[sabzro.vi]

Good morning Everyone!
I am a new bird parent, and got my baby parrotlet on Monday 5/16, she is 4 months. She has made some progress since she's been home, I understand everything is very new to her and she is taking everything in. I have a few concerns that I wanted to discuss. My main concern is that she is not coming out of her cage, my breeder suggested to not physically take her out of her cage, because I do not want to startle her or scare her. I simply open the door, and sit at a distance waiting for her to come out on on her own. I give it about one to two hours until I close the cage. I know she's a baby, and needs to fly around and have time outside her cage to burn energy. I also need to clean the inside of her cage, but I cannot do it to the extent I want to, because she wont come out of her cage. I am sure she also wants to wash herself with clean water, and we cant do that without her leaving the cage as well. I even held a treat where the door was open, to get her to come out, but she ended up just sticking her head out of the cage to get the treat, but refuses to fully step out. I have no problems being patient with her, I am just worried about her falling ill by not coming out of the cage.

Another concern I have, is sometimes I catch her breathing really heavy before bed, and early in the morning. I do not own any other pets that are frightening her, and I speak to her very calmly to make her feel safe. The good news is, she is comfortable with my hand, and used to me so she doesn't move away anymore when I come close to her cage. I am wondering if her breathing heavy is something I need to be more concerned about?

 

[ginziputzi]

Hello there and welcome to the forum! I didn’t catch a name of your little one and if you would like to share any photos, we are pretty crazy about seeing new babies!

I noticed that you said she was comfortable with hour hand in her cage and didn’t move away from you anymore. Does she climb onto your hand at all? If so, I would indeed bring her out of her cage allowing for her to go back in when she wants. Some of these birds are bold and some are less adventurous and need someone to help them along. From what you said, she seems to trust you so it might be more encouraging for her if you were closer to her cage when the door is open. The distance might seem daunting and she doesn’t know what’s “out there” ready to eat her if she leaves the safety of her cage, especially if it is to get to you and you’re far away. Offering her a treat Is a great way to start coaxing her out but don’t give in too quickly. Make her step out of her comfort zone a little and get rewarded for doing so. You are right, she is still very young and hasn’t been with you very long. Your progress already is very encouraging and as you say, it is just time and patience.

Is her heaving breathing very pronounced? For example, is her tail bobbing or is her beak open? Is she showing any other signs of illness - fluffed up, sitting at the bottom of her cage, lethargic, not eating, watery poops? Does it happens everyday and in the same circumstances or do you notice it at other times of the day? I am not a vet and it is never a bad idea to consult a ver if you’re worried, not to mention it is good to establish a relationship with an avian vet and get a baseline checkup which could help youin the future. They are experts at hiding illness until it is very late. That being said, we are always happy to share our thoughts with you to help you decide what to do. You can also attach a video if you can get one so we can see what exactly she is doing.

It is great to have you on the forum and we look forward to hearing from you some more!

 

[ozzie3860]

Welcome to the site.

Not wanting to leave the cage is not unusual. My first two were cage bound like that from a previous owner. You see the cage is home, secure, and safe. The outside is full of unknowns that want to eat or casually hurt a small bird. They know this in their instincts. It is how they survive in the wild. So what I ended up doing was putting things on the outside of the cage so it looked a bit like the inside. Food bowls with treats, perches, especially those ropy ones that can bend everywhere. maybe a few toys. just so the difference between in and out is not so much from the birds point of view. So that safe and home stops being inside the cage and now become the whole cage.