Initially Getting Bird Into Cage

So you just bought your first bird at the pet store, breeder, or adoption center. You get home and you wonder how the heck do I get it from the box/carrier. Or you let you already had your bird in the cage and you let it out but don’t know how to get it back in. For people with training relationships with their birds we always recommend targeting them out of the cage or into the cage. These methods work great with a bird that has done it a few times. But if your bird isn’t yet target trained and you got it out using methods from my previous post, this one is to tell you how to get it back in.

If you are trying to get your new bird from a carrier/box into its new cage, obviously you cannot expect it to know what it is or go there on its own. If it’s a new bird, odds are it is not yet target trained and this is not the time to try to train it to target to get it into the cage. Luring it into the cage with food will not work either. Frightened birds are unlikely to eat for a while so your food will do little to help it overcome its fears of the new environment. Have the cage set up, open, and ready to go for the bird before getting it out.

If the bird is step up trained, this shouldn’t be so difficult. Reach your hand toward the birds legs and nudge gently under its belly until it steps up. If the bird is aggressive, you can use a stick for the bird to step on in the same fashion. When you get the bird out of the carrier bring it in close to your body so that it has fewer escape options and if you can even cup your second hand around it so it doesn’t try to fly off of you or fall. Come up to the cage and reach the bird inside and bring it in toward a perch and let the perch be just above its legs so it can step up.

On the other hand if the bird is not step up trained you are going to have to grab it in order to transfer it to the cage. Particularly with smaller birds, a good way to do it is to use both hands to cup the bird between to prevent escape and then scoop and grab into one hand. If your bird is bitey, you can hold your thumb just under its beak to pin its head back so it cannot bite you while you carry it. Bring it into the cage and turn it so its feet can grasp the perch you place it on as you release.

Finally if you just let your bird out or it got out of its carrier before you could get it in the cage, you will have to combine calm caution with action. If the bird is clipped, most likely it ends up on the floor. Chasing it will only panic the bird and cause it to try to fly more and exhaust it. Instead, you should slowly creep up to the bird without scaring it and slowly get as close as you can to it and then make a swift and decisive grab. Lingering the last part will let the bird get away which will only cause more drama and more fright/exhaustion for the bird so your ability to sneak up and get it will help alleviate the situation.

You can also try toweling the bird. Get in the vicinity of the bird with a towel in hand and drop it like a net over your bird to stop it from getting further away and hurting itself. Then scoop the towel with the bird in it and bring it to its cage. You see all the target training, positive reinforcement stuff you can start later but first you have to get the bird back in the cage and let it calm down and get used to you and your house. I hope that once you have gotten your bird into or out of the cage for the first time you will use the opportunity to begin training through positive reinforcement so that you wouldn’t have to use these methods again!