Letting birds out of their cages?

[emb12385]

Does anyone ever let their birds out of their cages to get a bit more exercise and really stretch their wings? I was thinking about just opening the door to see if my little zebras are brave enough to venture out into the room

[debbie276]

I know that some do but personally I wouldn't. There are so many things that they can run into like windows and fans etc. Also things to get stuck behind like cabinets and shelves etc. If you do let them out please stay with them and try to make the room as bird safe as you can.
good luck

[lovemyfinch]

The only time that any of my finches get out of their enclosures is by accident. I would hate for one of them to miss a window ledge and hit the glass

[Birdy]

I've kept parrots most of my life, and have never been one for wing clipping (I can do it, I just don't like to.) My parrots are recall trained, but even then the rooms I let them out in are bird safe. Windows have curtains which stay closed when birds are out, no mirrors, and the cats and dog are contained when anyone who doesn't stay on my shoulder comes out. My Quaker will beat up the cats given the chance (they are terrified of her) but obviously finches can't.

My landlord thought we were a bit absurd for asking if we could take out the old ceiling fans!

So, as I have bird safe spaces already, I can and do let finches out. They love to roost on top of the TV in the living room because it is nice and warm. Steaming in the bathroom (tub area is a separate room from the vanity, but when I lived somewhere that had the mirror right in the same room, I would put a towel over it) is a good activity while I scrub cages.

[moonrise]

I don't ... at least not on purpose. Although my finch room is fairly safe (I'd just need to cover the window), I have 4 cats who would LOVE it if a finch happened to land near the bottom of the door. I keep it closed, but one well-aimed paw swipe under the door, and that finch could be history.

We do let our two cockatiels out for at least a couple of hours every day. They're in my home office, behind closed doors. All windows and mirrors are covered, and the adjoining bathroom door is closed when they're out. I don't like the idea of clipping a bird's wings. The cockatiels are trained to "step up" onto our fingers when it's time to put them back in the cage. One of them likes to play a short game of "step up and quickly fly away" first, though.