Update on skittles..ok so i have been trying to get skittles out of the cage for months..left the door open several days would not come out..

I decided to make the choice to get him on against his will. lol I went and got me some work gloves (which work very well) and got him out..2 times..I held him for awhile and kissed the top of his head several times.. when i let him down he flew and i think 2 of his wings came out on one side(hope they will grow back)..
Gave him a treat each time and Praised him...

Put him back in the cage and waited about 3 hours..ok he is back to biting when i try to get him out..My thought would be wait and do i tomorrow..? I feel that i have made some progress though.

I just don't want him to get hurt or break any wings..He has been clipped up that was a few months ago but he didn't fly high anyway...any suggestions as to where i go from here?

I want to be able to take him out and have fun with him..they say its a him..lol


any help will be great...thanks oh this is skittles my sun conure..

I wouldn't get him out against his will. That's only going to break his trust with you. Let him do everything on his own terms for now, even if it does take long. Being patient and understanding is the key. You're going to make him fear hands a lot more, and fear you as the only real interaction he has had is being grabbed and kissed. He probably thought you were trying to eat him (no offence)! Why don't you try putting food bowls on the outside of his cage to encourage him to come out and have a look? Add some perches to the outside too, a ladder, anything that he can climb on to. Having a wide open door can be daunting if you don't know what's out there for you!

ok i can try that...The reason i got him out like that was ( a trainer of birds told me to do it)..lol never that it would make things worse.he seems to be alittle better since i took him out but i can try the other way again..He just didn't seem to want to come out.. thanks for the info

Just try lots of things that would make him want to come out. Honestly, just sitting away from the cage and having some food for yourself can tempt a bird to have a look I don't know why a bird trainer would tell you to grab a bird, I'd look for a different one if I were you! It's the same as any animal. I think 'tough love' can be very detrimental. Obviously it's acceptable to catch a bird up for health checks and things but I don't recommend it any other times

I had my first canaries for over a year and they would not leave the cage when I would leave the door open, even though the "door" is actually the front half of the cage. The way they finally came out was when I got my linnies, I put a smaller cage in front of the big cage while my new bird got acclimated. The canaries couldn't resist flying to the new cage (mostly to check out what was in the new bird's seed cup because they are pigs ��). Another thing that I think helped was that they had a place they felt safe to land on, the top of the small cage is flat and they are used to landing on cage bars. I know sometimes it's easy to lose patience and try to show the bird what it's missing, but it doesn't work in the long run and in fact undoes your progress. Is there a way to make the opening larger. Sometimes it's easier to remove a part of the cage to make it easier for the bird to get out and in. They also need a place to go to that they feel is safe, maybe a perch outside if the cage door.

How do you get them back in once they've come out, without forcing them?

I cheat I first let them out right before feeding time and by the time I finished cleaning and added the new food they were hungry. I would say " cage" and then stand behind them and herd them towards the cage the way you would a flock of sheep . I would also put their favorite treats (millet, leafy greens) where they could see them. In fact they got so good at going into their cage that if I want to catch them I have to CLOSE them OUT of their cage because they'll fly in there and I try to make that their safe zone so I hardly ever catch them in their cage.