Running from me all of a sudden, what should I do?

[jenniferag]

So, I just recently clipped my conure because of many reasons but one because we cover them when they scream to teach them not to... but she knows when we want to put her back so she would fly away from us....

We clipped her and I thought it would help that but now she will back away from me when it's time for bed and it takes me forever to get her... she never used to do this!!!

What's the best thing to do for that? Should I just "ignore" her trying to play "keep away" with the birdy and continue trying to get her back in?

Should I lure her with treats? She loves the top of her cage but when she backs away against the wall her cage is so big I can't reach her.... anyone else have this problem?

[NotEnoughTime]

Originally Posted by jenniferag

We clipped her and I thought it would help that but now she will back away from me when it's time for bed and it takes me forever to get her... she never used to do this!!!

Avoidance behaviours, once trained, can be hard to overcome. By being unsuccessful in getting her ("it takes forever") she has learned that she can delay cage-time by avoiding you.

This is an aspect of "punishment" (time outs and the like). By putting her in the cage, she has found that avoiding you is more rewarding. I do not recommend this type of training for parrots - they learn avoidance behaviours too easily since they have some natural paranoia.

As for screaming - follow the rational parrot advice: http://www.rationalparrot.com/screaming.html

Personally I don't believe it is any harder or easier to train a clipped bird. I disagree with forcing a bird to do anything - rather the bird should be encouraged to do things. Encouragement often takes the form of treats.

Outside of the "bedtime" issue I would work on encouraging your bird to come to your hand. She probably associates the hand with "bad things" like going to the cage... So I would recommend attracting her to your hand throughout the day for "scritches" and for treats.

Good luck!

[chapala]

Yes, definitely treat her and try to do it many times when you're not putting her back in the cage. She'll learn that good things happen when she comes to you, not always lock-down time!

[jenniferag]

okay... She's usally with me all the time until it's time to put her back so she can eat or whatever...... she has no problem coming to me then, it's just when we get up and start doing our night routines that she won't come to me.

throughout the evening I'll put her back and go get her, giving her treats like you said.

I'm thinking maybe when we are ready for bed I'll put her away first so she doesn't know.....

[NotEnoughTime]

Originally Posted by jenniferag

I'm thinking maybe when we are ready for bed I'll put her away first so she doesn't know.....

She can certainly recognize the cues for bedtime... And if she doesn't want to go she will attempt to avoid going... So that will work for a while - until she learns what other cues constitute bedtime. Try rewarding her for going in the cage with a treat - that may help as well - so that going to the cage is not a negative experience.

[Abby]

What Not Enough Time said.

I've had similar issues with my grey going back to his cage. Ended up as chase the birdy, he'd eventually crash and of course that would be all my fault.

I now reserve almonds for a treat. I show him the almond, put it in his food dish and within 5 minutes he's back in his cage. The almond is more desirable then the extra out of cage time.

[jenseits]

I wrote up what works for me a couple months ago, in response to a similar question about getting a bird to go inside their cage:
How to Get a Parrot to Go Back Inside His Cage Best in Flock – Parrot Blog

This might not work 100% for you since you say it's specifically a "bedtime" issue. As NotEnoughTime said in the first response, this avoidance behavior is learned. Right now it seems like the keep-away game is being reinforced, and the more you do it... the more you're going to be doing it.

I agree with the idea of working on more positive reinforcement training. It really turns the focus on positive things the bird can do instead of what they're not supposed to do, which gives them a greater sense of control. In my experience with Stewie, showing him that he had choices made him much more cooperative. I use luring occasionally, but it's an act of desperation and it doesn't really work long term. They figure out that you're trying to "trick" them and the avoidance is more rewarding than what you're offering. Psychologically it's a completely different thingto "earn" a treat as a reward than it is to follow that same treat if it's used to lure.

Other things you might want to try doing is giving her more exercise. Since she's not flighted anymore, she's probably not tiring herself out, which makes going to bed even less appealing.

[jenniferag]

Cool!! I'll try those things... she's much better now, she seems to be heading in there on her own around bedtime over the weekend which was kind of weird... but I'll opent hat link right now and also work on giving treats when she goes back in her cage!

Thanks you guys!!

[hollyhawkz]

Just wondering if you clipped her yourself and if that might have something to do with it?

[jenniferag]

I did yes, I clipped her for the first time myself...

she actually didn't notice what I did at first, she's comfortable with me touching her wings so while she was still (sleepy) I stretched her wings out and just did a small snip at a time ( I didn't want to cut too much right away and have her hurt herself trying to fly)

she's getting better now, she hasn't ran from me in a few days.... I'm wondering too if maybe she was mad?

hmm...