# Stop the chewing !!!



## Coralys (Aug 21, 2013)

At first it was cute but now its getting annoying, upsetting, and dangerous. My cockatiels love biting things. ANYTHING. From chargers to plastic to metal, basically anything. At first it was cute how they would fly over to thing just to play with them but its becoming annoying now because they destroy EVERYTHING! I can try putting things away but these birds will find anything to play with. They have plenty of toys in their cage but still want to play with everything else. They have destroyed over 6 chargers and headphones. My stepfather is a barber and accidentally left his blade in my room and I walk in on them playing with it. Luckily they didn't get hurt. I have a corner with my munchies and I find them ripping open a bag of poptarts and eating it. They have even chewed off paint from my walls. I dont want to keep them locked in their cage. I love seeing them fly around but now its becoming a problem no matter what i do. How can I stop this behavior?


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

From what I've read, chewing is a natural behavior for cockatiels. Like many pets, they love to get into things that they shouldn't. Pet proofing a house or even just a room can really be tough. Our sweet Zoey who is no longer with us ate so many phone chargers and a swamp cooler hose and underwear and socks and the couch. Redman chewed up so many things when he was a puppy that it was infuriating.

The only thing I can say is that vigilance is your biggest weapon. Any object they can get ahold of when they aren't supervised has to be put away. Foraging opportunities may keep them off the things that can't be put away. They like wood from what I understand (has to be bird safe) and I think paper is another good one for shredding. Scattering these things around all over the place couldn't hurt either. 

I'm not sure what deterents they make that are bird safe. Perhaps someone else can weigh in on that.

I'm sorry that you're having a rough time. It's a hurdle that many pet owners must overcome and I feel your frustration. I hope you find some good tricks to change things.


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

I was having problems with my birds chewing on my window frames and picture frames.

I covered them with plastic. I have a flat top cage, so I put lots of chewing toys on top of it. I got some wicker baskets from a dollar store. I put them up there with toys and treats in them. 

Also, I have a small wide mouth jar that I put beads and small bells in. They love to stand on the rim of the jar, get things out, walk to the edge of the cage, and drop them on the floor. 

All three birds now spend a lot of time up there.


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## Pippitha (Mar 27, 2011)

Have you tried those foraging toys from the pet stores? Maybe if there's treats in them, your birds would want to play with those more than cords. I know mine love when i hid salad in toilet paper rolls, or paper towels in shoe boxes. They don't usually chew anything else (USUALLY) if they have stuff like that laying around for them.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

You can get grass matts for rodents at the pet store and put over the walls in areas where they chew... Tie on bells beads and wood blocks to give areas of safe chewing.


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## Tisena (Sep 28, 2013)

My tiels seem very wary of the colour blue, I don't know why but they avoid most blue objects unless they're in their cage and they're used to them, strange


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

ParrotletsRock said:


> You can get grass matts for rodents at the pet store and put over the walls in areas where they chew... Tie on bells beads and wood blocks to give areas of safe chewing.


I love the grass mat thing, I would have never thought of that, I'm so getting some! Do you know how you can stick it to walls? I'm a diy disaster...


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## birdythemighty (May 6, 2012)

Can't you use bitter apple spray? It's meant to keep cats and dogs from chewing.


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## Riley92 (Apr 1, 2014)

My cockatiel has chewed patches of wallpaper off my parent living room wall and also one of the picture frames. Suffice to say mum and dad aren't too happy about it. Chewing keeps their mind stimulated and is also a foraging behaviour. Its perfectly natural for them to do, annoying as it is.
My girls wings are clipped since we have big glass windows she could fly in to. It certainly helps the problem but its only been done for her safety. You can make chew toys yourself such as scrunched up paper, straws, wicker balls, safe leaves and branches from trees. Try and make an area on a table somewhere to place it all down away from their cage. If they have somewhere where they get treats and different toys they are more likely to stay in that one place.


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm not sure that bitter spray would work or if it is bird safe. I do know that it often doesn't work on dogs (they learn to ignore the taste or some even like it).


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## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

Birdie is very obedient when it comes to wires of any kind and backs off if I say 'no' in a firm voice. I keep my computer covered when it's not in use and I have a wireless mouse.

As for general chewing, the corner of my archway, my lampshades and definitely my books are evidential of her naught chewing habits!!


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## corrinjessen2020 (3 mo ago)

tweetsandsarah said:


> I'm not sure that bitter spray would work or if it is bird safe. I do know that it often doesn't work on dogs (they learn to ignore the taste or some even like it).


 bitter spray does work for dogs you just need to find a flavor your dog hates. They have several flavors available now because some dogs like some flavors and hate others- which makes sense because every dog is different. They shouldn’t be learning to ignore the taste if it’s one they actually find displeasing. 1-3 times of putting their mouth on the area and it tasting horrible gets the message across.


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