cages, maybe not so bad after all

[steptoe91(tozie)]

i've always felt bad about locking the birds up. i really just feel...  i dont know, i guess cruel. when i first got skittles, he was in ollie's cage. too small for such a large bird with such a long tail. but i couldnt afford to buy a new cage at the time. so i left skittles out from morning til night. but today i gave everyone a bath. and as i sat here on the sofa settling down before i have to get ready for work, skittles kept trying to climb to the floor and walk over to me. well, he's wet and there's some poo on the floor where he's been hanging out this morn.  he's clean. the last thing i want is for him to drag his tail through poo. so i put him up and tell him no, stay on his cage. as soon as i turn my back, he starts scaling the cage again. well we did this 4 times. the 3rd time i told him. if you dont stay on your cage you are gonna have to be locked in your room. so now he's locked in his room. then, i sat here watching him. that is a really big cage for him. he has lots of room. food. water. nuts. and several favorite toys, including his waterbottle punching bag. and he really doesnt look all that tortured. then i really looked at the other cages. they are pretty big for the birds that are in them. i mean, marley's cage is almost as big as ollie's! i guess my point is, i've always felt bad for locking them up, when i leave the house, when i take a shower, when i'm cleaning in another room. you know, all those times you just cant watch them. maybe not so much twiggy, she makes it clear she loves her cage. but the rest. but i kinda had this revelation. its not as bad for them as i think. once its clear that i'm busy or leaving and they arent "missing out on something fun" they just occupy themselves happily. 

on a side note, twiggy declined her bath today. i had the mister out. i misted ollie. i misted marley, some. going back and forth. i had asked skittles if he wanted a bath. he was excitedly waiting his turn. (he's scared of the mister. thanks to his old owner who punished him with a squirt bottle.  :pipen: ) so i turn to twiggy and say "are you ready for your bath?" she yells at me in that quaker way and slams her front door closed and runs into her "nest"!!    i took that to mean, "no thank you mom. i feel i'm clean enough" 

[BuffaloParrot]

As long as they have a large cage, clean food, water, and toys it is not all that bad when they need to be in.  Heck, we spend most of our time in our houses, and or work.  Those are cages, right?

[steptoe91(tozie)]

As long as they have a large cage, clean food, water, and toys it is not all that bad when they need to be in.  Heck, we spend most of our time in our houses, and or work.  Those are cages, right?

that's actually pretty true. never thought about it like that. they have tv, too. if i thought they could change the channel and wouldn't eat the remote i'd give it to skittles! lol!  i used to leave nick jr on for them. but the last couple months, i've left music on. maybe i should switch it up a little more. go back and forth. play different music. whatcha think?

[BPMar]

We will have cartoons and music on for them, just depends on what...occasionally nothing and they can listen to themselves :twirl:  D first had some opera stuff then country.  I changed it to a ...pop station where they get a mix of music.  They like the fast bopping beats.  Do you have the music stations on your tv??  Try flipping through the stations one day and see what their preference is.  Ours seem to like heavy metal, and salsa.  It is funny whether on tv or radio..or outside and they hear another bird and all go crazy.  Occasionally I will watch tv downstairs when they first go to bed and there is a commercial that has the Andy Griffith song in it....I cringe and find the remote hoping Squigg won't start his rendition of it!  :twirl:

[steptoe91(tozie)]

yeah, i have music stations. as a matter of fact, that's the music i leave on for them. i usually leave classic rock on for them. that's mostly what i play when i'm home.  but i have a bit of everything in my playlist. thanks for the thoughts.

tweety, my  tiel, loved (or hated) this commercial that came on. it was a public service message encouraging car seats for children under 4'9" and had cinderalla on it. even if tweety was in bed he would start squwaking when he heard it.   

[Ditty]

I don't think they are bad if they are big enough and have toys etc to occupy them.  It is kind of like a kid playing in their room.  Of course as long as they have time out with their human I think it is better.  All 3 of mine have their doors open and will go inside and sit or play during the day.  If they viewed it as a bad place they wouldn't.

Twiggy   he told YOU!

[steptoe91(tozie)]

yeah, ditty. mine are the same way. they go in and out at will most of the time. they play inside even when the doors are open. and twiggy,  she cracks me up. she's recently gotten very good at shutting her front door. so if she's in an antisocial mood, i open the door and she slams it shut.  silly little bird. even ollie is used to the going in and out thing. tho he doesnt move around nearly as much as the other three.