Destruction machine

[Simourg]

Hi everyone! I need your advice.
Jojo chews everything: curtains, window frames, today he even tried to chew the wall corner near his cage. He spends most of the time on the top of his cage, he likes to chew a sisal rope when I tie it to his perch, he still hadn’t touched his bird kabob that I purchased for him. Before I would cut for him some grape branches in short pieces so he could handle and chew them, but now he rejects them. He has a foraging toy, I refill it regularly with pieces of cardboard toilet rolls, i also got him another foraging toy, but he is not interested. He has yet another foraging toy, but he plays with it only in the evening. I got him a long and massive bungee for his cage and a nice solid safe stainless steel bell, but he is not interested, too. I knitted him a little pad from a thinner sisal rope, so maybe he would chew on it, but he is very scared of it instead. Purchasing from internet and shipping is very overpriced, especially when it comes to shredding toys (because they don’t last long), and they don’t sell anything like that in my country, otherwise I would get him tons of fun toys. I hope to make a playstand tree for him in this month and start to work on step ups, but I still hadn’t found a way to train him that would work, I believe interacting more with me and my family would make him less destructive. I know that this behaviour is caused by him being bored and lack of enrichment. But maybe you could share some tips on keeping your bird from unpleasant destruction, or a behaviour that I could offer him to distract him from these behaviours. I am a bit lost now, it’s a bit challenging when you live in a country where there are simply no goods for parrots.

 

[Mizzely]

100% natural behaviors. Your bird is designed to destroy to find a suitable nesting site And, it's great for beak health! So you are fighting instincts, not boredom.

The fact that he is wanting window frames and walls to me means he needs more WOOD! Do you have a place you can buy untreated lumber? I have a wall chewer too and what I do is simply put a board in front of it where he is chewing. He then chews that instead of the walls. Also, he might like that the wall and frame don't move when he tries to chew, so try attaching toys in a spot they can't sway (bolt or tie them onto the side of the cage works well).

 

[Simourg]

Wow, Mizzely, thank you! I really forgot that the reasons could be as simple as instincts, which gives me a different perspective on the problem. I think your idea is great and I should definitely try it! The only concern would be coming up with a way to fix the board on the top of the cage so it wouldn’t move or fall. Do you attach the board to the wall?

 

[Mizzely]

Wow, Mizzely, thank you! I really forgot that the reasons could be as simple as instincts, which gives me a different perspective on the problem. I think your idea is great and I should definitely try it! The only concern would be coming up with a way to fix the board on the top of the cage so it wouldn’t move or fall. Do you attach the board to the wall?

I'm lucky that my bird only chews on the board directly next to his cage, so I just am able to wedge it between the wall and his cage and that helps! I am sure you could attach it to a wall though, but that's where my expertise ends

 

[Simourg]

I'm lucky that my bird only chews on the board directly next to his cage, so I just am able to wedge it between the wall and his cage and that helps! I am sure you could attach it to a wall though, but that's where my expertise ends

I think I could try wedging it, too! Thank you!

 

[Mizzely]

@Simourg awesome! Hope it works out!! Just remember you want untreated lumber, nothing that has been pressure treated Pine is a great option if you have access to it!

 

[TikiMyn]

Shawna is very right! Try to give him something else to chew in his favorite places. My lovie Fëanor chews pictures on the walls and started to chew the wall itself too, So I hung a seagrass mat for him with chewables. If there are any safe untreated trees near you, like willow trees, you could cut of thick branches and cut them up.