Power beaks

[RemiBird]

I have had birds for many years now, but these two take the cake!
The cockatiels we used to have did a little damage here and there (the blinds got chewed up, letters, maybe some wood siding), but Remi and Petey seem to pick the more expensive items in the house to destroy.
Remi has been working on tearing up the couch and Petey has chewed up one of the kitchen cabinets... I know that parrots are destructive by nature, but there are several toys in their cages that are completely ignored and yet they get fixated on the furniture...
Anybody wants to share their experiences please do. I just want to know that I am not the only parront in this boat, lol.

 

[Flynhigh]

Lol!! Your definitely not alone !! Same iisues here. They would Much rather chew and destroy my stuff as they get more attention this way.

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[Jen5200]

Yup - it’s a common affliction . My cockatiel is the least destructive bird in the house...conures - um, not so much!

 

[Laurasea]

Yep my new Pikachu has chewed four I ches off my new leather chair!!! I thought he was just sitting on the back like a "normal ha ha parrot) but no that beak was busy! Sneaky!!! Now he can't sit on shoulder or chair, he is knees sitting only

 

[PickleMeDickles]

Conures: Antique wpooden clock (was my moms), antique religious statue, many many pictures, 1 leather couch, 1 leather reclining chair, 1 leather work chair., various knickknacks, lots of 16 x 20 pics (we used to have an art store)

Amazon: any and all zippers and buttons on clothing, electrical wires. Holes in all clothing. I literally don’t have even 1 jacket I can wear out right now.. Has destroyed keyboards, mice, printer. Somehow I ALWAYS think, I’ll pick her up really quick and put her down before she can start destroying and bang, she ripped 4 teeth off my zipper and I can’t use it anymore.

The conures are like termites with EVERYTHING. But, their path of destruction is usually of the slow and steady variety. The Amazon is a little more picky about what she chooses to destroy, but once she is locked on to something you might as well hold a funeral for it because it’s as good as dead.

I try to see the humor in it. After all, they are hardwire programmed to seek and destroy as it is this very behavior that is responsible for our rainforests/forests. If it were “that” easy to train a bird “not to chew” we would probably live on a planet devoid of oxygen because there would be no seeds or compost for trees to grow in the first place. I try to visualize fields of zippers or clumps of religious statues. I just know I’m not going to ever unprogram millions upon millions of years of programming by nature/God/aliens.

If your birds are ignoring toys try to change up the “type” of toys, offer foraging toys of various types, make sure their daily schedule isn’t too much of an actual schedule. Change up their day by having a fun tv show on, or some upbeat radio. Although they are truly programmed to destroy, boredom is the a number one accelerator of such behaviors and is probably the most efficient way to blow off pent up energy. So redirecting all this destructive energy can only help you to reduce the pace of destruction. Good luck!

 

[MMARC234]

Let’s see if I can remember what exactly has been destroyed since 2017...

Leo- countless letters, my laptop keyboard, several textbook covers, three sections of wood baseboard, several shirts, a computer mouse, and more!

Bluebell- my mom’s ornate picture frame, several refrigerator magnets, several plastic figurines, dvd covers, notebooks, my favorite Iron Man phone case, old iPad cover, a wallet, an expensive foo dog statue, and even more!

Avocado- nothing (yet!)

 

[RemiBird]

Yep my new Pikachu has chewed four I ches off my new leather chair!!! I thought he was just sitting on the back like a "normal ha ha parrot) but no that beak was busy! Sneaky!!! Now he can't sit on shoulder or chair, he is knees sitting only

Oh my goodness!! I would love to see some photos of the new fellow!

 

[RemiBird]

Conures: The conures are like termites with EVERYTHING. But, their path of destruction is usually of the slow and steady variety. The Amazon is a little more picky about what she chooses to destroy, but once she is locked on to something you might as well hold a funeral for it because it’s as good as dead.

That is too funny!!
You are so right about conures being termites, lol!
Petey is more interested in chewing up her toys. I came back home from work and one of her toys in the cage was in pieces, finally. Remi just wants the couch,lol.

 

[ctwo]

My IRN likes to chew my shirts so I've relegated several for him so he can ride my shoulder. He goes at it with gusto, like it's a tug of war.

I caught him the other day just starting to work the mid wall trim at the back of his cage, so now there is a few inches of space there.

 

[PickleMeDickles]

Somehow the absolute worst thing is when they crack a keyboard key. If it just gets popped off I can fix it, but a crack truly is horrific. And then I have to pound on those little metal connections under they missing key until my new (like the 5th one this year) keyboard arrives from Amazon. And I'm always terrified that I'm doing to hit the missing key, some unforeseen electrical connection is going to take place, and I'll be electrified by my sabotaged key. I would almost suspect it's some kind of highly organized parrot plot to take me out, but where else are they going to get this kind of royal treatment? There must be an even more complex hidden scheme in the making.....hmmm....

 

[Valyndris]

Jacob loves to chew everything and anything, the more expensive the better. My solution to him not chewing the couch of chairs is I put blankets on them, this only slows him down though. He'll actually lift the blanket just to get under it to chew the chair over actually chewing the blanket. I have a blanket on the ottoman too but he of course tosses the blanket and chews the ottoman, at least those aren't too expensive.

I know macaws crack nuts like nothing but check out Jacob destroying a winter squash. If you've ever tried to open one of these then you know they are extremely tough and nearly impossible to open.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOG7NHxaiM4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOG7NHxaiM4[/ame]

 

[Laurasea]

Very smart!!!!! I know they are tuff! I have the grocery store halve them for me!!

 

[RemiBird]

Wow! Jacob is a beautiful bird But that beak, lol!!