# Fear of leaving cage. Advice, please!



## grobbins78 (Mar 5, 2014)

I have had a cockatiel (Moe) for a little over a year now. I got him when he was just 2 months old. He is just perfect but a little lonely (and very needy- he loves his mama!) so I decided to get him a friend. I got another male (Kirby), around a year old, over the weekend. He came from the same breeder as my other bird. 

Kirby was hand fed but has pretty much been in a cage his entire life. He is a sweet little fella but he doesn't want to come out of his cage. He is always excited to see me come home and paces back and forth at the bottom of his cage wanting out. Once I open the door, though, he becomes scared. He bites and hisses and runs all over the place to avoid coming out but once he's out he just wants to be petted and loved on. He has absolutely no fear of my hands outside of the cage.

I know he is adjusting to his new surroundings but I would like some advice on how to get him to overcome his fear of coming out of the cage. I've been opening his door, placing a perch at the bottom, and waiting for him to hop on it before pulling the perch out. It's working but I am used to Moe hopping right on to my hand when I open his cage door and reach in. By the way, they are in separate cages while the new fella is in quarantine so they have not interacted with each other yet aside from calling back and forth.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Just give it time.  As you said, he's still adjusting. You can try hanging millet or another favorite treat just outside the door to see if he'll come out and nibble on it.


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## tielbob (Mar 25, 2013)

Birds can develop a "cage bound" condition where they're afraid to leave the safety of their cage. Since your bird is fine once outside it just sounds like there's a relatively minor behavioral issue of making the brave move of actually leaving the cage. I would try Sunnysmom's suggestion and see if that helps him get past this fear.

My Percy has had the more severe problem of being very upset coming out of the cage and upset actually being out, too. I am still working with him 2 1/2 years later - he has come a really long way but he is still only comfortable on my shoulder leaning against me for security - I am happy with him being at this level and I don't push him. I can place him on other people, furniture, etc., at last but he still wants to get right back on my shoulder as though I have a magnet there that makes him spring back to me.  I was told by his rescuer that he suffered mistreatment as a young bird and this has caused a lot of problems for him - he was bought as a gift for someone without the recipient's participation in the whole process - they didn't want a bird, so for a time, until he was given up, he was unloved and mistreated. I am trying to make up for this by giving him a happy home


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