# My Tiels and Curtain rods



## abaldwin40 (Aug 25, 2013)

okay so i do understand that tiels love being at the highest perch they can get to. but is it possible to keep them off of a curtain rod? id love for them to wanna come down and play with one another on somewhere where i dont have to risk breaking my neck trying to get them down 

also they are very stubborn about the rods as well. haha. when i attempt to get them to step up they fly away then right back but a foot or so further away so i cant get them. i think it may have turned into a game to them cuz hey seem to enjoy watching me step down off my chair, move it, climb back up and then my facial expression when they fly away -_- lol

any tips?


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

abaldwin40 said:


> okay so i do understand that tiels love being at the highest perch they can get to. but is it possible to keep them off of a curtain rod? id love for them to wanna come down and play with one another on somewhere where i dont have to risk breaking my neck trying to get them down
> 
> also they are very stubborn about the rods as well. haha. when i attempt to get them to step up they fly away then right back but a foot or so further away so i cant get them. i think it may have turned into a game to them cuz hey seem to enjoy watching me step down off my chair, move it, climb back up and then my facial expression when they fly away -_- lol
> 
> any tips?


We had this problem in our old house -- they would go up on the curtain rods and we had huge problems getting them down. Like many pets (even cats!) I think they like to go to the highest place they can if they don't feel entirely secure in the room. Our ceilings are lower now and our birds are clipped, but they still try to go up as high as they can.

Can you try putting them on the floor with some toys? From my experience, tiels are less likely to fly upwards if they're on the floor versus a perch from which they can get some air, and if they have some toys on the floor they might be interested by that.


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## abaldwin40 (Aug 25, 2013)

alrighty. ill try that today while my daughter is in her play room. shes getting to where she can move faster and i dont want either her or the birds hurting one another


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

abaldwin40 said:


> alrighty. ill try that today while my daughter is in her play room. shes getting to where she can move faster and i dont want either her or the birds hurting one another


How old is your daughter? If she's extremely young, like under 3 or 4 years old, she probably should not be in direct contact with the birds anyway. Don't want to sound sanctimonious...we have neighbors with young kids and even though they're over at our apartment regularly we don't let the kids get close to the birds...too much opportunity for biting (on the birds' behalf) or spooking (on the kids' behalf).


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## abaldwin40 (Aug 25, 2013)

right. shes only 14mos so yea ill keep her away from them. and i tried the floor idea. it didnt work well since their wings arent clipped. idk what to do about it... :/

also any ideas on how to make them a lil (or a lot) happier? they seem bored. :/


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

abaldwin40 said:


> right. shes only 14mos so yea ill keep her away from them. and i tried the floor idea. it didnt work well since their wings arent clipped. idk what to do about it... :/
> 
> also any ideas on how to make them a lil (or a lot) happier? they seem bored. :/


A lot of people on the forums don't like wing-clipping and I might get flamed for saying this, but if you're trying to train your birds to not keep flying up to a part of the room where it's potentially dangerous to get them down*, maybe have them clipped once, get them used to playing around on the floor (definitely give them toys) and let their wings grow out again? That may break the habit.

My birds seem constantly bored no matter how many toys I give them and how much I try to play with them... I guess maybe sometimes they just LOOK bored? Haha.

*and I'm guessing you can't "bird-proof" the curtain rods by making it difficult for them to go up there... though i can't really think of a way to do that... i grew up in a city where people would put spikes on their windowsills to keep pigeons from landing on them but i don't think anyone should do that for their pet birds!!!!!


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## abaldwin40 (Aug 25, 2013)

yea definitely. i guess ill just have to wait it out. im going to be getting my birds their new BIG cage soon hopefully. i also will get them more toys and my get them clipped. just to see how they fair with minimal flight abilities


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