19 month Indian ringneck, need advice please

[FGuc]

Hello. My 19-month-old male Indian Ringneck has been obsessed with reflective, screen-like things for a while now. He's constantly after TVs, intercoms, mirrors, and phones, talking to them. He broke the intercom, and I'm afraid he'll break the TV too. I removed the reflective things and bought two small, noisy balls to distract him and keep him occupied while he spends time in his cage. Now he's fixated on them, playing with them constantly. He's stopped chirping, whistling, and talking. He used to whistle wonderfully and say 5-6 words, but now he's silent for three weeks. He only plays with the balls. When I tried to take the balls out of the cage, he bit my finger – he'd never bitten like that before – it pierced and bruised my finger. I used to try to get him back in when I took him out of the cage, but he wouldn't want to go back in. Now, he stays outside for 10 minutes and then comes back in on his own to play with the ball. I don't understand if he's experiencing psychological trauma. I'm very unhappy about this situation. I'm thinking of just throwing all the balls away at once, but I'm hesitant because I'm afraid it might backfire and make things even worse psychologically. I'm in a strange situation. I'd appreciate some advice.

 

[nkrbkr]

Hi there. I’m sorry you’re struggling at the moment. There are differing opinions out there, and others do things differently than me, but I personally do not give my birds anything reflective (outside of their stainless food bowls), as anything shiny can encourage hormonal/aggressive behavior. This includes mirrors, metal toys, etc. I also do not give bells or other noise making toys, for the same reasons. In fact, any toys that I purchase that come with bells, I cut them off before giving them to my birds. As much as I love bells, they can bring out aggression in a lot of birds. I’m guessing the noise making balls could be having the same effect. I would personally remove them. Does your bird have other toys he can play with? Appropriate toys include things that can be chewed on and destroyed (safe woods, sola, seagrass, mahogany pods, etc.).

 

[rheashard2]

I agree with the reflection possibly causing problems. My first avian vet way back said absolutely no mirrors or reflective surfaces for my CAG. I was a newbie large parrot owner. It was a while before I got around to finding out why. I do have some stainless steel toys. Those are rotated because of boredom rather than her actions. I never heard that about bells. I avoid bells because most are made of inferior and possibly dangerous metals that don't hold up well to beaks. My CAG has a real cow bell almost since the day my bought her just under 21 years ago. I haven't noticed anything odd about her behavior. I will keep it in mind.

 

[nkrbkr]

I agree with the reflection possibly causing problems. My first avian vet way back said absolutely no mirrors or reflective surfaces for my CAG. I was a newbie large parrot owner. It was a while before I got around to finding out why. I do have some stainless steel toys. Those are rotated because of boredom rather than her actions. I never heard that about bells. I avoid bells because most are made of inferior and possibly dangerous metals that don't hold up well to beaks. My CAG has a real cow bell almost since the day my bought her just under 21 years ago. I haven't noticed anything odd about her behavior. I will keep it in mind.

Yes, I’m sure not all birds react to noisy toys/bells negatively. That’s great that Nameliss does okay with them! Button had a ball with a bell inside that made him a very angry little bird the first time he set eyes on it. I had to remove it immediately.

 

[FGuc]

Hi there. I’m sorry you’re struggling at the moment. There are differing opinions out there, and others do things differently than me, but I personally do not give my birds anything reflective (outside of their stainless food bowls), as anything shiny can encourage hormonal/aggressive behavior. This includes mirrors, metal toys, etc. I also do not give bells or other noise making toys, for the same reasons. In fact, any toys that I purchase that come with bells, I cut them off before giving them to my birds. As much as I love bells, they can bring out aggression in a lot of birds. I’m guessing the noise making balls could be having the same effect. I would personally remove them. Does your bird have other toys he can play with? Appropriate toys include things that can be chewed on and destroyed (safe woods, sola, seagrass, mahogany pods, etc.).

ok understood. I'll remove the rattling balls and the metal food bowl from the cage. I'll try to find a wooden food bowl; there's no other option. Hopefully, this will alleviate the aggressive biting problem.

 

[nkrbkr]

ok understood. I'll remove the rattling balls and the metal food bowl from the cage. I'll try to find a wooden food bowl; there's no other option. Hopefully, this will alleviate the aggressive biting problem.

I think the metal food bowl is okay, just try to avoid anything else that’s shiny or reflective.

 

[FGuc]

I think the metal food bowl is okay, just try to avoid anything else that’s shiny or reflective.

He knocks over the metal feeder, turns it upside down, and talks to his reflection I should get rid of the metal feeder too. I have a crazy bird