Rope Perch looking well worn

[Boki]

I have one of those multi-colored rope perches that my conure just loves. She is always rubbing her head into it. In fact, she does this so often that the perch is looking dark, ragged, and frayed. I am tempted to remove it but some how think she needs this rope perch to be well worn so she can rub her head more easily.

The cage is cleaned often but not sure if I should mess with this perch. Would it be OK to put it in with the wash?

 

[noodles123]

washing will not remove the ingestion/entanglement risk..this is likely sexual/hormonal..not something to encourage

 

[Boki]

Interesting comment and caught me by surprise. Her actions with the perch only involve the head which I thought was a safe zone from anything sexual/hormonal. I will replace it now as it is nasty looking but she loves it so much. And for the record, she does not like me to touch her head at all. I was expecting her to like scritches as with most conures but she has made it clear to me that was not happening. I understand each bird has their own ways. I just thought the head rubbing on perch was a substitute for scritches and hesitant to remove it despite nasty appearance. .

 

[Skarila]

If it's for head scratches, I highly suggest getting a natural perch that was a Y shape but you cut off one branch. That way it heaves a bit sharper edge where the bird can scratch their heads. My conure has a couple of such and he loves rubbing his head on them, since he also doesn't like to be touched.

My budgie is the same, she has her natural perch which has a large bump on it and she loves rubbing her cheeks and head there to get rid of the pin feathers. She is also afraid of hands.

They both like when the perches are stable so that they can actually scratch/rub their heads.

 

[wrench13]

Worn rope perches should be replaced, no question.

 

[Flboy]

If you Google, crop impaction, you will see ugly situations you don’t want your little one to endure! The can build up over years and before it hits the obvious stage, just think of the every day discomfort/pain! And slow starvation!