How to stop unwanted habit.

[Ladybird29]

My cockatiel loves preening my eyelashes and I hate it! I think she is trying to get the mascara off. Lol I like her close to my face so I can give her kisses and so she can kiss me and clean me, but she loves my eyelashes! Please let me know ways to prevent her from doing this. I’m not sure if I should push her away and ignore her or if I should give her a stern/low “no”? She is very spoiled so discipline is new to me. Ha
Also, I am lucking out with toys I buy for her. She seems to like random stuff she finds around the house instead of the toys I buy for her and occasionally it gets destructive, which is not good... I just bought a giant spiral rope perch with bells and I’m hoping she will get some enjoyment out of that. I hate wasting money! Thank you for your input in advance!

 

[Ali]

@Khizz

 

[qiaolintan]

Regarding the toys part, maybe you could observe what sort of household items she goes for and make toys out of them (e.g if she keeps going for cardboard, paper, books etc, maybe give her an old book to chew or some non-toxic newspapers?). My budgie doesn't like ANY of the toys I bought for her too, so I end up making stuff out of household items like cardboard and newspaper and turns out she loves them!

 

[Khizz]

In terms of the preening, that definitely has to stop as the mascara can't be good for her.

If she is very attached to you, one way might be to let her on you, but when she starts to preen, stop what you are doing, say firmly 'no' and take her off your shoulder. Put her anywhere, on the floor if need be. Walk away and come back after a minute and continue as before.

If there's something in particular be sure to block it off if it's dangerous. As @qiaolintan said, try making toys out of things she likes. If she is destructive cardboard may be good, or seagrass mats. Just be sure she isn't injesting anything

 

[Ladybird29]

Regarding the toys part, maybe you could observe what sort of household items she goes for and make toys out of them (e.g if she keeps going for cardboard, paper, books etc, maybe give her an old book to chew or some non-toxic newspapers?). My budgie doesn't like ANY of the toys I bought for her too, so I end up making stuff out of household items like cardboard and newspaper and turns out she loves them!

Yeah. I will definitely try that. She seems to like ripping things apart so maybe I could make some kind of toy out of cardboard or thick paper. There are a couple of old-school metal sculptures that I have which I don’t mind her playing with, but when she bites my lampshade and my PS4 cord, that’s where I draw the line! lol

 

[Ladybird29]

In terms of the preening, that definitely has to stop as the mascara can't be good for her.

If she is very attached to you, one way might be to let her on you, but when she starts to preen, stop what you are doing, say firmly 'no' and take her off your shoulder. Put her anywhere, on the floor if need be. Walk away and come back after a minute and continue as before.

If there's something in particular be sure to block it off if it's dangerous. As @qiaolintan said, try making toys out of things she likes. If she is destructive cardboard may be good, or seagrass mats. Just be sure she isn't injesting anything

Yeah. That’s a good idea. I am definitely going to try that because she does like ripping things up with her beak. And yes... She’s very attached so I’m hoping that me leaving will be a good enough incentive to get her to stop. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past week, but no progress yet. Just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and there wasn’t some magic thing that makes Cockatiels stop right away that I was unaware of. Lol

 

[Khizz]

Yeah. That’s a good idea. I am definitely going to try that because she does like ripping things up with her beak. And yes... She’s very attached so I’m hoping that me leaving will be a good enough incentive to get her to stop. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past week, but no progress yet. Just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and there wasn’t some magic thing that makes Cockatiels stop right away that I was unaware of. Lol

Mine aren't attached to me and I can usually get them to stop incessant screaming by just saying no and leaving the room. It does need a bit of persistence and consistency though. If you only do it some of the time then it's not so effective. Another might be to not let her on your shoulder? Everytime she goes there you can lift her onto your forearm maybe? That is a bit easier for her to understand?

One thing I've learnt is that those cute orange cheeks are just there to distract us from their inherently cheeky natures

 

[Ladybird29]

I do need to make sure that I’m consistent with it because I am such a pushover with her! Maybe if I say no in a stern voice as well, like suggested, that will help. Thank you!

 

[Mizzely]

If she is really attached to you, put her down onto the nearest available surface as soon as she starts preening your eyelashes. She will learn that behavior gets her the opposite of what she wants.

For toys, my cockatiel customers seem to like paper, cork, balsa, 1/8" thin pine, sola, seagrass, mahogany, and shiny plastic beads.

 

[Ladybird29]

Thank you! I’ll have to try some of those! @Mizzely

 

[Tiel Feathers]

In addition to the above mentioned suggestions, you can try distracting her with a safe “human” toy, or give her treats when she is not on your shoulder. She hopefully will then associate your lap or arm with good things and ignore your shoulder and eyelashes.

As for toys, my tiels like anything soft and shreddable such as sola, cork, balsa and sea grass. They also tend to ignore toys that are bigger than them.

 

[Ladybird29]

In addition to the above mentioned suggestions, you can try distracting her with a safe “human” toy, or give her treats when she is not on your shoulder. She hopefully will then associate your lap or arm with good things and ignore your shoulder and eyelashes.

As for toys, my tiels like anything soft and shreddable such as sola, cork, balsa and sea grass. They also tend to ignore toys that are bigger than them.

Cork is a tree so if she eats it, that’s ok? Like, can I make toys from wine corks? Lol

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I actually just buy toys that have cork on them, so I’m not sure if the wine corks are different. Maybe they have soaked up some wine idk. @Mizzely ?

 

[Ladybird29]

I actually just buy toys that have cork on them, so I’m not sure if the wine corks are different. Maybe they have soaked up some wine idk. @Mizzely ?

Oh OK. I haven’t seen any toys with cork, but I may cut off the bit of red that got on the cork and see if she likes to chew the clean portion. I think she really does like biting, but doesn’t seem to enjoy any of the toys I got so far.

 

[Mizzely]

We don't want them eating *any* non food items.

Cork comes in a few different forms.

Many cheap wine corks are made from "Agglomerate Cork" which is made by pressing together cork pieces with adhesives to create the desired shape.

Natural cork is just cut from cork bark, so no adhesives used.

I only use natural. I do not know what it is the adhesives.

 

[Ladybird29]

We don't want them eating *any* non food items.

Cork comes in a few different forms.

Many cheap wine corks are made from "Agglomerate Cork" which is made by pressing together cork pieces with adhesives to create the desired shape.

Natural cork is just cut from cork bark, so no adhesives used.

I only use natural. I do not know what it is the adhesives.

Dang it. Thank you. That’s good to know. I haven’t had much luck finding anything but plastic and rope in the stores. I’ll look online.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Check out the vendors section here on Avian Avenue. They have the best, high quality toys and even supplies to make your own. I’m sure somebody sells cork bark pieces.

 

[Ladybird29]

Check out the vendors section here on Avian Avenue. They have the best, high quality toys and even supplies to make your own. I’m sure somebody sells cork bark pieces.

I definitely will. I didn’t even know they had that section. I just joined a few days ago.

 

[Mizzely]

Here you go!

List of Vendors and AA Store Profiles

Bird Stores ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Bird Toy AA Member: abirdtoy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ americanbirdbands.com AA Member: Matto ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Avian Organics AA Member: Danita...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[LoveToki]

My cockatiels all time favorite toy happens to be from @Mizzely !
She LOVES this toy
Sea Nettle

Also anything with chinese fingertraps and crinkle paper!