Bird eating Perch?

[Vikingchamp]

Hey everyone!

Today I noticed that slick (cockatiel) had been taking several bites out of his perch. He normally only sits on one of them and the one he is chewing isnt the one he normally sits on... I have no idea what he is doing... any help greatly appreciated!

[Monica]

I take it that the perch that he is chewing on is one of the wooden dowels that came from a petstore??? Well honestly, it's perfectly fine for him to, though you may be interested in giving him a natural safe branch for him to sit on and chew as these are usually more entertaining than a regular wooden dowel perch.

[danforth3]

Birds chew wood and if a perch is wood, they will chew it. All my perches have chew marks in them. Make sure the chew marks do not cause the perch to fall. If not, just leave it alone, but check it frequently. You may be able to alleviate Slick chewing at the perch by providing a few cockatiel size wood chew toys that hang over the perch in that area.

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Whew, I feel better! I am sorry I posted a question just now and didn't see this thread. I am relieved that it's normal for Percy to chew on her perch. Thank you, experts!

[Kestral]

Personally, I'm glad you did post this question! I'm going broke buying various sized perches for my conure to feast upon. Now he has his own jenga set but still eats the perch.

Any suggestions on a perch he cannot/will not eat??? I'm considering a metal one. *kidding*

[T.W.]

MY tiels love eating their perches, especially the ones that come with the cages!!!!!! I buy them the little wood chunks on the chains, they love that!!!

[catschair]

Mine go through stages when they really chew up their perches (not at the moment). They also have rope (boings), and the sanded plastic/cement perches (which some folks dislike because they are rough, but my guys seem to like them). It doesn't hurt them any to eat it, and it is amusing to see how very proud them are when the perch falls down <g>. You can buy dowels from a lumber store and get the plastic ends in bulk, then just keep making new ones for pennies a perch.

[tigressmidnight]

buy him some cockatiel sized bird safe wood toys, and as for perches, manzinita is one of the hardest woods, he can chew it, but it would take him much longer to get through it, make sure when you buy perches they are the right size for the birds feet