AG's eating my carpet
Mark Smith
resort to keeping her locked up whenever she is not under my direct supervision.
This is very hard on the both of us as she has normally had unlimited freedom
for the 3 years I have had hear. There is nothing worse than sitting in the
living room and having to listen to "Shali wants out...." or "Shali sorry..." or
even a lonely "Heeeelllo".
She will go over to the sofa and put her head down and start scratching like a
chicken. There is now a hole through the carpet and padding down to the
plywood which I can easily put my size 12 foot into. I've tried everything
from the spray bottle (which I think she now enjoys) to locking and covering her
up in her cage - the ultimate punishment since she is never covered.
After her last 24 hours of solitary confinement I removed the cover and open the
door. I left the room for no more than 2 minutes and came back and she was back
down on the floor pulling out tufts of carpet.
The good news is that I've been in my apartment long enough that when I move
they will replace the carpet anyway so my deposit is safe, but I need to stop
this behavior before I get a house next year and will actually own the carpet
she is eating.
Even worse is she has started teaching my 9 month old CAG to do the same. The
last time I caught them they were eating carpet side-by-side.
They BOTH have plenty of rope and cloth chew-toys in and ontop of their cages.
When I lock up my TAG she does the same scratching on the bottom of her cage
sending wood chips flying everywhere. They seem to be using their
feet/toe-nails more than their beaks when they are destroying my carpet.
I don't think this is a medical problem but more of a behavorial problem that I
need to remedy in the next 6-8 months. Any ideas are welcome.
PIOTR PODERMANSKI
Those AG seem to enjoy carpet-chicken-like-scratching.
My carpet is nearly totaly eaten near the door now.
I will repeat after Dante "Abandon all hopes you, who enter here".
P.S.
My AG bites the carpet a little less now, most of time she uses
it to drag my attention. But it still is an obsession. She has a big
paper box though, so she spends a lot of time scratching the
box bottom (instead of carpet). I think it helped. Perhaps you could
try to give your parrots a parrot-carpet somewhere where they
reside most of time.
Mark Smith
be condoning their behavior. I used to have a bunch of shirts I would wear that
they could sit on my shoulder and chew on the neckline. Unfortunately they
coudln't tell the difference between a tattered T-shirt and a $30 dress shirt so
that had to stop. I don't think they can make the distinction about carpet
they can scratch and carpet they shouldn't.
On Wed, 12 Aug 1998 20:32:56 GMT, "PIOTR PODERMANSKI" <ak...@mail.cis.com.pl>
wrote:
Caren
This would be like shutting a child in their room for 24 hours! NO GO. The
lesson as lost about 5 minutes after you left the room. 5 maybe 10 minutes
and then take her out and try her again. Then, when she tries it again;
pick her up - say "NO" and put her in the cage again for 5 or 10 with no
attention during this time. Its a constant thing and she should not
(IMHO) be left in the house without direct supervisor at any time. Get her
a big cage; put in some toys etc. But leaving her out without supervision
is just asking for trouble - big time. There are behaviour specialists
available for consultation ; as well as the Bird Talk magazine gives good
advice for behaviour training as well (both bird and owner) <G>. Doesn't
sound like a physical more behavioural; but only a vet can rule out the
physical side.
Good luck.
>
>After her last 24 hours of solitary confinement I removed the cover and
open the>door. I left the room for no more than 2 minutes and came back and
she was back>down on the floor pulling out tufts of carpet.>
>I don't think this is a medical problem but more of a behavorial problem
marnie
doubt very much that you can train or punish the bird into not doing what is
instinctive behaviour to him. The following is a very good article with solutions
to your problem written by Ginger West, who runs one of the Greys Lists.
IN THE WILD
by: Ginger West
In the wild, African Greys spend a good part of their day stripping branches
and foraging for food. Put Crepe Myrtle or soft Willow fresh branches for them
to destroy. Spread food to as many different places in the cage as
possible. In treat holders, hidden amongst the leaves of the branches, under
newspaper in
their food dish, etc...
Searching for food and stripping branches keeps them busy and satisfies
their natural instincts for foraging. I beleive if we make life too easy for them,
it
stresses them out. How many of us would be content to go through life being
unproductive.
Man has a built in natural instinct to work..........
Greys are ROOTERs in the wild. They eat alot of things from the ground. Worms
insects, roots, seeds, etc... If you ever notice your Grey digging in the
corner of his cage, that is the natural rooting instinct. One of my Grey's favorite
games is digging and flinging organic potting soil out of a shallow tub. I
use a kitty litter pan. Don't worry, it has never been used by the kitty.
Sometimes, we bury seed and pellets and boy the dirt really flys.
Studying natural habitats is my hobby. If we can satisfy our parrots
natural instincts, we are apt to have happier pets. They have been bred in captivity
for less
than 200 years. They are still wild animals. Instead of forcing them to adapt to
captivity, there are alot of ways we can adapt to the wild.
For instance, some of you may have Greys that love to bathe in your ice
water. The rains in Africa fall for two months each year leaving only large
puddles on the ground for bathing. The puddles are bottomed with rocks and hard dry
vegetation.
My Greys shower with me for the humidity, but they get a shallow bowl of
ice water in the bottom of their cage several days a week.
As they spend alot of time foraging the ground, I do not use grates in the
bottom of their cages. And no, they do not eat their poop. Yuk! Or so I
have heard them say if they accidentally get a beak full. They shake their heads and
wipe their beaks off quickly.
With the sparce water supply in Africa most of the year, opening roots for
water is essential. One of their favorite games is a drinking straw. They
dip it in their water bowl, hold it up and drink the water from the tip.
My most recent report comes from Dr. Irene Pepperburg. She says that in the
field studies in Africa, Greys are seen digging in Elephant holes with puddles of
water.
They are eating the soil from these holes. Samples of the soil are being
sent back to the lab for anaylisis to find out what the Greys are after in the soil.
I
am intrigued by these findings, and eager to hear the lab results.
copyright@GingerWest1998
Mark Smith wrote:
> My TAG has been pulling out my carpet for about 4 months now and I have had to
> resort to keeping her locked up whenever she is not under my direct supervision.
> This is very hard on the both of us as she has normally had unlimited freedom
> for the 3 years I have had hear. There is nothing worse than sitting in the
> living room and having to listen to "Shali wants out...." or "Shali sorry..." or
> even a lonely "Heeeelllo".
>
> She will go over to the sofa and put her head down and start scratching like a
> chicken. There is now a hole through the carpet and padding down to the
> plywood which I can easily put my size 12 foot into. I've tried everything
> from the spray bottle (which I think she now enjoys) to locking and covering her
> up in her cage - the ultimate punishment since she is never covered.
>
> After her last 24 hours of solitary confinement I removed the cover and open the
> door. I left the room for no more than 2 minutes and came back and she was back
> down on the floor pulling out tufts of carpet.
>
> The good news is that I've been in my apartment long enough that when I move
> they will replace the carpet anyway so my deposit is safe, but I need to stop
> this behavior before I get a house next year and will actually own the carpet
> she is eating.
>
> Even worse is she has started teaching my 9 month old CAG to do the same. The
> last time I caught them they were eating carpet side-by-side.
>
> They BOTH have plenty of rope and cloth chew-toys in and ontop of their cages.
> When I lock up my TAG she does the same scratching on the bottom of her cage
> sending wood chips flying everywhere. They seem to be using their
> feet/toe-nails more than their beaks when they are destroying my carpet.
>
> I don't think this is a medical problem but more of a behavorial problem that I
> need to remedy in the next 6-8 months. Any ideas are welcome.
>
>
--
Cheers! Marnie:)
<mailto: mar...@bigfoot.com>
vivian hannam
RAKLAW
we got him, our CAG chewed and scratched at carpet and ate significant portions
of the wood baseboard and cabinets in the kitchen.
I got an empty photocopy-paper box, cut some fist-sized holes in the top for
light and cut a door in one end. After a little reassurance, the bird crept
inside and began tearing holes and scratching and digging at the sides and
bottom of the box. This is now pretty much a daily activity and he goes through
a lot of boxes. He has a new box today and is going at it now. When a box gets
old and pretty ripped up, he goes in less often - I guess his work is done -
but his interest is renewed when the box is.
When I ask what he's doing in his "paper box toy," he replies "Workin'"
Ron Kershaw
rak...@aol.com
BabyJane
she'll eat em. Im curious about those people that let their CAGs or TAGS
run loose in their house! Are there poops all over yer house? do you clean
em up? do you realize that these birds can carry REALLY DANGEROUS germs?
How do you deal w/this? I LLIKE the fact that you let the birdies roam all
over yer house.. but how do you protect the REST of your house? How do you
make SURE your birdies are NOT SUBJECTED to birdie killer germs? I have
several different types of animals in my care.. and I just can't go and let
any particular species run my house.. I have a house w/animal care at the
top of the list...I have a LOT of parrots and they are not allowed to run
the forum for humans.. how do you prevent this?
RAKLAW <rak...@aol.com> wrote in message
199808131546...@ladder03.news.aol.com...
LizDyde
Smith) writes:
>This is very hard on the both of us as she has normally had unlimited freedom
>for the 3 years I have had hear.
You are very lucky. Maybe TAGs are different but I can't leave my CAG
unsupervised at all as she would be into mischief straight away.
It may be that you have let the bird become too aware of your annoyance and now
it has become a battle of wills. When you correct the behaviour in quite a
demonstrative way the bird can think its a good way of getting attention so the
"time outs" are not a "punishment" at all. JMHO
Do you have a play gym at all as this can be quite a good way of allowing
freedom but in a restricted area?
My CAG does exactly the same scratching with the newspaper in the bottom of her
cage.
Liz Dyde
LizDyde
Mark Smith
cage. It stands 3' tall with 3 towers, a swing - HIS and HER food dishes,
ropes, chains, hoops, and all other sorts of entertaining things.
It scared the hell out of them the first 3 days I brought it home but now they
go all over it and play. Still doesn't stop them from coming down the the
floor level and digging up carpet though.
Maybe if I can't beat em I should join them and put some carpet in the base of
the gym. Maybe if they got sidetracked into scratching that carpet they
wouldn't bother coming all the way to the floor.
RAKLAW
tile floor for easy cleaning and no furniture to damage. But I always keep at
least half an eye on him, so he isn't unsupervised.