The Importance of Cardboard!!!

My wife and I had been having issues with FIFA, our two year (now three year) old Sun Conure.

Anyway, long story short, the answer is foraging!!!

Our birds are intelligent beings and need to stay busy. When they are bored, they act out as any “individual” would ------> See the following photo of the very expensive rope perches we bought for our “obnoxious...” I mean, PRECIOUS...





Anyway, other issues included: territorial aggression towards strangers in the house, “velcroism,” and general obnoxious behavior towards the most important members of our flock: our four and six year old daughters!!! Don’t get me wrong, FIFA never bit hard, but a lunge is more than enough to freak out a four year old, and get our heart rate going...

Well, we finally figured it out. FIFA was bored.

He had (has) really nice toys, but like a two year old on his birthday, he was more interested in the cardboard box!!! See example two ---->




This shredding is from yesterday... And I mean yesterday. As in one days worth of foraging... We started giving him scraps that never made it to the wood stove about six months ago, and the difference cannot be overstated!!! Before this experiment, our little feathered friend killed one dishwasher (wiring), one chest freezer (again, wiring), and somehow he survived (thank you circuit breakers?). Then there was the “terretorialness,” and general acting out...

Now, with the three inch wide strips of cardbords we provide, our little love bug actually chases our six year old around the house looking for attention... I cannot remember the last time he has seriously bitten anyone in our family!!! We still have our evening “battle,” but the thing is, it is not just me anymore: it is my wife, myself, and our six year old all at the same time!!! And to hear the little bastard laughing (literally) the whole time? Well, we are having the true feathered family experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The key is keeping your bird occupied. They are not people (as much as they think they are), but they need to stay busy just like actual children. Thankfully, most parrots are like a two year old and do not need expensive toys.

A cardboard box will do...

Your mileage may vary...

Steve Y.

By the way, here are a few more of FIFA --->

He loves Cheezits...




Free flight exploring with the "bird-house" the girls made for him. I do not have any pictures of the remnants of the bird-house. Fifa killed it!!!



And here he is in his most "innocent" state. Look familiar?

LoL......That last picture is priceless..."who, me?" He's too cute!!!

Excellent post!

Aww I'm so happy it worked out! I love hearing about your sun conure playing with the kids Very cute!

ques that means i finally can get rid of my cardboard boxes,and have a blast with it^^.

I agree ,Ive discovered balled up newspaper and cardboard myself [and its not like the don't have a ton of other toys !!!] . Its a huge mess [but so worth it )

Fifa's absolutely adorable! What great pics, too. These are some great ideas, especially for my own Sun. He's been grumpy ever since the weather has been too cold for walks outside.

What a busy bird. Very beautiful!

All my empty cereal boxes serve as forage toys, they love to shred them.

What do you do,just place the card board inside the cage? Sometimes my bird, Cricket, freaks out when I put new toys in his cage.

I put mine on top of the cages or stuck on their play tree. If you put them outside the cages, if your bird is cautious with new things, he will investigate on his own term.

What Echo said. We usually put the cardboard on the cage's play top and/or hang it over the side of the cage.