Can't (won't) get back in the cage

[elysianblight]

Ok, I have tried a million different arrangements to help Cypress and Citrine get back in their cage on their own - and nothing seems to be working. 

They will use these perches to get OUT of the cage on their own. They hop out to the rope perch, then to one of the sticks, then fly off.

And they don't seem to be afraid of being locked back in - they know their water/meals are in the cage, so when they are hungry they will either come to me and start begging a lot, or go to the top of the cage and start squawking at me.
From the top of the cage, they let me come over and put them in by hand with no resistance. 

I know the cage is a bit low in the room.. but when they go to it, they land on one of the stick perches and then climb to the top and yell.
I feel like they could easily hop down to/land on the rope perch and go inside, instead of climbing up to the top. 
I know that they know how to fly "down" because their play gym is above this so they have to fly down to get here at all. And they hop up and down perches on their gyms/inside the cage all the time. 

They just won't hop down to this rope. 
Can anybody see any reason they won't go down to the rope perch and back into the cage? Any suggestions that might make them feel more comfortable getting into the cage?
Are they just scamming me? 



Edit: Also I know it looks like there is not much width variety in their perches right now. There is a more natural branch behind where they are eating. The hanging multi-stick one is new this week and was supposed to be more "knobby" than it actually turned out to be.. more of their natural sticks are going back in once they are comfortable with the new thing. 

[destinycall]

You could try moving one of the wood perches to directly under the open door on the outside. Then they can just walk through the door.

They might not like the rope perch or trust the angle needed to hop down.

[elysianblight]

Thank you. I have thought about that - I'll give it a try.

I re-arrange this set up constantly trying to make it more comfortable for them to hop up and down in stages, but nothing yet has worked.

I'll try moving the third wood perch from inside the cage door to outside, and finding something else for them to stand on inside (they dont like to walk around on the cage bottom even though they walk around on the cage top -_-)
It will make the seed catcher useless but oh well

[tweetiepiesmom]

I was thinking something similar destinycall. The perch on the outside and the perch inside need to be closer so they can hop from one perch to the other. I do not feed my guys when they are outside except for some millet. They go in and out of their cage all the time and they know I won't close the door until its bedtime.

[Hezz]

You say the cage is "a bit low in the room." I wouldn't be surprised if that is the whole reason they don't go home on their own, particularly if there is higher furniture around them. Set their cage on a chest of drawers or get a trolley for the cage. They need to be able to see out over the room.

[elysianblight]

Hmm, I have worried about that Hezz..
It's on a sort of coffee table the same height as our sofa, so right about on level with us sitting down. It was the most centralized location for them to be 'part of the action' and I thought since they don't mind flying down there to play on top of the cage that they must be fine with it.
Maybe not.

I will see what other arrangements I can come up with.

[Deleted]

I think it depends on the budgies sometimes. Munchy's cage was low down and was on the living room floor during the day and he didn't mind. We had no super high furniture though.

[elysianblight]

Hm!
Almost everything is the same height as our sofa.. the cage is sitting just sliightly lower than that.
But the higher points would be 2 thin floor lamps tucked in the corners.. 1 tall bookcase on the wall off to the side of their cage (that their play gym sits on), and the mirror/painting that are above the fireplace mantle.. they have a perch stuck to that mirror too.

They do obviously prefer those spots and rarely come to the play stand by the couch. But when I'm in the adjacent "dining room" where my computer is, they come sit on the play stand on my desk all the time.
I wonder if I remove the bookcase and raise the cage a bit, if they will spend more time choosing to be down on my level when we're in that room.

[elysianblight]

I just bought a wheeled cart to put their cage on for more height and moveability.
(Why didn't I spend the same money to buy a whole new, larger cage with a stand? I dunno, I'm an idiot.)

Havent even taken the cart out of the box to build it yet, and while I'm sitting right here getting ready to open it, they suddenly finally went in the cage on their own. What the heck guys.
Just always out to waste my money