Cage territorialism solutions...

December 26, 2007
Ok, I'm gonna try something new in regards to her cage territorialism.
Her cage is her home. I don't want people sticking their hands in my home, so her cage is off limits to my hands now. Also, I don't let herout to play on the top. She has toys and necessities INSIDE there now and I've noticed her not fighting the hand perch now as much when I stick it in. In other words, I'm respecting her nest as I expect my flock to expect mine. I have changed a few other things in regards to this situation. A very good routine has occured. When she hears me comeinto the garage from work she starts screaming. I sit my work stuff down, kiss the family hi, go to her cage, put the hand perch in, step her up onto it, then take her outa the cage. From there, standing beside the cage, she steps onto my arm and I put the perch back down. I've reconciled to not sticking my hand back in her "nest" and that's ok.
I then take her to the bedroom, sit her on the bed, change clothes, and talk a little to her, play with some toys; she loves a Kleenex battle. Then she steps backonto my arm and we go into the living room and she sits on her treeand and plays. Then sometime I go into the office and I have a small perch on top of my rolltop desk and she sits up there and plays with a basket of seashells my kids picked up on the beach. She loves beaking around in em. Then steps back onto my hand and back to her tree later where she sits with us in the living room and watches a movie, tv, gets some treats and plays with her foraging things I bought for her tree. Then, about 8:15 or so, she starts screaming to be put to bed. I get a grape, she steps up off her tree onto my hand and go to her cage, she don't try to fly off, but lets me put her in on my hand and shesteps down on the perch and gets the grape.I may never get her from being cage aggressive and to be honest, I'm not trying anymore. That's her space. As long as she is notaggressive outside the cage, I'm good. I've noticed that since I quit trying to get her to stepup on my hand ON/IN the cage where she bit really badly, she is not as nippy OUTSIDE the cage, on her tree or other places. By sticking my hand on her nest, I was inadvertantly conditioning her to bite. I've quit lettting her play on her cagetop. She can play on her tree or anywhere else that is safe.