I feel horrible...

[Kai]

I rearranged my cage the other day to try to encourage my tiel to explore a bit. She seemed to settle in fine yesterday... but today when I got home (and I got home late... 9pm) she was on the floor of the cage. I think she spent the entire day there! None of her food was eaten at all! Once she saw me she desprerately tried to reach me. I picked her up and put her immediately on her food dish, where she has been chowing down ever since. It's like, once she was on the floor, she couldn't figure out how to get back to her food...

I'm going to post some pics of my cage setup and I would love to hear how I should go about improving the cage so she is encouraged to explore but can still get to her food. I'm also looking for a vet to take her to, just to make sure she is completely healthy. Her inability to move around the cage is really starting to worry me.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc85/Kesprix/birds/Tiel/P1010272.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc85/Kesprix/birds/Tiel/P1010271.jpg

[atvchick95]

actually your cage set up looks fine, I change mine around on my birds all the time and it never seems to bother them

but I do have a perch in front of thier dishes i'm not sure if it makes a difference though

specially with mine because they'll still stand on the food dishes the majority of the time even know the perch is right there but they use the perch to get up on the dishes

[Kai]

Ok.. I have a longer rope perch that I can stretch across the front of the food dishes. what worries me is that she has SUCH a hard time scooting along any perch. If she can't grab on to something with her beak she barely moves... I don't know how to help her with that. :(

[Bea]

It looks fine to me too, i think she just needs to learn how to use that ladder. Maybe you can put her halfway up the ladder so she only has to climb a couple of steps at first.

[atvchick95]

is she still young??

you may have to put the dishes closer to the ground until she gets better accustomed to gripping

that's what I did with my lovebird when she was a baby but was ready for a cage, I just put all her dishes clear at the bottom of the cage until I saw her perching really well then I'd move them up a little each couple of weeks until they got to a decent hieght and she had no trouble getting to any thing.

[Kai]

That's where I put her this morning when I needed to clean out her food dishes and put in fresh seed and water... I'm going to be home all day tomorrow so I can watch her. We will have to see what happens.

She will be 5 months on the 20th of March. Is that still considered very young?

[Aly]

She's still pretty young but not super young. Also, you never know what she's been taught and exposed too before she came to you. I would say it's alot to worry about really, like you said just keep a close eye on her. At times I'd try moving her to different perches, like Bea said, half way up the ladder so she can get the idea that it's ok. Tiels do have this thing where the feel they must test things out with their beak before stepping on to it and they also use their beak to aid most of their climbing. As she gets older she'll learn which areas to do that with and which ones don't need the beak but for now I just think she's a little unsure of her enviroment. How does she do outside the cage now? Does she still just stay in one spot?

[Sophia]

Her cage looks fine, she can get to the food fine, she will just have to get use to the cage set up! :)

[Kai]

Aly, I want to first thank you for making that sooo clear! I have noticed that she uses her beak for EVERYTHING! If I take her out and put her on the table, she has to reach out with her beak simply to step forward on the flat table. On perches she has to hold on to something just to skoot sideways and even then she keeps putting one foot on the other.

I did rearrange the cage again this morning. I put the bowls on the lowest part possible and then put a perch slightly below that. She "should" be able to get back up to her food dish if she falls off now. I'll keep an eye on her.

[xxxSpikexxx]

When I brought Spike home I was told to put food and water on the bottom of the cage until I saw him using the dishes I wanted him to use. Just keep an eye on her and if your still worried a vet visit would not hurt ;)

[Phill]

I think the food dishes on the bottom of the cage is a good idea. And maybe you could try and teach her to walk across the perches? Say place her on one side of the boing perch, and tempt her with some millet in your other hand, and try to get her to walk over.

[Plukie]

Just a thought, when you go out, do you leave a radio on? They like to have a bit of noise.

[Kai]

I do leave the radio on. Since I've moved the food dishes back down and place a perch slightly below them she has had no problems getting back up if she falls down. I guess she just needs to figure it out... I'm going to keep a close eye on her. Other than the clumsy/lack of movement, she seems completely healthy.