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Gigi is very, very attached and protective of his cage. I can't put my hand inside it without him freaking out. The same goes for when he's on the outside of his cage. If I approach him he goes running in the other direction, unless I have something sweet in my hand.(A bird after my own heart!)
Is this a cage issue or a trust issue? My hubby and I are wondering if the issue would go away if we bought him a new house. Or is it just a matter of getting him to trust us with time? His cage is really nice and I would hate to get a new cage and run into the same issue.
Everythign I've been reading says that once he's confortable enough to come out of his cage, I should be able to get him to do step ups. But like I said, he runs from me, even on the top of his cage.

Could be a little of both. If I remember correctly you said he is 7 years old with a bad past and was a breeder at one time. This behavior is probably due to his past and is going to take some time to fix. A secondhand bird that has trust issues is not an easy task to correct. Buying a new cage will not solve this problem so don't waste your money.
It could take months to gain his trust. Don't give up



Donna

I actually had a break through with him and his cage! He let me put my hand in and he took little bites from a piece of clementine I was holding. I think from now on the only time I'll give him that favorite treat is when I put my hand in his cage.

Good for you!!

Although you are making progress some birds go through what is called a honeymoon period in which when they first come to your home and new surroundings they can be very friendly and do what you want them to do. There is no time limit on this period but when they become more comfortable and the honeymoon is over their true colors and more bad behaviors start showing up. Just so you know.

Donna

Yeah we've had the honeymoon period already. When we first got him it took us two days to get him to do step ups, let us pet him, he was all nice...then he got comfortable with me around the same time my hubby headed out West for work and now when I try to get him to do step ups he screeches and jumps onto anything else but my hand. It was because of the honeymoon being over that I joined this forum!
I think I basically know what I'm doing, Im just not always confident in myself and need someone with more experience going "Yes Colleen, that's it!"

Max was very tame bird but only towards me. At night when he was put in his cage you did NOT put your hand anywhere near - and certainly not inside!!

As for cage attachment, at night Ziggy will only stay with me if I sit up on the arm of the couch. Otherwise he runs back & forth along the couch all hyper and I eventually reach out and put him on the bottom bar (outside the cage) and he climbs back up on top which is way up high.

He doesn't like staying there tho and leans towards me trying to get me to come & get him. But as soon as I sit down the same thing happens all over again.

And in case someone thinks it's the height thing, when I am on the arm of the couch I am still lower than the top of the cage, and if I have moved the cage out of sight, he still behaves the same way.

AND when it comes to bed time, suddenly he won't have a bar of his cage !!!