ㄟ( ･ө･ )ㄏ Letting finches out of their cage

[LunaPlume]

Hi!

I have two zebra finches, male and female, both in the same cage. I have had them for a couple of years now and I really want to let them out to fly around the room for a bit.

I've tried multiple times to let them out, but I don't know how to stop their fear of being outside of the cage. Leaving the cage door open has no effect.

Please could anyone tell me how to train them to come out naturally! Just so they can stretch their wings for a little while a day.

Thank you!
ㄟ( ･ө･ )ㄏ
Regards
LunePlume

[Sally]

I think if you leave the cage door open all day, they will eventually come out. Once one leaves the cage, the other usually will follow. I wish some of my birds didn't want to come out of the cage, they are little escape artists!

A belated welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.

[debbie276]

Welcome to the forum.
Have you thought about how to get them back once they are brave enough to go out? Do you have a net just in case you'll need to catch them?

[Sheather]

You won't need a net. I let all of my birds free-fly and this has included several dozen finches at once. They generally return to their cages on their own and have a very good homing habit once used to free-flying - they will come back to sleep and to rest at night.

Birds that have never been out of cages can take ages to leave them on their own. They just don't have any concept of a world outside the cage! You can gently encourage them to take the first step past the threshold by tapping on the back of the cage to encourage them to got through the door. It can take a few days for them to figure out where the cage door is after that, and they will spend some time trying to climb in everywhere but the opening initially when they want back in, but before long they will understand the routine and come and go easily from the cage. Your only issue then, as Sally said, is once they know there is a big world outside the cage they will try and get out any chance they get.

[LunaPlume]

Thanks everyone for your advice!
They're really helpful

I'll try as frequently as I can when I'm in the room to keep their cage door open.
Hopefully they'll get the confidence to leave ⊹⋛⋋( ՞ਊ ՞)⋌⋚⊹

Thanks again
(•ө•)♡
Regards
LunaPlume

[lnlovesorange]

LunaPlume The other thing you can try is millet, like a millet spray on top of the cage, or (where they've never been out) Like set up a table in front of the the opening of the cage (or a perch) and put millet on it, also the perch, or the table being right in front of the cage opening will help them get back in too.. Sheather is right, they STRUGGLE to get back in the first few times... You heart actually goes out to them you wanna help so bad! (but of course they don't let you) But just keep trying, and little encouragement, like they said (but don't ALWAYS do millet, just the first couple times) cuz that's one of the biggest things that gets them back in, they need to eat and drink!!! LOL Good luck and keep us posted. It's really great that you can do the free fly time.. it's really good for them, also make sure your room is Bird fall friendly... Uusally if they've never been out, their fly muscles aren't very good (they have only have flown 30 inches at once... and not very high up and down... So they go to fly somewhere and slowly start to drop, and when they are weak like this they can drop anywhere (behind a bureau, on/behind a tv, under a bed, on a bed... window sill (speaking of be sure to shut the windows!) and shut any ceiling fans off.