Chewing

[Pebs]

I think Tayla thinks she's a dog. And she has a clothes fetish too. She loves to chew on things. Not really destroy, although she does do that too but, a lot of times she is just chewing on the item and not harming it. And her favorite thing to chew on seems to be my clothes!!

 

[Anne & Gang]

been there, done that, have the holes to prove it....shreddables come in handy for this sort of thing...like shreddable foot toys etc..

 

[Pebs]

Yeah, she likes those too, Anne.

 

[Anne & Gang]

if she starts barking like a dog, you are in REAL trouble.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Hi, Pebs. My Trixie Meyers is a real clothes chewer. She is insatiable! And she works and works at it until she has a nice hole right where she wants it; usually on my right shoulder or right in the middle, between my breasts at my cleavage. My only recourse has been to have special clothing for the birdroom when she is out of her cage. I tried pinning chewable toys to my T-shirts for her to destroy, but she only wants to chew the cloth. OK. So I have my bird shirts stacked beside the door into the birdroom and a note of the door to remind me to change shirts. What can I say...The things we do for love...and winged babies!

 

[Coco's Momma]

I think Tayla thinks she's a dog. And she has a clothes fetish too. She loves to chew on things. Not really destroy, although she does do that too but, a lot of times she is just chewing on the item and not harming it. And her favorite thing to chew on seems to be my clothes!!

Oh, my goodness, Coco loves to do this! It amazes me that she never puts holes in things, but she does like chewing on certain types of clothing. She seems to really just rub them back and forth in her beak, because she never damages the fabric. For example, she likes my pajamas, because they have little flowers on them. (Or, at least that's why I think she likes them?!)I think she is trying to get the 'flowers' off!
Certain types of fabrics she seems to be more interested in, but she is completely fascinated by anything with a print or a pattern. She is a diva, after all!

The great things is that we can take advantage of this information and use it to help us make good toy choices! I found out that Coco loved white cotton socks, so I got a pair of hefty thick men's socks (ok... before everyone starts commenting, YES, I "got them" from my husband's drawer... if you want me to be exact... but in my defense, he didn't notice they were gone). I filled them with some pieces of wood block, tied then in a sturdy knot for her. She doesn't have a cage, but if she did, I could tie them around one of the cage bars, and voila - a great toy! Then when you're not in the room, just untie the sock, and put it away until the next time you are there with her. When using fabrics, we always have to keep in mind watching to be sure they are not catching their toes, or fraying the material, but hey... if she's chewing on your clothes, then you are there to watch her the whole time, right?!

 

[PeaceLoveDreamer]

My caique, Marni, is obsessed with clothes. It is actually pretty funny. She does her typical caique "surfing" on my shoulder, but she will hold onto my shirt and bunch it up in her beak and roll around with the bunch of cloth. She really is a character. I think the little quirky behaviors that birds have are the best parts about them. Your little Tayla sounds like a whole bunch of fun

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Trixie has a polly dollie; half-inch wide cotton fabric strips tied on a plastic chain. I check it each day for loose threads, but have never had problems with threads winding around her toes or even the strips around her (too short). She loves to chew the dollie, but still cannot resist T shirts I wear. I create a safe corner for each of my birds in their cages where I partition off their sleeping corner with a towel or fabric so they have a private place. For Trixie I cut up an old T shirt she already chewed holes in. So she also has that to chew on through the cage bars and loves it. Again, no problem with threads, etc.

Is the bird barking yet? What about begging at the table? Any dog behavior? Maybe she needs a birdie shrink?