How Long Should Your Bird Be Out Of Their Cage? | TheParrotTeacher

[@ApexPrimals]

For me, I have a set limit to how much time they get outside as part of their daily routine. I used to let them out however long I could and they got very vocal whenever they get back in their cages. But now with a routine, they know when it’s time to go home and rest for the day and they no longer scream excessively.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It is interesting how useful a routine can be for parrots (or any animal!) I used to buy into the "no routine is good" until I began testing the theory more and more. A routine is awesome, provided it's not too strict and includes flexibility.

[@bookkeepingsmes2089]

Very interesting thank you! In my new flat I won't be able to let him out all the time so I'll have to set a schedule, plus I'll be doing some work at home and a bird is incredibly distracting while working lol! How long are your routines out of interest? Plus I'll be taking him too and will need sufficient time in the beginning (male love bird)

[@TheParrotTeacher]

@@sunnys_day You know, it's something we've found too. We try not to keep routines too strict as it tends to cause neophobia BUT Contrary to popular advise online routine seems to help settle anxious birds massively. It's like any creature. They like to know when things are coming and want stability!

[@jorilu822]

Coco really enjoyed this video lol He started singing to Pickles! My husband and I have been following both your channels for a couple of months now and we can't thank you enough for all the information you provide, we have really become better bird parents thanks to you and Sophie!! Thanks so much!!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

That's really kind of you to say, thank you! Also glad Coco had some fun watching it too lol

[@nexusfairy3038]

What's the other channel?

[@jorilu822]

@@nexusfairy3038 www.youtube.com/@BirdNerdSophie

[@TheParrotTeacher]

@@nexusfairy3038 I think they mean BirdNerdSophie it's my partners channel!

[@tmaffeo]

That was fabulous it makes so much sense to have a balance .Jack and Jill has been doing very well . We purchased a table top perch and swing contraption . it sits on my alcove between my living room and kitchen . so now if I’m in the living room and they come onto the perch ,they can see my husband and I and it’s gets them to come closer to us . Ty for all you do 🌻🌻🌻

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Glad to hear! Sounds like a good and fun location for them!

[@NickanM]

I'm lucky enough to work from home so my 2 parrots are free in the house for 7 - 11 hours per day. They hang in their favorite window (full with toys) most of the days, watching and screaming at the birds outside....

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Always fun to have a scream at the outside world!

[@NickanM]

@@TheParrotTeacher My hubby says that they are mocking the poor, homeless birds....

[@TheParrotTeacher]

@@NickanM haha! It could be! Although those birds kinda have homes depending on their territories!

[@zuzushy]

Thank you for posting this. I cannot stand most of the people in Facebook groups, especially conure ones that shame and attack people for having their birds out 2-3 hrs a day on workdays. What on EARTH do they expect us to do?! I don't let my birds free roam while I am at work, that's so dangerous!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It is a problem on FB especially. I used to be in some of the groups and I just got tired of it. Even good advice gets shouted down by people desperate to be right. I really dislike the "I'm better than you" attitude from some people who are supposed to be there to help/advise others. The issue with some of those people is they do just that or don't realise what problems it can cause. I'm all for having birds out as much as possible, but responsibly.

[@angsfeatheredfriends]

I am disabled so I spend almost all of the day with my birds. The cockatiels are out when I wake up. Buddy is my alarm clock lol. Around noon I let the budgies out. So the cockatiels have some time to themselves before I unleash the chaos. I have 3 foraging areas outside their cages for them to explore. They also visit their travel carrier, that I have treats inside of. Several times during the day individuals will visit my computer monitors for attention and millet. I use those times to teach new tricks, or reinforce old ones.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Lots for them to get upto when out and about around your place, which is great!

[@PegMet1007]

My little Pete flies away when he realizes I’m putting him in his cage. This was very helpful and I will be trying it. Thank you!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hey Peggy, glad it was useful! I also have a video specifically about getting birds back in the cage on the channel!

[@PegMet1007]

Thank you for your helpful video. I have been using the reward to entice him to go in his cage. We have some success so we are on a good path. He can be sweet and then a real challenge. We keep working together. He is still a baby at 5 months old.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

@@PegMet1007 Glad it was useful! Keep at it, it can take time sometimes!

[@RobShuttleworth]

Do you think they like looking out the window? I have lots of trees outside and my conure squalks quite a lot when he's on his window perch. I wonder what he thinks about the wild birds. Apparently, their eyesight is better than ours. Thanks David.

[@jorilu822]

Yes I think some of them really do enjoy it! Our tiel Coco loves to sit in front of a window and sing for all his bird friends outside haha

[@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace]

Some birds really Enjoy it and be really content and enriched and some are TERRIFIED showing territorial behaviors and warning calls. So it is very individual (I observed my bird as content when they’re out on the balcony, usually - it also depends what’s going on out there and how peaceful or not the birds outside are) if your bird is choosing to get there and stay there and are also being content there it might be a sign they like and enjoy the location, if they’re restless/petrified or sending warning calls often, they might actually be fascinated/heightened or fearful.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It can be really enriching and rewarding looking out of the window! We try to encourage all of ours to do so for desense purposes along with the fact they find it interesting. It can be as Guy said an individual thing though, some may be scared of it. But even if they are supervised looking out of the window can be useful to them! It's also worth being aware that if they are scared they may fly into it and making sure you prevent this!

[@lynnspillane8651]

Thank you! You made it perfectly clear, that “out” time is not as important as “out with me” time! Because I feel quilt if I’m busy one day, and can’t let them out for a long period of of time. But it’s the quality of their time, out of cage, that’s important! So the days that I’m busy and the birds can’t be out, as long, I shouldn’t feel bad; as long as I give them MY time. ❤️

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It can be difficult to manage time sometimes so I wouldn't feel guilty. Quality of time is much more important, but we should obviously be giving them as much time out and about as possible too!

[@DavidMiyamoto-pe7rv]

Right. I really appreciate both of your channels. Great info. and nice tone. Thankyouverymuch from l.a california

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Thanks David! Glad our content is useful!

[@prasannapalaniraj8675]

I have a couple of cockatiels(around 6 months old) for past 2 months. They eat healthy, very stable. Will eat out of hand, come out of cage. But, they don't seem to enjoy much of interaction, does not play with toys, does even use the perches and just sit on the top of the cage when they are out. Is it because of winter, or some birds are really slow to adapt.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hey there, When it comes to toys we sometimes need to train our parrots how to interact with them. Children don't always get it until shown and parrots can be much the same. @birdnerdsophie has a video on her channel on the topic. With regards to perches, think about their location and do some training stepping onto and off of them. It may be worth creating a foraging tray or area for them out of the cage. It can take time with cockatiels as every parrot is an individual but it varies.

[@mariannkillen-starr467]

How do I interact with my bird? He has been mostly caged and is obsessed with the hubby. Just curious where to start.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hey Mariann, I have videos on taming/bonding on the channel! Although it may be a little more complex because he prefers your husband and has been caged lots! The best place to start would be giving him his fave treat through the bars when you're around. Working on passive bonding and some target training. You want to start linking you with fun/good things!

[@monicavasquez3746]

Hello,how are you? I just bought my second conure (pineaple) he's 4month old and my first she's 3 year old. My question is... How many month Can I keep them away from each other to avoid fights or any incident between the birds?. And it's ok to put one cage on the first floor and the other in the baseman? Because not enough space in my leaving room... or it's better to put their cages side by side to know each other ?. Thank you for your time and for your great work guys. Monica from Canada.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hey Monica, I actually have videos on bonding two birds and then potentially caging them together (much later when they potentially get on) Both would be worth watching. Here's a link to the bonding one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnOppIh9mNWjoZo You will want to keep them separate for a quarantine period anyway in case the new one is unwell. After that it may be worth letting them get used to each other. I wouldn't recommend having cages right next to each other at the start.

[@nexusfairy3038]

Do you ever have your conures out with your cockatiels? Do they get along with eachother? Also my conure is out 12 hours a day 🥰 he's my best bud. He hangs out on my shoulder, gets lots of cuddles. I've taught him a few words. I want to really start training him now that we have a strong bond. Can you make a video on how to get them to go back in their cage? I literally have to take off my shirt to get my bird off me lol... that's embarrassing to say but it's true. Has no problem coming to me but I can't make him get off again

[@TheParrotTeacher]

People often ask that! So Olive is quite happy being out with and playing with the cockatiels. We can also have Pickles out with them. Louis & Kipling have to have entirely separate outings as they are quite a complex rescue case and haven't been with us that long. Mostly, we have Olive out with the boys sometimes, occasionally Pickles. But we often do outings separately unless trying to do bonding or tolerance work. I've already done a video on that topic! If you search how to get back into the cage on my channel it should pop up! Obviously very bonded to you!

[@nexusfairy3038]

@@TheParrotTeacher Thanks I am going to go find the video! Thank you for taking the time to exlplain as well :) I enjoy your channel alot!

[@kevintheswearingbudgie]

Love the not trying to compete. A lot of that I'm better than you rubbish everywhere. We are all on our own journey in learning and loving our bird friends.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

100% True! It always annoys me in any walk of life when people get like that! There's plenty of competitive activities out there to enjoy, it doesn't need to be in the bird world!

[@RBBeads]

I have 3 cockatiels and but I still have school and so much homework that I sadly can't get my birds outside I try to I have them out now because we have like 2 apartments and they aren't together like one is up and one is down and It's difficult to go down the whole time because my dad has an office and is most of the rime down working and upsairs is my bed and my family but I try to let them out when I can sometimes I can't put them out sadly because of the work I must do

[@TheParrotTeacher]

I see!

[@susanrowatt8214]

What do you recommend for a play stand? I have a GCC.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

There are lots of different ones available its upto you depending on where you are in the world and your budget!

[@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace]

Is it okay to compromise when your resources are limited for outside play time ? (I used to have a Play stand and it broke and I couldn’t find locally any other decent playstans so I gotta learn how to make it myself - it’s a project, I do have 2 T stands and I found that I could feed meals on there, do trick training and sometimes have a toy out for Chako on there, used to have Chako on the for hours but at some point he’d show lots of frustration, I think it might be because there’s not much place for moving around on there. now that I write this down, I see I missed “and have a lot of fun bonding interactions on there”, I might need to consider making sure my bonding interaction is not missing.), I make my bird toys myself out of organically based materials, so Chako has plenty in his cage and he’s utilizing them all the time in there, he’s not missing foraging/play time in his cage, I also make sure to do lots of through the cage interaction (sharing a room together making while making crafts/reading & hanging together and foraging, doing through the cage bonding interactions and trick training, and sharing meal time together) but a goal of mine is creating space for him to have more quality time out. Currently I have him out daily, but I don’t have him out for too long at all (twenty minutes to an hour sessions), but when he’s out I do make sure the quality of time is high and satisfying. Is it okay? What could be few things that I could focus on to make sure that his daily quality time is there? Edit: I am so sorry this comment came out so so long, I need to practice making my comments more precise…

[@bookkeepingsmes2089]

I didn't have a lot of money either and I looked around, especially after a garden was cleaned, for any small pieces of tree with a branch or 2 and then tied rope from one stick to another, I also tied some rope from the curtain rail down to her cage so that she could walk up and down it, and hung some extra pieces of rope with knots in them and they swung from the branches - she loved shaking those around and chewing them! This didn't take much space. Later I made more space and made it bigger but you could go up (as high as the roof for playtime) instead of horizontally.

[@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace]

@@bookkeepingsmes2089 Yo thank you that is brilliant! What a great advice! :) 🦜

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Sounds like a great way of making some good DIY toys. Do be careful about bird flu though depending on where in the world you are. Stripping bark or F10 cleaning/sterilising is a must (assuming you don't already!)

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It sounds like you try hard for Chako, so I wouldn't focus too much on the length of time! If he's out frequently for shorter periods of time that can work too. Sometimes we need to do this for our parrots too if work is really busy. Focusing on giving him a foraging activity, a training session and then maybe some other form of enrichment for each shorter outing could work! Don't worry too much about rushing to build bits either, take your time. Financial resources/time can always be limiting factors. But also don't be afraid to keep things simple or be creative. For example just using the filled straws can give our conures 5-10 mins of fun when they are out! A space to play out and about is something we dream of. Our bird room is our living room basically, we have minimal furniture to accommodate this. We also have the play stand we wheel in and out and set up foraging areas where we can. But more space or even a dedicated bird room would be good! But we all work with what we have!

[@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace]

@@TheParrotTeacherI am usually using organic papers/cardboards and organic disposables (based of palm or nut leaf) I should have said “organic disposables” (sometimes my wording is not the best I am sorry) Hopefully my future dream play stand will be made of natural woods, so I will make sure to be careful and sterilize everything (have you experimented with using GSE for sterilizing woods? Using bleach is scary to me).

[@kirstenflood5404]

Hiya. I wanted to let you knlw that your vids are really helpful. I got my cockatiel 5 days ago, shes flying about her cage and sotting on perches ect. Shes not taken to me yet and hets scared when i give her food or water. When do you think is the right time to let her out? I feel bad keeping her in there, but im scared zhe wont go back in her cage. Any advice would be so helpful right now 😊

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hey there, Glad the videos are useful! I have one on bonding that may be useful too! Regarding when to let her out, I know the feeling of guilt and also desire to interact. But it’s better for her to be in there slightly longer now as she gets used to things and our lots more later and safely! I’d be letting her out when she is at least basically target training and willing to step up onto a handheld perch or your hand. That way she can go back in without you having to try and grab or force her!

[@kirstenflood5404]

@TheParrotTeacher thank you so much for the reply! I've learned so much from your videos, and Sophies, that patience is very important. Her cage is big enough, I just want to be sure I'm doing everything right by her. I've done so much research, but different owners give different advice, but like you say they're all individuls. She swquaks alot! I'm not 100% what it is, I've seen your videos on behaviours and sounds. But I can't seem to work it out. Should I be worried that she's so noisy? Sorry for the questions, it's just all I want to do right by her and all the research in the world is nothing compared to having her 😊

[@TheParrotTeacher]

@@kirstenflood5404 I wouldn’t say being noisy is worrying! It may mean she’s stressed or just wants to express herself!

[@kirstenflood5404]

@@TheParrotTeacher thank you 😊

[@duck-m8o]

Hello! Just a quick question question, if you let your birds out, for example 6:30am - 8:00am, half quality time, and then 5:00pm to 7pm or 8pm good quality time, (and a break cuz I have to eat dinner) is that okay or no?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Just like the video says its variable! Its definitely better than not having much time at all! And if their cage is big and has plenty to do that helps too!

[@kimiaghn6408]

hey I have a 2 month old cockatiel, I got him out of his cage for the first time today and I think he's a little scared. he doesn't move much and doesn't eat. should I continue letting him be out of the cage to get used to the environment, or should I take him back to his cage?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Has he been with you long? If not it may be best to let him get used to things and do some training with him through the bars. I have videos on bonding with cockatiels and basic first training steps on the channel!

[@NagaChancellor]

Hi again, thought I would leave another comment on your channel as you actually read them. I've watched many videos now on how to get your birds to come out of the cage, I've tried keeping the cage door open with millet lying there, I've tried using a mirror to lure them out. Not sure if that's considered bad or not, but I tried it. I don't keep a mirror inside their cage, just to be clear. They seem to have no reaction at all to their own reflection, and won't go near the millet either, I've been trying for a while now. Unless something is already familiar to them, they want nothing to do with it. I know that this is normal and all, but these guys are *really* stubborn. It's like they are completely immune to the concept of exploration. Do you have any possible ideas for me?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Yup I have a video on the topic about such things. Honestly there isn’t much else I can add apart from what’s in my videos I’m afraid!

[@paulbell7903]

So after taking a new bird him for example a cockatiel when is it ok to let out the cage

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Once they have had time to settle in and are ok with hands! The last thing you want to do is have to catch them up or grab them!

[@Thalocaltruth]

My budgies know when I’m about to let them out. They will fly and mostly hang out on certain parts of the house. When they get bored they return to their cage. Real smart animals

[@TheParrotTeacher]

They sure are! They don’t get enough credit for how clever they are!

[@GianSabary]

Can yall help me here? I have a pet connure just 3 months old and i want to let him out but the thing is i dont let the bird out because the bird got hurt by my fan and im very scared to let the bird out when the fans are on. please tell me what to do i really want to let him out most of the time

[@TheParrotTeacher]

This is going to sound mean, but it isn’t meant to! Just don’t have the fans on?

[@GianSabary]

@@TheParrotTeacher well wont the bird feel heat?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It will but it’s better than getting hurt!

[@amigodeasas]

Lk 👍 Beautiful 🍀

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@NirankusMitrah]

What if i don't want to have a cage at all and roam it around the house like me i am planning to have parrot but i don't want to keep it in a cage 🦜 i just want it feel as it owns my place i without any restrictions i just don't want it to run away i would like to take it out with me as well so he doesn't gets bored in the house sitting on me 😊😊😊 i don't want to own the cage because i want it to be happy and pleased or is the cage important like a private home for it i don't want it to feel restricted i want parrot to do as it pleases

[@TheParrotTeacher]

So while your sentiments are good and it is possible it can be challenging to manage! I would suggest at least having a “bird room” and a place for them to go to to roost. I know people who have free roaming parrots with some success but even they have some restrictions to prevent the bird from accidentally flying out or getting hurt. We see the cage as a bedroom, somewhere safe and comfortable to go to with plenty of space when its time to sleep or if there is a safety issue!

[@NirankusMitrah]

@TheParrotTeacher ok i get it but i am keeping the door always open so it can go in and out whenever it feels to use it like a bedroom etc