He CHEWED through a "cement" grit-perch!?

[Kiwibird]

So our 15 y/o amazon (who we adopted 5 years ago) has recently taken to destroying the wood perches in his cage (curiously enough, he hasn't been doing the same to his play tree or t-perch which are mainly wood, just the ones in his cage). Yes, I understand parrots chew wood, but he has chewed through several perches whilst standing on them, so of course he falls. I tried giving him more chewing toys, and even hung a branch in his cage, which he ignored to chew his perches. A few weeks ago, he chewed through the perch he sleeps on while the covers were on, while he was standing on it, and when he fell, he scraped some of the scales off the top of his feet. For his own safety, I took the wood perches out of his cage, and replaced them with rope and grit perches until this "phase" passes. Well, low and behold, he has somehow managed to chew the ends off the "cement" grit perches! I know people who's bird have had the same grit perches for years because the birds can't damage them, but our guy has had no problem destroying them. He also seems to be rubbing his beak an unusual amount on them. I inspected his beak this morning, and it isn't overgrown or damaged or anything, so I'm not sure why (or how) he's destroying these perches and has taken up such a desire to chew. He's a very involved bird, we include him in almost all our daily activities, he eats a healthy diet, he's well socialized, hasn't shown any signs of illness, this is the wrong time of year for hormonal behavior.... I'm somewhat at a loss of why he's only targeting his cage perches, and what I can do to keep him from getting injured. Any thoughts on the matter?

P.S. The only thing I can possibly think of is right before this all started, my husband and I went on vacation and left him with my parents (who also have birds). While at their house, he stayed in his first cage that we were lent when we adopted him, which is significantly smaller than his current cage (he stayed in the old cage for about 2 years). I think it's far fetched, but maybe staying in the old cage jogged some sort of positive association with it being the first real "home" he ever had (his prior owner kept him in a small dog crate for 10 years)?

 

[Kiwibird]

I peeked under the covers and took a couple pics of the damage he did to the end of the newest perch (in under a week). It may not look like that bad, but how can such a tiny creature chew straight through CEMENT? It is beyond me. I haven't even heard of the big boys (macaws and cockatoos) chewing through these perches before.

***Just to add to the rediculousness of the this situation, I'm also posting a pic of his play tree, which as you can see is virtually all wood. He hasn't been bothering that though, and he spends more time up there than in his cage most days! I just don't understand lol.....

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

That's not a cement perch. It's a sandy/gritty perch that is designed to come apart little by little as to not destroy a parrots beak when they chew on it. Additionally it's designed to 'file" down a beak as needed. This is a cement perch: Pedicure Perches

 

[lene1949]

I haven't checked though your other posts...

I would like to ask if he's flighted... Does he get foraging toys and does he know how to use them... ????

How much out of cage time does he get???

 

[JerseyWendy]

I agree with Molly. This perch looks to be Polly's Tooty Fruity Calcium Perch.
Polly's Tooty Fruity Calcium/Bee Pollen Perch SM - POLLY'S PET PRODUCTS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

And yes, they ARE edible.

 

[henpecked]

The chewing could also be hormonal/seasonal. Much more so in male zons than females. If you feel like he's rubbing his beak alot ,it could a sign of sinus,throat, mouth infection usually brought on in older zons because of vit A deficient diet.

 

[Kiwibird]

I feel a bit stupid now lol. We live where there's natural manzanita all over, so until this "chewing phase" came about, I never got him artificial perches. I didn't realize there were grit ones that were made to be chewed, but it makes me feel better he isn't going to hurt himself chewing cement.

Iene- he isn't flighted. We were told when we adopted him that he had never been taught to fly, and living in a smaller apartment, we figured it was safer to just keep him clipped (especially since he's never even made an attempt to fly). He does have quite a collection of foraging toys (rotated frequently) and yes, he knows how to retrieve treats from them. He spends most days out of his cage pretty much all day. He spends a lot of his time in his play tree looking out the window, but he also gets to come to the table for breakfast and dinner, my husband takes him in the shower, I take him room to room while I'm cleaning, and during the warmer months, we take him outside and on drives with us. He is a very involved bird.

Henpecked- he eats a healthy and varied diet, so much even the vet usually comments when we bring him in to get clipped that he rarely sees such a healthy bird. I couldn't imagine him having a deficiency in anything. And in the 5 years we've had him, he goes through his hormonal phase in the spring (march/April), this is the wrong time of year for that.

 

[henpecked]

Glad to hear he's eating good. Vit A deficiency doesn't show until there's a problem. I see it more and more in most of the older rescue zons and i'm working to fix it ,in them and my own zons. In the last several years i've run into birds rubbing their beaks alot and found them to have infections caused by Vit A deficiency and of course the resulting liver damage. As far as hormonial behaviors ,yes springtime is normal, depending on were you live. Winter is most popular with my birds in NC and Fla and they usually start breeding now through spring. IMO the onset of low humidity during winter starts the process. The only reason i brought that up is ,male zons are stimulated to breed by preparing/chewing their nest cavity ,ie; enlarging the hole ,shredding chips into smaller pieces, etc. My males seem to also chew perches more this time of year but some of that is also due to aggressive displays for nearby birds as breeding season approaches.

 

[MonicaMc]

If the 'grooming perch' has a metal rod in the center, take it out! If not, and it's meant for chewing, it should be ok!

I had some budgies chew through a wooden dowel. Wish I could have seen their faces when they chewed it in half! LOL


What about using manzanita for his main perches, then giving him some soft perches to destroy? I've heard bottlebrush is a *great* wood to use, if you can get your hands on some. It's an Australian plant, but there are people in the USA who sell bottlebrush by the length, or sell it in playgyms. (Waynes Parrot Stuff and Play Things)

That way, you aren't discouraging the behavior, while at the same time giving him something to do.

 

[Karigan]

This is the cement perch available in my town. I find they suck for grooming, but they may be useful for you.

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

Bottlebrush is an awesome perch wood. It has bark that really encourages chewing and the wood is pretty solid.