help??

[steffynikole]

well its so hard for me to get him out of his cage. i cant just grab him. i dont want to scare the crap out of him. i usually just have to leave his cage open for a while and hope he comes out on his own. hes actually sitting behind my computer screen right now haha i got him out for once. i dont know what to do or how to get him to let me pick him up out of the cage easier

[mistywaterwoman]

The best way is to make it so that he can get in and out on his own. Either put the cage down at floor level for playtime, or if that isn't possible, you could build him a way to get up to the cage by using stacking bins or a chair and a stepstool, or something like that.
If all else fails, you can use the little plastic dust houses as a chin trap, lol!
Put his dust house in the cage and when he hops in, cover the hole with your hand and pick up the whole house and bring him to wherever you have playtime.

[gretling]

If you're carrying him from his cage to another area to play, the dustbath is a great way is your chin isn't fond of being handled (Bruce doesn't mind being trapped in a dustbath but anymore than a few seconds with me holding him and he's giving me the stinkeye). If your chin is like Bruce and just loves boxes, you might be able to just have him go into a box and stay in there til u get him to the play area. The only problem I had with that was that Bruce loved going into the box but not so much coming out of it. I let Bruce come in and out of the cage himself for playtime now--while I'm deciding whether or not I want to spend money to buy steps or something for him, I just make "steps" with different size boxes (mind you, the boy used them for two days, then decided he'd rather just jump right in and out of the cage anyway).

Another perk of letting them go in and out of their cage freely for playtime is the potty issue (at least, if your chin is good). When Bruce couldn't go in and out of his cage freely, he couldn't get to his cage if he needed to pee--now, he runs right in to his litter box.

Also, still catching up on threads I've missed so I'm not sure how long you've had your chin, but if he's new he probably just needs time to settle and get used to things so I would take things slowly then.

[bethany]

Well I wrote it once and lost it.

What I do takes time, but I have done it with all mine and they climb on me to get out. It comes in handy if you have a stacked cage like a FN. Georgia in my avatar I'm standing on a chair to get her out.

If you have a new chin not used to playtime with you don't want to get them out this way while you are working on this. It usually scares them and the best way to get them out for playtime is with a dust bath. Once they enjoy playtime you can use this method.

This is a process over days not just at one sitting. I let them play on my arms inside the cage. Then I start to give them a treat to sit on my hand. Then each day I work my hand closer and closer to the door and give them a treat to sit there. Once they get on your hands outside the cage give them a treat for a couple days, and then you should be able to get them to jump in your hand to come out.

[vafurries]

Everybody has already given you some great ideas. Getting them to ride around in their dust bath is how I did it at the very beginning. Then I joined a couple parrot ladders and backed them with cardboard for him to use. Now I have a Ferret Nation cage with a set of wooden steps.

In the event that you just have to catch your baby, try to hold him at the base of his tail, real close to his body. Be careful squeezing around his mid-section 'cause he has a floating rib cage that's kinda fragile.

[saras]

I know that I felt really bad about "grabbing" my babies by the tail at first, but sometimes that is just the safest way to handle them. It doesn't hurt them and it really seems to calm mine down after the first initial freak out that I had caught them.

When my chins had playtime outside of the area that their cages were in... I would always hold a small cat carrier up to the doorway... curiosity always kills the cat so they would always hop in... and I always rewarded them with a treat. Just let Taco hop in and out of the carrier from his cage a couple of times each day and reward him each time. He will eventually get the hang of it and he will probably even learn the sound of the door latch on the carrier and he'll get excited when he hears it. Good luck!

[Carol~Anne]

I've only ever let my chins out to play in the same area where their cages are and have just left the cage door open and let them come in and out when they wanted. When it was time to put them back I started off making a kind of a blockade with cardboard or anything else I could find and then just shooing them in that way and giving them a little treat. Not long after doing that for a while, all I had to do was shake the oats and rose hips treat container and they'd just fly back into their cages on their own to wait for their treat.

[mistywaterwoman]

Shaking the oats container works every time for getting them back. Heck all I have to do now is walk towards the drawer where I keep it and they know!

[Inked Up Tara]

Jul 28, 2009 12:19:49 GMT -5 mistywaterwoman said:

Shaking the oats container works every time for getting them back. Heck all I have to do now is walk towards the drawer where I keep it and they know!

Fuzzy is the same way when he isnt being a brat!

[steffynikole]

thanks everyone. i really appreciate it so much. i love everyones responses. i will definitely let you all know how it goes