Posted: 6/22/2010 1:36:30 PM EDT
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Hello! I received a 10-12 year old Sun Conure about a year ago from a fund raiser. This bird was never let out of it's cage, it cannot fly...probably a result of being left in the cage? The previous owner had MANY other pets including 2 GSDs who used to pull her tail feathers when they could reach them. Anyway, after several months of working with this bird, she now enjoys hanging out with me and waits to get on my finger. She seems like a very smart bird and appears to be happy; however, I cannot figure out how to get her to stop chewing on my shirts when she's on me. Others have told me to wear an old shirt and deal with it, but, I would prefer to resolve the problem as she has moved on to the carpet, an office chair, and a really nice necklace. Any thoughts or ideas?
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I didn't see this post before, but hearing stories like that break my heart. Birds are really social creatures, it's like having a kid and putting it in a glass closet.  Where it's free to observe the happenings in the house but to never interact. Good on you OP for doing what you're doing. You may want to look into Popsicle sticks or some other kind of easily destructible toy that you can redirect the behavior to. Then it just goes from torn up collars to cleaning up splinters of wood.  If you haven't already, newspaper make cleaning up around the cage much easier, this may not apply to you, but our African Grey makes a mess. |
| Thank you for your help. I'll try the Popsicle idea...gives me a wonderful reason to eat ice cream. I found this really great product called Poop-Off. It cleans everything thoroughly with little care. WWW.POOP-OFF.COM and it's made in the states. You can spray it on the cage. Safe for birds. I'd post a picture of her if I could figure out how to do it via Droid. |
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They just love to tear stuff apart with their beaks. Like others have said, give him/her other stuff to chew on and the shirt biting may drop off. Good on you for taking the Sun in and working with it. Most people won't put the time in to make the bird's life as happy as it should be.
You can buy bird specific toys, but I use common (cheap) things to make my own. Mine likes to tear apart straws. |