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Chews On All The Wrong Things

missesbird

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Ok..I need help! I have a 2 year old pineapple conure named mister bird. He is a CHEWER! He chews on my phone, our playstation controller, keyboard, mouse, laptop, cords, the wall, our hats, the blinds, everything! I know this is bad for him so everytime he chews I say no and go get him away from the bad stuff hes chewing on. I literally have tried almost every toy out there, he doesnt even give them the time of day. He walks away from foraging, and when he is in his cage, he will either nap, scratch himself with his bell or play with his disco ball. The disco ball is the only thing hes played with in the last few months. I rotate all the other toys except for that one about once every 2 to 4 weeks. He is out of the cage almost 5 to 10 hours a day right now becuase im unemployed due to COVID. Can someone help me? I dont want him to not be challenged mentally and want him to chew on something that isnt bad for him
 
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Mizzely

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What kind of materials are his toys made out of? My green cheek would not touch any toys that I bought at the pet shop, which is why I started making my own! Balsa, sola, cork, seagrass, etc were things she went for.

Have you tried to bring toys out of the cage and try to play with him? Part of the reason he is chewing those things is because you are handling them and spending a lot of time with them, so they MUST be fun, right? Try to do the same thing with some of the toys. Foot toys are great for redirecting.
 

tka

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He's going for those things because when he does so, it gets a fun reaction out of you. As @Mizzely said, you handle them so they must be fun, and then when he chews them you get excited and run away and pick him up and make excited noises, so that's obviously AWESOME. These must be the best toys in the world! He doesn't realise that you don't want him to chew those things.

I'd recommend trying softer, more shreddable materials - cardboard, balsa, cork, paper, palm, wicker balls and similar are fun. I'd also recommend keeping a stash of little toys (foot toys) near you that you play and fiddle with. He seems to be interested in what you handle, so use that to your advantage.

I would also suggest thinking carefully about how long he's out. While being out of the cage is great, it will come as a nasty shock when you find another job and he has to adjust to you being away and having to spend more time in his cage. I know it's tempting to let them out all day, but it's also a good idea to make sure that he's used to being in his cage and entertaining himself.
 
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