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Cockatiel eating bark

ellbell

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My cockatiel is eating all of the bark off of his perches, they are from trees outside (not sure what type of trees as it came with the cage) and he is getting little pieces of wood on his face, will he be ok?
 

Shezbug

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Eating the pieces or just removing the bark? Both my birds strip the bark off the bark covered perches I give them. Your perches with bark on them came with the cage? Usually they only supply dowel perches with new cages, what kind of perches do you have? A pic might be helpful.
 

ellbell

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Eating the pieces or just removing the bark? Both my birds strip the bark off the bark covered perches I give them. Your perches with bark on them came with the cage? Usually they only supply dowel perches with new cages, what kind of perches do you have? A pic might be helpful.
He is getting them in his mouth and chewing on them and then dropping them, I got my cage off gumtree that’s why the perches are tree bark but I will show a pic! 68A34E3C-0CBD-484A-977F-A578646542F2.jpeg
 

Shezbug

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Personally I would not be comfortable using perches someone random sourced as they may not be made from safe wood. I would also be concerned about the perches possibly being previously used by another bird who may potentially be unwell- just not a chance I would take with my birds.

As far as the bark being picked at played with and dropped, everything should be just fine as long as you know he is dropping the bits. Not many birds have pica but some do so it is always worth keeping a check on how your bird plays with anything they can put in their beak. Most birds do the pick and play before dropping the bits.
So basically- my biggest concern with Winnie chewing these perches is that you have no idea exactly what tree the branches came from nor if they were used by a sick a bird before you got them, that is much more of a concern to me than Winnie simply picking the bark off the perches.
 

Hankmacaw

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Keep an eye on her poop for awhile - in fact, do a little digging around in her poop for a week or two to see if you see any wood. My female GW is one who had pica. ugh.
 

budgie❤️

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Personally I would not be comfortable using perches someone random sourced as they may not be made from safe wood. I would also be concerned about the perches possibly being previously used by another bird who may potentially be unwell- just not a chance I would take with my birds.

As far as the bark being picked at played with and dropped, everything should be just fine as long as you know he is dropping the bits. Not many birds have pica but some do so it is always worth keeping a check on how your bird plays with anything they can put in their beak. Most birds do the pick and play before dropping the bits.
So basically- my biggest concern with Winnie chewing these perches is that you have no idea exactly what tree the branches came from nor if they were used by a sick a bird before you got them, that is much more of a concern to me than Winnie simply picking the bark off the perches.
Agreed. The type of wood might be a problem.




As far as the chewing goes that is normal behavior. Birds naturally chew on things especially bark off of perches.
 

Hankmacaw

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The easy way to do poop inspection is to put the poop in a plastic sack and squish it around so you can really look well.
 

Maggiebird

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I wouldn’t use perches if your not sure what type of tree they are also it sounds like he’s only dropping it not trying to eat it. I’m guessing he is just ripping it off I would have to actually see to tell.
 

Ember-Tiel

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You might want to get some natural perches off of amazon or something because they are the cheapest alternative. Hopefully your Tiel is healthy and didn't swallow too much wood. :tup:
 

budgieluv3

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Good luck!
 

mak

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My tiel also does this. It's normal behavior that provides some enrichment and is good for the beak. :)
 
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