# My bird is afraid of rope perches



## Kermieluvr (Aug 25, 2012)

I bought my little rescue bird 2 rope perches from amazon to go in her new cage. I was sick all weekend so I didn't get to put her cage up, but I decided to go ahead and see how she liked the rope perch. Since she is a rescue, I have no clue if she had ever even seen one before. She was up on the ceiling fan where she normally sits when she's out. I used a willow perch to get her down and I had the rope perch in my other hand. I was going to see if I could get her to step on it from the willow perch. She went crazy, flying and squawking all over the room. She went back to the ceiling fan and I tried again with the same results. That's when it occurred to me that maybe she didn't like the rope perch. I've never had a problem getting her down before. I thought since she was also scared of my hands the two combined might be really scary, so I mounted it in an arch on the top of her cage. I thought maybe she would at least get on the cage since that's her other favorite place to sit an at least maybe check it out. Well I took one step near the cage with her and she flew all around the room again. We tried it once more and it was quite clear she was having no part of it. She didn't want anywhere near the cage with it on top of it. So how do I get her to go near it? I'm afraid if I put it anywhere near the cage she'll freak out. I walked past the cage with it in my hand to go tell my daughter what happened and she took off across the cage. Her little heart was beating so fast, I felt so sorry for her. 


On the bright side... she is so afraid of my fingers that she's never let me give her scritches. I think she was so afraid of the rope perch that she just wanted to be near me for protection. I tried to rub the back of her neck to see if it would calm her down and she finally let me touch her. She would not let me touch the side of her neck and she did not put her head down like I see other birds doing, but she at least didn't try to bite me and allowed me to touch her. When she was done, she was done and let me know.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

as for the rope perch, place it near the cage but not in it so she can get used to the sight of it, then progressively move it closer to the cage as she gets more and more used to it


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## LucyPie (Sep 18, 2012)

I only have one-bird experience, but Lucy is pretty much afraid of everything at first. It just takes her some time to get used to things that are different. 

Maybe try coaxing her onto the perch with treats? That way she associates the rope perch with good things


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## Loopy Lou (Jul 26, 2012)

I do like DallyTsuka says and always put new toys near the cage, then i'll hang them on the outside of it for a day or two then move them into the cage.

To a cockatiel i think everything initially looks like a scary birdy eating monster!


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Yes, put the rope perch outside of the cage first and let her get used to it. It took my tiel awhile to get used to his rope perch too. And then when I did finally put it in his cage he ignored it for about 3 weeks. I was about to take it out when all of the sudden I caught him on it. Now he has 2 of them and he uses the one as his sleep perch.


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