green cheek biting windowsill and peeling off paint PLEASE HELP

[moonmoon]

i have a male green cheek he is 4 months old, he just will NOT stop taring at the paint, i feel like ive tried everything. he has ALOT of chew toys and foot toys for tearing activity and he gets plenty of attention. no matter what i do he keeps biting the paint off, ive tried disracting him and everything but hes back up on the window soon after going at it again! i am renting the place im in and im going to have to pay to paint over it now but i know he will just do it again once its dry. (by the way he is not eating it he just wants to peel it off, he has never shown signs of sickness and the vet said he is 100% fine) but still the thought of him accidently consuming the paint is horrible and not to mention its getting expensive and the shreddings are everywhere its making a complete mess!
he has had time out in cage but he will just scream and scream in there. i read on a site that spraying them with water is a good way to get them to stop. but nothing has worked

 

[Hawk]

i have a male green cheek he is 4 months old, he just will NOT stop taring at the paint, i feel like ive tried everything. he has ALOT of chew toys and foot toys for tearing activity and he gets plenty of attention. no matter what i do he keeps biting the paint off, ive tried disracting him and everything but hes back up on the window soon after going at it again! i am renting the place im in and im going to have to pay to paint over it now but i know he will just do it again once its dry. (by the way he is not eating it he just wants to peel it off, he has never shown signs of sickness and the vet said he is 100% fine) but still the thought of him accidently consuming the paint is horrible and not to mention its getting expensive and the shreddings are everywhere its making a complete mess!
he has had time out in cage but he will just scream and scream in there. i read on a site that spraying them with water is a good way to get them to stop. but nothing has worked

Move your cage away from wall 12 to 22 inches from wall minimum. Parrots get bored and are curious creatures. My grey made a 6 inch diameter hole in the wall where cage was within reach. They don't eat it, just like to chew things up. My Senegal can buzz saw a window ledge or window frame in minutes. Again, just have to keep them out of reach from them.

The problems lie with People that have older homes and possibility of lead base paint. That will seriously harm a bird if not kill it.

They like to chew, wood products, popsicle sticks, works good.
Of all toys my birds have, My Zon likes her Barbie doll the best. Strange I know, not all birds like traditional bird toys, experiment to distract them.
My other Zon likes this toy Horse, it's her favorite toy.
My Grey Like those Lincoln log toys, I build a log house, he watches, then tears it all down and tries to build his own....well he trys anyway. keeps him busy for hours.

 

[moonmoon]

thanks for the answer! but unfortuneatly his cage is no where near there to begin with, he just goes up there to get into it for fun, i have tried giving him natural wood popsicle sticks, he likes them but gets sick of them easily.. he has alot of wood toys, even a big wooden swing that has many ladders to chew on.. he just likes to chew every single thing i guess. he isnt chewing on it 24/7 thank goodness but i need him to understand its naughty.. its hard to make them understand though lol. at the moment i have been putting objects over the part he has been chewing, it has worked for now but i know it wont take him long to find another spot. anyway i appreciate your reply thankyou

 

[EAI]

How about covering the area with fabric? That or making/buying a (fairly large) playstand to distract him with.

 

[moonmoon]

i have put a towel over the door i do it everyday cause that was the first place he would chew on. i could put fabric on it but i dont know how to keep it on there, if i put something heavy on it he might knock it off. thanks for the idea im sure ill think of some way i can keep it on there a play stand could work but not forever i dont think. he is spoilt haha but when i have the money i will purchase one for him

 

[Anansi]

I wouldn't go with the water spray idea. Consistency is the key, here. Remember, you're attempting to overcome an ingrained, natural instinct to chew... coupled with normal birdie curiosity. It's going to take several tries to get it right.

Now, it sounds like your green cheek gets a lot of time outside of his cage, correct? So what you should do is let him go about his usual routine until he goes to that sill and begins his impromptu carpentry. As soon as he does, tell him no in a stern, though even, voice and remove him from the sill. When he goes back, repeat your "no", and then put him in his cage for a 15 minute timeout. (No longer than 20 to start. It's the repetition of the consequence that drives the point home rather than the duration.) Then take him back out and place him somewhere relatively distant from the sill. Wash, rinse, repeat.

You may have to repeat this quite a few times, depending on just how stubborn your fid is. But if you're consistent, the lesson will finally get through. You just need to keep watch and make sure he doesn't manage to get a few nibbles in without your knowledge. You want the association between paint peeling and timeout to be absolute.

It will require A LOT of patience, but there will be a payoff. Just stick it through.

 

[Flboy]

Yes, please do not use a spray bottle for correction! Someone had done that with my JoJo before I got him. Took a bit, but he now enjoys being sprayed during bath time. His last bath, we weren't spraying him enough, he got out of the bowl and walked over to the bottle and started pecking it, then went back to the bowl and just looked at us!

 

[Betrisher]

Have you thought to give your bird his own plank of wood to chew on? We're lucky enough to have a timber merchant in the next street and so are able to get hold of untreated pallets (used to pack the timber) for free. My husband uses a hole saw to cut rounds ('biscuits') of wood from the lengths of timber and I drill holes in those and use them to make toys. The remaining 'perforated' piece of wood goes in the cage for the Beaks to turn into matchwood. It's their single favourite thing to do!

The other great chewy toy is natural branches from safe trees. I use eucalyptus and bottlebrush (Callistemon or Melaleuca sp.). Just put a sizable branch in the cage and birdie will have great fun stripping the leaves and bark and munching on any flower buds or fruit that might be there. When my Barney escaped, he flew first into a gum tree at the back of our place. He stayed up there for over an hour, just munching on the new gum tips and blossoms: he was in birdie Heaven!

The only way you'll get your bird to leave window frames alone is to cover them or prevent access to them somehow. (I don't bother: my window frames have all been artfully sculpted by the birds by now and so I'll just wait till it's time to replace them).

Idea! You could put a bit of quarter-round moulding along the top of the window frame so your birdie can't get a purchase on it. I'm assuming he flies up to the frame and perches there to nibble away? So yeah: fill up the perching area and suddenly he hasn't got a leg to stand on. Y'know?

 

[Hawk]

thanks for the answer! but unfortuneatly his cage is no where near there to begin with, he just goes up there to get into it for fun, i have tried giving him natural wood popsicle sticks, he likes them but gets sick of them easily.. he has alot of wood toys, even a big wooden swing that has many ladders to chew on.. he just likes to chew every single thing i guess. he isnt chewing on it 24/7 thank goodness but i need him to understand its naughty.. its hard to make them understand though lol. at the moment i have been putting objects over the part he has been chewing, it has worked for now but i know it wont take him long to find another spot. anyway i appreciate your reply thankyou

Your welcome....just a suggestion,.... perhaps the bird is attracted to the shape, style or even color or texture of the window ledge or sill...Some wood is softer or harder than their toys which they can find attractive.

Just a thought....

 

[Hawk]

Have you thought to give your bird his own plank of wood to chew on? We're lucky enough to have a timber merchant in the next street and so are able to get hold of untreated pallets (used to pack the timber) for free. My husband uses a hole saw to cut rounds ('biscuits') of wood from the lengths of timber and I drill holes in those and use them to make toys. The remaining 'perforated' piece of wood goes in the cage for the Beaks to turn into matchwood. It's their single favourite thing to do!

The other great chewy toy is natural branches from safe trees. I use eucalyptus and bottlebrush (Callistemon or Melaleuca sp.). Just put a sizable branch in the cage and birdie will have great fun stripping the leaves and bark and munching on any flower buds or fruit that might be there. When my Barney escaped, he flew first into a gum tree at the back of our place. He stayed up there for over an hour, just munching on the new gum tips and blossoms: he was in birdie Heaven!

The only way you'll get your bird to leave window frames alone is to cover them or prevent access to them somehow. (I don't bother: my window frames have all been artfully sculpted by the birds by now and so I'll just wait till it's time to replace them).

Idea! You could put a bit of quarter-round moulding along the top of the window frame so your birdie can't get a purchase on it. I'm assuming he flies up to the frame and perches there to nibble away? So yeah: fill up the perching area and suddenly he hasn't got a leg to stand on. Y'know?

I agree with this as well.....I do a lot of wood working in spare time and you'd be surprised at what they like to chew on....Heck my rectangle picnic table now is artfully sculptured now as they like to sit with us in the back yard at the picnic table....my windows sills....ha ha...that's another story, but I did break them of it....just have to repeatedly say no and give them a time out and something other to chew on...they get the hint after a while and a few hundred tries....lol.

 

[Kalidasa]

Another possible option is to put some sort of (bird safe) plant in the way, as long as it's big enough to cover the area, your bird may be more likely to divert his attention to the plant.
Another way would be to put something scary in that area...like one of those garden decorations or hangings that make a sound when the motion detector is activated.

 

[Betrisher]

I just had to pipe in again to agree with what Hawk said.

Texture and hardness needs to be varied for our birds. My lot enjoy all sorts of chewies from tissue paper to hardwood and everything in between. I made a mistake early on by giving them a lot of plastic milk bottle lids. Euuww! It took a very short time indeed for the Beaks to become totally bored with those. Dommie will still fiddle around with them, but not for long: her prefers corrugated cardboard that he can first strip and then turn into confetti.

I like Hawk's suggestion of calmly removing birdie from the window frame and giving him a timeout, then taking him to a place which is 'better' for chewing. Say, a tray on which you've put a gourmet selection for him? You could have balsa wood, hard and soft plastic bits, paper cups, corks, hardwood, softwood (untreated of course) and maybe some natural branches. If birdie learns it's lots better to chew the stuff in the 'happy place', he ought to leave your windows alone. Eventually. It all depends on your patience and your willingness to do the 'calmly remove' every single time.

 

[weco]

i have put a towel over the door i do it everyday cause that was the first place he would chew on. i could put fabric on it but i dont know how to keep it on there, if i put something heavy on it he might knock it off. thanks for the idea im sure ill think of some way i can keep it on there a play stand could work but not forever i dont think. he is spoilt haha but when i have the money i will purchase one for him

Having done repairs to doors, trim & mouldings damaged/ruined by clients' pet dogs & cats, I can assure you it would be much cheaper to keep your bird caged, if you can't distract its interest.....many landlords require exact replacement & removing and replacing chewed woods can be an expensive proposition, especially since painting is often an added expense of the repair ! ! !

Good luck.....

 

[Hawk]

I just had to pipe in again to agree with what Hawk said.

Texture and hardness needs to be varied for our birds. My lot enjoy all sorts of chewies from tissue paper to hardwood and everything in between. I made a mistake early on by giving them a lot of plastic milk bottle lids. Euuww! It took a very short time indeed for the Beaks to become totally bored with those. Dommie will still fiddle around with them, but not for long: her prefers corrugated cardboard that he can first strip and then turn into confetti.

I like Hawk's suggestion of calmly removing birdie from the window frame and giving him a timeout, then taking him to a place which is 'better' for chewing. Say, a tray on which you've put a gourmet selection for him? You could have balsa wood, hard and soft plastic bits, paper cups, corks, hardwood, softwood (untreated of course) and maybe some natural branches. If birdie learns it's lots better to chew the stuff in the 'happy place', he ought to leave your windows alone. Eventually. It all depends on your patience and your willingness to do the 'calmly remove' every single time.

It's a thing I do...just pick bird up from window sill...and say " Looky looky what I got ...oh boy !!"

I'll save paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, corks from wine bottles ( washed and cleaned), some wine corks fit between the bars of cage snug where they can chew it for a while. Cutting the end of a paper towel tube about an inch and spaced about a half inch around tube creates a fun toy to chew up.

On top of window sills, which I have to keep them off, I also have to keep them off the crystals on Chandeler and lamps in living room....they like those things....two of out lamp shades gotten chewed up....

What we did was add more Mirrors in their room, they have their own 12 x 13 bedroom with 2 windows. Adding a mirror by their cage makes the flock seem bigger to them...also mirrors have a calming affect on birds....they sit and stare at themselves in mirror.

 

[moonmoon]

he has decided today that he likes to give me a hair cut... my hair was wet and he sat on my shoulder and had a good chew, next thing i know there is hair everywhere... oh boy he likes to chew everything.. lol. well i have tried to give him safe types of wood andhe is not interested so far, maybe after some time he will like them. i also got a small play stand he loves at the moment.

 

[Hawk]

he has decided today that he likes to give me a hair cut... my hair was wet and he sat on my shoulder and had a good chew, next thing i know there is hair everywhere... oh boy he likes to chew everything.. lol. well i have tried to give him safe types of wood andhe is not interested so far, maybe after some time he will like them. i also got a small play stand he loves at the moment.

Experiment with different shapes and sizes and place in different areas around cage....and or attach to other toys....they'll chew it in time.

I can't tell you how many wooden ladders 1 foot to 4 foot ladders my Senni alone has chewed up....He is a miniature chain saw and wood chopper all in one, uses no gas or electicity...quite economical...Better than a termite..HA ha ha ha haaaaaaa.