shredding rope

[carriesb]

My tiel Crackers shreds his rope perches to bits. Should I be worried that he is eating it to me it looks like he is just ripping it apart not really putting it in his mouth to eat.

[AmandaB]

Ugh, I have a couple that like to do that. I really think they are just shredding it.

[CrazyBirdLady]

Most of the tiem, they are simply tearing it up, not ingesting it. I have various fids that do this and I've only encountered one issue with a bird eating some. Needless to say, he no longer gets soft perches.

[poi_lover]

Just make sure you cut the strings off as short as you can so he doesnt get his foot stuck. After a while you will have to replace the perch, of course, but with a tiel I would imagine it would take a while. My Meyer's used to do the same thing, but she got bored with it after a while and eventually stopped.

[jcusack]

My budgie does the same thing and I have to replace his perches often. I am thinking about changing perches because it is getting expensive. I was hoping he would eventually stop because I like the rope ones. Good luck, maybe yours will stop.

[Winger]

Hi carriesb - I agree, trim off the long pieces so Crackers doesn't get his feet caught. The other thing I might suggest, which you may already have, is natural wood perches (with bark - great for chewing!). You probably already know, but santize them with 10% bleach solution or bake for hours in a very low oven. My tiel absolutely loves perches he can chew and destroy, and cutting natural wood ones is quite inexpensive. I also like the different diameters and textures so he can exercise his feet.