Stop chewing on certain things?

So Tachyons a chewer, im down with that, I make sure he had plenty of wood (a mix of old and fresh with bark and leaves), toys that have wood components to shred, toys with paper and cardboard, different foods that require beak-effort to get into etc.

However, there is one thing I would love him to leave alone: his cage has big bar spacings so his perches need to be secured at each end so they dont fall out/in .. yea, ive tried everything. Obviously, sisal string and paper string get chewed through in seconds. I tried some stainless steel wire but he keeps going and chewing hard on it and im worried its bad for his beak. I tried vet-wrap (cohesive bandages) but, funnily enough, he chews that as well.

I understand that he just sees these things as "omg something new in my cage, I must chew it!" but im wondering if there are any training techniques to get him to ignore the wire or start seeing it as boring?

Edited to add: I should mention, ive tried ignoring it when he does it but he chews HARD and im worried he'll hurt himself. Ive tried distracting him with something else in his cage. Im trying really hard not to reinforce the behaviour.

My first question is what size perches are you using? Alexes are big birds, and need big perches. In my experience the right bar spacing for a bird tends to be about the right size to wedge the right sized perches into. His perches should be large enough that his toenails hit the wood about half way down the perch, are they that big? If his nails drop too far down, and ESPECIALLY if they don't even touch, or wrap all the way to the bottom of the perch, he needs much larger perches, and chances are large enough ones can be wedged without wire. Another option is to buy the ones with a screw on the end and attach those, though it is more expensive. I don't know any way to keep a bird from chewing on things in his cage that he finds interesting, it would be different if he were chewing on say, the couch.

The bar spacings are just under an inch, so HUGE if I was to try and get perches to fit that gap (I use willow and malus branches that my mum sends me as we dont have trees on this property, so sadly I cant just go out and cut some whoppers). The cage bar spacing is made for a cockatoo or similar with bigger feet then my Alex (hes only a year old) but I needed a cage this strong because his chewing could pop welds on his old cage. Side note: no he cant get his head through the bar spacing, his nogging is just a smidgen too big.

Hes got a range of perches from small (his nails overlap) to huge (a 3cm gap between his nails under the perch), with the most comfortable ones (his feet wrap 3/4 of the way around which my research told me is what they should have) for his eating and sleeping perches.

ETA: ive asked for some stainless steel lag screws (hanger bolts) for my birthday next month so I can indeed hang his perches like that.

Most of those still seem a bit small to me, but everyone has to do their own research. Sorry, that was my only idea other than buying or making perches where a bolt sticks out form the end so you can screw it on. The wire seems like it would be dangerous.

I think you're correct in that lag screws are going to be the best way to hang his perches (its just a shame that he'll be able to see the stainless steel washers and wing nuts .. he falls in love with ANYTHING even remotely reflective and spends all day feeding it. Id cover them with vet-wrap .. but he'd chew it off lol).

Some of the perches I have bought have had the metal pieces coated or painted with bird safe paint, so that might help. You can also make sure to use the dull ones rather than shiny. I would make sure you are doing everything you can to control his hormones as it sounds like that is an issue. Limit the fat in his diet, rearrange his cage and the room he is in often, make sure he is getting 12-14 hours of darkness and quiet each day. Do not feed mushy or warm foods, and be sure you are not petting him under his wings, on his belly, or near his vent. Feeding toys is mating behavior, which should be discouraged if at all possible.

Everything you just said, we are doing, and more! Hes still VERY hormonal even with 14 hours quiet, covered, darkness to sleep in every night, no warm mooshy foods, I rearange toys and his house every day, we dont let him get 'too friendly' when hes out with us (or we just put him back on his cage until he gets over his hormonal moment), we dont touch him any where other then the feet when we're holding him on our hands (he dosnt like head scratches or anything so its easy not to touch the rest of him as we already dont do it!), he comes out of his cage 4 times a day for an hour at a time for lots and lots of flying (if he wants to), no dark cavities or anything that would suggest a nesting site, low fat fruit and veg, no unneeded carbs or food in abundance.. anything we missed lol? And yet, sometimes hes eating his pellets and then 'feeds' his food bowl right back .. and im like "dude, seriously?".

I didnt know there was any bird safe paint available, thank you for mentioning that (ive got a play stand im making that I would also like to paint) so im going to look that up right away. Any thing to stop the poor boy falling in love with a reflective wingnut!

It sounds like he has the right owners! Sometimes we just have to deal with it, and it sounds to me like you are doing everything right, maybe someone else has ideas? Bear with it, hopefully with age and consistency he will come out of this phase. If he isn't biting people, that is a good sign that you are doing a good job. Have you taken him to an avian vet? Perhaps blood work might give a clue if something if off that might trigger extra hormones, or it could just be his age and the season. Sorry, I wish I could offer more advice!

Yea thats exactly what we've put it down too, hes only 11months old, hes molting, its spring, and I think hes just an intense personality! So its not 'bad' and we can certainly deal with him at the moment but anything I can do to make HIS life easier/less confusing im very keen to hear about.

Im looking forward to tracking down some bird-safe paint for when there are things like bolts/washers/wingnuts that I cant not use but want to stop him falling in love with!

Thank you for your input on these matters

ParrotsAhoy said:

I didnt know there was any bird safe paint available, thank you for mentioning that (ive got a play stand im making that I would also like to paint) so im going to look that up right away. Any thing to stop the poor boy falling in love with a reflective wingnut!

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Actually there isn't a bird-safe paint per se, normally when someone speaks of bird-safe paint, they're speaking to its odor toxicity or VOC level zero or low VOC latex paints are what you want to use around your birds.....all paints, including poster/finger paint, can provide some danger to companion birds.....

Oh bum! Thats a shame, I was hoping for something that could cover things like shiny stainless steel nuts and bolts (cant get dull SS here, everything is shiny)!