helpppp! what kind of behavior is this?? bg skye putting holes in EVERYTHING!

[macawgirl]

OMG! not sure what is going with ms skye blue here, she is like 6 years old now, and she is ripping up my bed sheets, comforter, putting holes in my clothes. chewing the chairs, taking the paint off the wall, i work at home, so i keep her and sundance on the back of the chair with me so i can keep an eye on them plus they dont scream for me that way. she is tearing up my towel thats on the back of the chair. (i know paint is dangerous so i made sure she didnt swallo any of the pieces she has pulled off of the wall. its usually big pieces. it looks like she just likes to tear things apart im thinking. now her and sunny have a huge cage full of wooden toys. sunny isnt chewing as bad, though he has helped her chew holes in the kitchen chairs. is this just boredom?? any suggestions on how to make them stop? maybe they go bored of their wood toys? thanks.

[Greycloud]

Ummm. that is parrot behavior! My U2 has removed the wallpeper from his rooms walls, eaten two door frames and made a lovely fleabitten appearance of the material of a mattress. He escaped during the night. This was done in ONE night! We have to learn to keep our eyes on our birds and provide them with busy, fun activities. Foraging toys and chewing toys, Wood to pull apart for the big guys. It sadly is our fault for thier damage, not theirs. I gladly take the blame.

[LoveMyBeak]

Welcome to Parrot ownership! Man the stories I could tell you!
All my Tshirts have holes in them, there is not one piece of furniture without some sort of bird damage in it, there is not one undamaged wall in the house. Ya they chew! They chew everything!, Have you ever seen them in the wild? Yes they chew themselves a nest out of old trees, it's instinctive of them to chew, you will never be able to train them to do otherwise. Now heres the cure.......Go down to the local hardware store and get a bunch of 2 X 4s and fire up the ol'miter/radial saw and slice a bunch of pieces of wood, drill some holes in them and string on some rope/wire or what ever and hang in their cages, when those are all chewed to smitherines repeat process, keep repeating process till said Parrot dies of old age. If you give Parrot things to chew then he wont go looking for other things to chew ie-furniture,walls,Tshirts and you.
PS: I lost a childs bed frame to a Cockatoo this week, its those things in life you gotta sacrifice in order to have these awesome creatures in our lives.

[FeathersNFur8]

what kind of behavoir is this?

Have to agree with the others, it's typical Macaw behavior. My Oak desk is taking a beating from them joining me while I'm on the Internet.

You may want to try some big play stands with areas for food, water and toys. You can wheel them right next to your work station and still be able to keep each other company and they can chew toys and food all they want.

[MissV]

Originally Posted by LoveMyBeak

Welcome to Parrot ownership! Man the stories I could tell you!
All my Tshirts have holes in them, there is not one piece of furniture without some sort of bird damage in it, there is not one undamaged wall in the house. Ya they chew! They chew everything!, Have you ever seen them in the wild? Yes they chew themselves a nest out of old trees, it's instinctive of them to chew, you will never be able to train them to do otherwise. Now heres the cure.......Go down to the local hardware store and get a bunch of 2 X 4s and fire up the ol'miter/radial saw and slice a bunch of pieces of wood, drill some holes in them and string on some rope/wire or what ever and hang in their cages, when those are all chewed to smitherines repeat process, keep repeating process till said Parrot dies of old age. If you give Parrot things to chew then he wont go looking for other things to chew ie-furniture,walls,Tshirts and you.
PS: I lost a childs bed frame to a Cockatoo this week, its those things in life you gotta sacrifice in order to have these awesome creatures in our lives.

I like the idea of hanging actual 2 x 4s for the heavy chewers....gonna have to keep that one in mind as Eti gets older.

[Greycloud]

Make sure the 2x4s are untreated. Very important.

[Maggie F.]

LOL. She just discovered after 6 years that that stuff was chewable? You've had 6 good years! I agree. it's normal behavior. I can't look anywhere in my house without seeing my macaw's signatures.

[jjones1719]

Macawgirl, Yes, they are just being Parrots. I too work from home and I have my Friends and family donate their hand towel card board rolls and toilet paper rolls. I put treats inside of the them. I tie them up in their cage is hard to reach areas, this will keep them busy for hours. They also make forage toys made of bird safe materials that you too can put treats into that are harder to get open. This works for me. Thanks Joe

[KimM]

Ummm. yep! It's the macawness coming out! LOL. Welcome to exotic bird ownership. You wouldn't even want to know all the damage my Newt has done to this house.. LOL

[kellywess]

It could also be a sign of the beginning of sexual maturity. You day she recently turned six right?