the similarities.

Pado is also correct, these birds' personalities - play habits, tolerances, etc. (and other species) are constantly evolving as they grow up it seems. In my case, Wednesday is more and more fearless in her old age. She has always preferred to be out of her cage. But, as long as she is given at least a few hours of freedom each day, she will play, eat, and sleep contently in it when necessary. She gets a bit upset when I clean it though! I have to have hubby or son take her upstairs.

[AndreaFahy]

I enjoy the older parrotlets more than the babies :)

[musicjan]

That's an interesting comment, Andrea. We are finding Bitsy to be more enjoyable the older he gets. He also seems to have lots more personality. He is almost 10 months old.

[AndreaFahy]

So you are seeing it too!! The older they get the more their personalities blossom.

[memmey]

I guess they are like people in that they live long enough to develope their personalites. I was much more interesting at 14( that's debatable) than I was at 3...lol