thief...

[BusyMum]

Hi there... Smoky likes to chew my earrings... when we get him out he sits on my shoulder most of the time and plays with my hair, but he loves my earrings, wedding/engagement rings, and if I have sparkling things on my shirt, he will go for them too??? IS this normal? And how do I stop it?

[sweetrsue]

It is normal. The only way I have found to stop them going after my sparkles is to wear cheerios!

[Pandabear16]

Frankie likes to do the same thing, if he sees anything shiny at all he goes after it like a maniac! Birds tend to go near things that are shiny so yes, it's very normal...I just make sure i remove all of my jewelry before I take him out to reduce the temptation! :)

[BusyMum]

Ok.. thanks... well I am glad it is normal... My son has one ear pierced and yesterday, Smoky was so quick, he undone the stud..cheeky little bugger... :D

[atvchick95]

it's also best to remove jewelery in case its made of toxic material to the birds

and since about the only metal that is 100% safe for birds is Stainless steel I think most jewelery would be off limits

but if you don't want to remove it, You can teach him it's a No-no to play with it, When he starts playing with it, Tell him firmly no and remove him from it, get his attention else where, on a toy for example
and repeat the steps every time he goes to grab your rings/ earrings - it'll take a while but most birds learn to leave it alone after being told no firmly a few times and then being put some where else, Or distracted with a toy, a piece of safe tree brand to nibble on, etc.

[Tike2]

Torch does the same thing, he likes to climb on my shoulder and right away goes for my earrings. I just tell him no, and take him off my shoulder, I also have reading glasses hanging around my neck most of the time, he loves to sit on them and chew on the cord attached to them. That I don't mind, it doesn't hurt like when he pulls on the earrings. :) I have been thinking of taking one of my old shirts and sewing some buttons on it for him to chew on while he is sitting on my shoulder. :) But so far, thinking is all I have gotten done. :)

[tielfan]

Jewelry can be bad for birds and vice versa. I have a pair of gold earrings with permanent dents put there by cockatiel beaks, and one of my tiels once bit through my mother's brand-new silver necklace in a single chomp.

[BusyMum]

Sounds like having children...:D The button idea is a good one... might have an old shirt somewhere that I could cut and hang it over my shoulder????

[Laurierae]

Now this explains why coco was eager to play with my mothers jewelry. Naughty thing, I kept putting him back to his cage but he wasn't going to relent. I need to make a nice lovely chew toy for his habit.

[Amy1569]

This is so strange as I've been thinking the same thing lately. Toby LOVES my diamond engagement ring...to the point he knows which hand its on......and hoop earrings. I was down at my aunts today, with Toby..and he took her hoop earring off...twice! And fluffed up like he was proud that he did what he was out to do.
They are so funny...what a riot!

[tielfan]

A guy at work adopted one of my tiel chicks in May. He says that when he gets home from work, she jumps on him and races down his arm so she can play with his watch.

[Birdie21]

I like that idea of a special shirt with doo-dads on it for them to play with.

[allen]

they also love to chew on your glasses as well

[tielfan]

they also love to chew on your glasses as well

Buster broke a pair of my glasses! They were made of thin wire and were getting old, and his chewing was the final straw. He snapped one of the earpieces right off.

[jorgenson1717]

When we first got Cocoa he was always after my ear rings but now leaves them alone. Our big problem was because we wear glasses and when Cocoa was on on our shoulders he thought they were perches. Weird I know. Now Cocoa goes on our shoulders and leaves them alone. The word "No" and distraction is very helpful.

Cindy