Letting bird walk around

[Domothebudgie]

I have seen how people let their birds walk around the house, but what about the chewing? I have tried to let my corella walk around my room, but once he gets on it he'll try to chew through everything he walks past. I have seen people, like gotcha the cockatoo walk around the house and only play with their toys and seems so gentle. It gonzo will just chew anything in his way, it makes it so that he can only stand on his play stand, but not walk around very much. Is there a way to train them or anything that I should be doing so that he stops trying to destroy everything.

 

[Aubrey]

I think you've got to keep stuff like cords out of their path. Put out of sight anything you don't want chewed.

 

[Pipsqueak]

I don't allow our cockatiel on the floor for the safety of the bird. Planning on doing this with our adoptee too. We have a dog and the kids are often walking through the house with friends, then there are the cables from the electronics etc. The parrot rescue told me to keep the bird off the floor, before I had not thought about it but it makes sense now. Birds get more often stepped on or squashed in a door than people think. My bird follows my by flying.

 

[WallyLoopey]

I was just telling my husband that I'm glad our new macaw isn't a 'floor' bird. It's dangerous. If mine land on the floor I get them up immediately.

 

[JLcribber]

I have seen how people let their birds walk around the house, but what about the chewing? I have tried to let my corella walk around my room, but once he gets on it he'll try to chew through everything he walks past. I have seen people, like gotcha the cockatoo walk around the house and only play with their toys and seems so gentle. It gonzo will just chew anything in his way, it makes it so that he can only stand on his play stand, but not walk around very much. Is there a way to train them or anything that I should be doing so that he stops trying to destroy everything.

So you saw 2 minutes out of a bird's life on a video where it didn't actually destroy stuff. What you didn't see was the 200 times that day when the bird did try to destroy things it wasn't supposed to. It's not reality.

It's all about environment. Always is. If you provide a bird safe environment (some place he can be on the floor) then it doesn't matter what they chew. All my birds spend time on the floor in their environment.

 

[Dartman]

Nerd couldn't fly well so he spent time walking on the floor, he also got punted a few times when we forgot to look for him and he was too trusting to move. He also would chew things so you learn to keep important things away from his beak. Dobby LOVES to chew everything, soap, woodwork, nuclear weapons he doesn't care. We started covering and closing doors to keep him from either poisoning himself or destroying things we're fond of.
Nerd was more picky, so was Lurch, they had favorite places and things to chew, Dobby loves everything. Act like you have a 2 year old with vice grips for a mouth and adjust accordingly.

 

[rocky'smom]

nope never left to wander on the floor, too dangerous .

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Nope... their not dogs, you have to keep a watchful eye on them . it is what it is, nature of the beast.
Just have to deal with !!!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I think if you have a bird room, then anything is fair game, but in the rest of the house I don't think letting your birds walk on the floor is a good thing. My birds are never allowed on the floor. Not only is it dangerous, but I think it's kind of gross. We take our shoes off before we come inside, and I clean the floor every day, but despite this, floors are fairly dirty areas. I don't like the idea of letting my birds, who touch everything with their mouths, walk on them.

 

[SueA555]

Joey has a play area on the floor near my desk. He likes to be with me, and when he wants to cuddle he climbs up on me. I give him lots of boxes to chew up.

 

[Domothebudgie]

Thanks for all the answers! I sorta figured after I saw some holes in their walls hahaha. Do any of you guys know if baby cockatoos are more active than mature ones? He seems to have a lot more energy than any cockatoo I've ever seen, so I was wondering if age might have something to do with it. Thanks again for all the replies!

 

[LunaLovebird]

In the wild, cockatoos wonder around the ground eating grass seeds and playing. It's normal for them I think, but if you don't have a safe space for them to wonder about and chew things (a bird room, in other words), it's probably better to keep them off the ground.

 

[EllaMay]

Ella I let play on the floor all the time. I put all her foot toys in a stainless bucket and goes at it. She knows after upteen "No" what is out of bounds, but she still tries now and then. She is watched totally when on the floor, she is happy and that is all that matters.

Whitney U2 my doll baby was 37 when she passed, absolutely was floor girlie, and we kept a stock of baseboard, she seriously could find a splinter that we could not see with our naked eye, she would be running along all of sudden grap a tiny sliver of wood, pull and keep running. She never touched any cords which was awesome, but loved running so much, gave her joy.

 

[JLcribber]

Do any of you guys know if baby cockatoos are more active than mature ones?

Nope. They only have one speed. Flat out, pedal to the floor.

 

[EllaMay]

Nope. They only have one speed. Flat out, pedal to the floor.

So true!!!

 

[Domothebudgie]

I now try to just let him get his excitement and screaming out after he comes out of the cage before really letting him close, and it's helped me avoid bites. He is biting much less, but he will still sometimes suddenly start flapping his wings, screaming and usually then bite or lung at me. He did lunge at me today but luckily didn't bite, but got a hold of my glasses. It's interesting to see how easily he startled, like from seeing the bird outside the window fly lol. I think the birds teasing gonzo as he will come by everyday to watch gonzo, and scare him when he guys by haha. Sry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong, especially since he's s baby. But I think the main "problems" is that he is easily scared, and just seems to get frustrated easily.

 

[metalstitcher]

Gracie thinks she is a floor bird or more of a foot bird... I see toes must attack. That is the extent of her being on the floor so when she goes down on the floor we shew her off the floor back up to level.

 

[OscarTheAmazon]

Oscar dosent play on the floor, I put his toys on my bed and he plays there

 

[Clueless]

I'm letting the zons walk down the hallway now. I think it's good exercise for their legs. Just one walk per day and they're totally supervised.

 

[redindiaink]

Gotcha? There's a video of Max the cockatoo in the bathroom on youtube. You can tell Max loves to chew by the way the baseboards look.

The first time for my Amazon. Within seconds of being on the floor she made a beeline to an antique frame leaning against the wall, and when she couldn't have that she eyeballed the wooden floor as she waddled to a pine bookcase where she talked/clucked up a storm while trying to chew it to pieces. It didn't take long to decide she'll only get supervised floor time.