Show Cage Training for Novices
By Blake Ma
--> (This article was featured in the Apr/May/June 2006 issue of Agapornis World)
I am not an expert on show cage training, but would like to share what I've learned. In the 1st two years of showing, the night before a show I would pick out my birds and put them into their show cages. Since I didn’t have too many birds there really was little choosing done, and I always tried bringing as many as I could. I did no type of show cage training. As you might be able to imagine, my birds did not stay on the perch and while they were being judged, I tried to pass them telepathic messages that it was now the time to jump up on the perch and show the judges what they were truly made of as well as how closely they fit the standard and of course more than deserved a ribbon. In almost all cases, I'm sure they got my extrasensory message but chose not to listen. It wasn't until an SPBE Parrots show(no ALBS love bird division at this show) that a judge made the comment, "None of these birds are show trained." Of course not a one of them placed either. The reason he said this is because in the love bird subdivision it was only love birds, and all 10 of them happened to be mine, and they were obviously not trained and not standing on their perches and were not holding their own in comparison to the stunningl African Grey Timneh who he had just judged and was perched and ready for Fame. I realized then and there that if I wanted to give my birds the best chance at placing and give them the advantage rather than the disadvantage, then I had to take show training seriously. For some reason before that, I just always thought my birds would know what to do. Perhaps that works for some people, but my birds like to do the opposite of what I tell them. And it is true that your birds are at a disadvantage if they do not know how to perch. That was the lesson I took home from that judge on that day, and it sure did take me long enough to learn it, but I will always be grateful, even though I did go home a little bit sad. Imagine 2 perfect, identical birds, 1 showing itself bold and proud as shown on the ALBS Standard, while the other on the bottom of the cage corner scared to look at the judge with the big chopstick. If you're going to spend the time and money going to show after show, then it will only take a little bit more of an effort to get your birds show cage trained. Part of the fun of showing though of course is meeting new people and seeing friends, but a ribbon here and there is nice as well!
At least one week before a show, take your birds out, and make sure you write down all the band numbers and put them each in their own respective show cages. A bird without a band can be shown as well, it just cannot accrue or earn points. Only 1 bird is allowed per cage. By taking your bird out a least a week ahead of time, you have a couple of different goals in mind.
1) You want the bird to get use to its new environment: aka the show cage.
2) Unless absolutely necessary(or unless your bird is a very, very tame pet), you don't want to have to touch the bird again and have it possibly get its feathers messed up and out of order. At a show last year, I woke up the day of the show, and my American Cinnamon Opaline, the first bird with my own band that ever placed on the top bench(pat myself on the back), had a huge piece of poop stuck on her forehead. How she got it there is a trick that she won’t share with me whether I use my clairvoyant skills or regular speech(not that I would want to mimic her trick). This was one of those cases that fit my “absolutely necessary” condition, so I took her out and removed the poop from her forehead and hoped for the best. I did not consider the poop on the head, “icing on the cake”. The 1 week prior in the show cage will give the bird time to get its feathers all back into place before the show.
3) You want the bird to learn how to perch before the show. Your bird maybe a nice bird, but if your bird is not in a position where the judge can fully see it, then it is at a disadvantage.
Here are 4 different training methods that I've heard used.
1) Fill the bottom of the cage with ping pong balls. The love bird will not like the unevenness of the balls and will opt to then stand on the perch. At least one would hope. If the bird is just weaned and very young, then it may not. The potential problem with this is that you would need a lot of ping pong balls and also instead of putting your seed on the bottom of the show cage, you would need a cup to hang the food, and your bird may thereby end up perching on the food cup. (Another similar method is to take a piece of cardboard, fold it in half so that it stands and forms an angle. When you put this into the bottom of the show cage, the bird will “usually” opt to perch instead of standing on the angle)
2) Another method I've heard of is turning the show cage upside down. The floor of the show cage would then be slanted, and in order not to slide into the bars, the bird would need to perch. This definately also sounds like a method that would work, but again you would not be able to put seed on the bottom of the cage as it would slide out. Also, on some older show cages, when you turn the cage upside down, there is not as much space on the bottom side for the bird to perch without stooping, since the perches were hung too low. The last thing you want to do is train your birds to perch with a stooped posture. The judge would then have no problems seeing the bird but they would probably not like what they see. If you have a show cage with enough space when flipped, then this is a doable option.
3) My favorite training method is covering the bottom half of the outside of the cage with cardboard or paper. Basically in order for the bird to see outside of the cage then it must perch. Most love birds after the initial awe of staring at the bottom of a show cage full of seeds, succumb to curiosity and and want to see what the rest of the world has to offer and what the other love birds are doing. They perch and find that all the other love birds are perching as well!! This method has worked very well for me. What I've found is that some of my birds tend to love to chew the cardboard and paper, so instead I use plastic sheets used to line kitchen cabinets. You can buy a whole roll for a couple of dollars. I then cut these into the shape of the bottom half of the cage and tape up both sides. My birds won't chew these, or if they do they don't chew threw them, and they can then be saved and reused. After using this process for 2-3 shows last year, this year I've noticed that the birds that I trained last year still are up on their perching skills. The only birds that I've had to do cover the bottom half of the show cage this year are my new birds that have never shown before. Love Birds are indeed very intelligent. You just have to give them a little show guidance and not pretend that they can always understand you when telling them what you want them to do.
4) Wean your baby love birds in a show cage. A show cage can be used when the babies aren’t quite flying yet but are more huddled around together and don’t quite need a lot of space to fly around as they like to do towards the end of weaning. This technique is less of a method to get your love bird to perch but more of a way to get your bird accustomed early on to a show cage so that next time when they are older and you put them in a show cage, they are familiar with the environment and will not get too excited and ruffle their feathers up.
While using any of the first 3 methods, it’s good to stick a chopstick into the sides of the cages(not poke or touch the bird at all) to get the bird to jump on the perch, or if they are on the perch to get them to turn around and show their other side. After you’ve gone to a show, you will see what the judges do, and you can try and mimic this at home. I try to put the birds in a location where there are lots of lights and traffic to mimic the day of the show. I have an island in my kitchen that I use for this and every time I walk by, if the birds are not on the perch, then I’ll work at getting them on there. After a while they learn that when I come by, they should jump on the perch. At the end of the day, do what works best and is most convenient for you and your birds. Feel free to make modifications to the above training methods. They are just guidelines and not even really that. There is no rule saying that you have to keep your bird in a show cage for a whole week with ping pong balls. Some people train their birds in show cages for only half a week and some for longer periods of time but give breaks in between by putting them back in their regular cages. This is especially important because the Rare and Eyering lovebirds tend to get more stressed out if put in a show cage for extended periods of time. I have 1 bird, a black-cheeked that has caused me all sorts of headaches, and I’ve used Training Method #3 on him a couple of different times before shows(as I’ve used that for all my birds), and he is just not a natural percher and is not curious at all about what the other love birds are doing. He could care less and prefers his little corner, usually the left one. I’ve finally got him to the point where if I come by and stick a chopstick in the show cage, he’s learned to jump up. The problem is that after 5 seconds, he’ll jump back down again and hide in the corner until he sees the chopstick again. What I’m going to do before my next show is get another empty cage, fill it with ping pong balls, and put the openings of the 2 cages together, and transfer him to the one with the ping pong balls(so I don’t have to touch him), and leave him with the ping pong balls for 3-4 hours everyday, and then transfer him back to the other show cage that has the food and water. It’s all about the little extra steps you want to take, especially if you know that your bird is a winner that prefers the corner rather than the perch. You will always have some birds that will perch naturally and will never give you any headaches, while there are other handfed birds that will try and bite the judge’s chopstick and refuse to leave the bottom of the cage. Handfed birds make the best show birds as they are the calmest, but at the same time some handfed birds have absolutely no fear. The more shows you attend, the more you will begin to understand the show personality of each one of your birds. You may face some small challenges and a little extra bit of work, but at the end of the week and show season, the rewards of seeing your bird perched proudly in the show cage sitting on the top bench will all make it worthwhile.
One last suggestion, invest in a chopstick(or go to a Chinese restaurant) if you don’t have any at home. Maybe at the restaurant you can tell your server that you only want 1 chopstick and not a pair. They would then either look at your really funny or save the extra chopstick for the next love bird exhibitor that comes in. At a show this year, I presented one of my dear love bird friends with a brand new (never used, I promise) chopstick for her to train her birds with since she told me she did not like Asian food and had been using a pen to train with instead. I should have stopped being her friend at that moment! (Unfortunately, I knew sometime in the future I would have to coerce and her and her husband to go to a show so we could make a major.) Just kidding of course. Needless to say, the very next day one of her baby birds took the “Best Unflighted” award. I try not to take too much credit, less she have her husband punch me next time I see them!
If you are a Novice and new to exhibiting, don’t feel pressured about not having trained your birds or owning a show cage. We welcome you to come and learn, meet new friends, and just relax and enjoy yourself(We won’t make you do any work like stewarding or secretarying, till we know you’re hooked!). You don’t have to own a show cage in order to be able to enter a local show, any cage will do. The only exception is that at a National level show, a show cage must be used. To see a list of any shows around you, please check the ALBS Show Calendar online regularly as it’s continuously being updated. Also, if you are interested in learning more about showing, please e-mail ALBS at exhibiting@africanlovebirdsociety.com, and we can introduce you to a friendly exhibitor in your area that can help you out.