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Re: Destructive Habits
Posted by Pete on 9/16/08

Greylady Thanks for the advice. I think getting rid of the
rug is probably in order. My hours vary, so I cannot be
consistent with letting them out of their cages daily and they
are such creatures of habit that they would be badly effected.
They can chew on the rug 24/7, not just in the early AM.
Someone else suggested that they may well be looking for
nesting material? Their immature CAGs did the same thing years
ago. I hope they try to collect something safer when the rug is
gone? I do keep a radio on the same timer that I use for the
lights. I keep it tuned to WCBS-FM, a rock oldies station and
often see them bobbing their heads to a beat.
Gracie, the young bird, uses any night light to
help her climb over to Luigi`s cage and sleep up top where she
bombs Luigi (down below on his swing) so he has to sleep up top
to avoid the poop. THANKS again for responding. Pete


On 9/16/08, GreyLady wrote:
> On 9/15/08, Pete wrote:
>> I have a bonded pair of CAGs, the female(Gracie) will be
>> two years old on 9/19/08 and the male(Luigi) is an older
>> bird of unknown age. I realize that all Greys love to chew,
>> but lately when I come into their room in the morning, I
>> see that one or both have been chewing up the carpet. They
>> are really chewing down to the backing of the rug and
>> leaving quite a bit of chewed up pile around. I`m not
>> worried about the rug, just them. Is this Normal behavior?
>> Gracie is too young to mate, but could it be hormones?
>> They sleep in separate cages with the doors open. The
>> room gets very dark at night so I do not cover them. They
>> get up with the Sun and have additional Full Spectrum
>> Lighting from 10:00am until 8:00pm. Should I worry about
>> the situation? Please Respond THANKS!! Pete
>
> Yes, you definitely need to worry. But probably not about
> what you think. They may be in real danger of being poisoned
> by the carpet and/or the pad. Not only by the materials used
> to make some carpets but by residue of a variety of cleaning
> products that may have been used on it in the past, including
> carpet sprinkles or any other cleaner. My suggestion is to
> close those cages at night to keep them out of trouble. You
> can only know they are safe if they are confined during the
> night. What if you had a fire or some other reason you
> needed to get them out of the house quickly? You must be
> able to go right to their cages, get them into carriers and
> get out. You may not have time to be chasing them down if
> it's an emergency and they panic. Put a night light in the
> room with them. Most birds get nervous in total darkness and
> total silence, (during the day.) We have to remember that in
> the wild, it's rarely if ever, totally dark like it can be
> inside a home. Also, the only time it gets totally quiet is
> when there are predators on the prowl. A night light, then a
> radio with soft music or something during the day might make
> a big improvement in their behavior. But, whatever it takes,
> you must stop that carpet chewing. The same applies to wood
> furniture, even it you don't care about the furniture. You
> have to keep in mind the varnishes, paints, cleaning
> products, etc. Good luck with them. GL

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Destructive Habits, 9/15/08, by Pete.
• Re: Destructive Habits, 9/16/08, by GreyLady.
• Re: Destructive Habits, 9/16/08, by Pete.
• Re: Destructive Habits, 9/18/08, by GreyLady.