Conure Behaviour Problem

[Cheekybirb]

Hello,

We have our 2 year old conure Phoenix and he behaves great but has just recently started landing on the light fittings and trying to chew the wires.

We've made sure all the rooms are safe for him to fly about in, he's out when we're at home and he likes to follow us around, but can't do anything about the lights. But if he feels he's not getting enough attention (I'm guessing?), then he lands on them.

I've read to just ignore unwanted behaviour, leave the room etc. but with it been a wire he's landing on I don't want to leave him unsupervised!

Also there's the issue of getting him down, the lights are too high up for me to lift him from and just calmly put him on a proper perch and distract him, which I've also read to do.

If I need to just leave the room and be consistent with that, or any suggestions would be really appreciated!
I've included some photos of the lights and some of his other perches that he has instead. And our budgies Jay, Grant and Jester are in the background there too

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Ali

Do you know the tube casings for loose wires to bundle them together? They have a slit all along one edge. Maybe something like that could help by fastening to to the wire?
Or any plastic tube, cut a slit along one edge and put it around the wire. Even a piece of hose pipe. Just while he´s out, you can take it off if you have visitors over.
After a while, he will stop trying to land up there because he will remember he cannot grab the plastic pipe and won´t realise it´s not there any more.

edit; obviously beware if the light gets hot. I would personally not use it while the tube is on.

 

[Cheekybirb]

Ah thank you, I will have to give that a try! As long as I can find one he can't chew through as I'm sure he'd see it as an added bonus!

Thank you!

 

[Cheekybirb]

Before I can get any covers for the actual wires does anyone have any advice on how to help stop unwanted behaviours or to teach him he shouldn't go on there? I don't want to have to put him in his cage for long periods of time but also can't be getting him off the lights every 5 minutes as well.

 

[Bookwyrm]

If it can't harm the bird, and they're doing it for attention, just ignore it. In this situation, he landed on the cord, and you thought, "oh no, that's dangerous." But then you went and got him down. He quickly caught on, and realized that if he did that, you'd pay attention to him. (Very similar to attention screaming). The best thing you can do is make it so he either can't continue the behavior at all, or make it safer for him to do it and start ignoring it.
With other unwanted behaviors it's different, but that's how I'd personally deal with attention seeking.
Hope that helps!

 

[Destiny]

I'd also suggest that if you have an "attention-seeking" bird, it can be helpful to teach them positive ways to attract your attention. That way, your bird can get what he needs in a less destructive manner. Remember to reward your parrot for being good and give them attention for positive behaviors so they don't need to find less pleasant ways to draw you to them.

Also, it is generally easier to modify a negative behavior into a positive one, rather than to trying to eliminate it completely. So instead of thinking "how can I stop him from doing X?", ask yourself "what would I like him to do, instead of X?" Then brainstorm ways to encourage the alternative behavior.

So if you don't want him to land on your lights and chew them, perhaps you can provide a better landing spot with safe (and fun!) chew toys instead. This could be a playstand or maybe a rope perch attached to the ceiling, if that is an option. Reward him for spending time on his playstand and make it a high desirable place to be, so he seeks it out. In this way, your bird can get what he wants and be happy ... and so can you.

Just be watchful, because parrots can be very stubborn and clever when it comes to getting what they want.