Feather Destruction and Your Parrot
There are so many reasons that a parrot may become
self-destructive. Until recently there has been very little
information to help us along with our feathered friends. Feather
destruction can be a very difficult behavior to deal with and not all
birds are able to recover from this bad habit. There are many ways
however to help make your parrot happier and feel safer in their
environment simply by adjusting their surroundings and improving
stimuli.
If
you have a parrot that is self destructive to his feathers you need to
take a good look at his environment from a bird’s point of view. Is he
located in front of a window? If so you should place the bird where it
still has a view but not directly in front of the window. Parrots do
not understand that they are in a home where the predators cannot get
to them, so things they see outside are very frightening for them. You
will also want to cover the back half of the cage to give the bird a
sense of security when perched toward the back of the cage. This also
provides much needed privacy for preening, napping and masturbation.
It is important for your parrot to have privacy at his choice. Being
on display twenty-four hours a day is very stressful and may cause
feather destruction habits. You also want to place a perch high up in
a back corner of the cage with several toys around and in front of the
perch, so that when the parrot is back there he can watch his
surrounding undetected as he would in the wild.
WORKING TOYS
Working toys are also very important. Your parrot should have at least
three toys in the cage that make them work for their food. Toy
manufacturers have recently come out with several wonderful working
toys, plus you can make some right from home such as using an old pill
bottle, washed, and filled with food. Fill a cotton sock and hang in
cage or a small cardboard box or egg carton filled. Working toys
should be rotated with other working toys so the parrot does not become
bored.
CHEWING
Some
birds will only bother their feathers during spring time because this a
time of year when they would be building a nest and raising babies, so
we need to increase the amount of things for them to chew during these
times. If you know that your parrot picks badly once the weather gets
warmer then start preparing the cage prior to the warm months by
packing it with different shapes and textures for your parrot to
explore and shred. This will deter the parrot from chewing on
himself. Use several different types of household items such as;
adding machine tape, corn husks, paper towels, cotton socks, willow
tree branches, grape vines wreaths, card board, TV guide, newspaper,
tissue paper, Dixie cups, wooden spoons, whisk broom, raffia, Popsicle
sticks, tongue depressors, shoe laces, straws, and also weave their
leafy greens into the cage bars instead of just placing them in a bowl
in front of them. Place the greens all around the cage, not worrying
whether or not there is a perch in front of them.
SLEEP
Many of these parrots come from areas very close to the equator and
they receive a full twelve hours of both night and day. Some parrots
are a little more nocturnal, with a parrot such as an African gray you
would want to give them ten hours opposed to twelve. Where a cockatoo
requires a good twelve hours of quiet uninterrupted darkness each
night. If your parrot’s cage is located in a family area I highly
suggest buying a smaller sleeping cage that you can place in a quiet
area for nighttime.
EXERCISE
Sitting on a play gym is not exercise. We need to take a better look
at our birds’ daily habits and incorporate more exercise into their
routines. You can have your bird go up and down stairs in your home,
you can gently swing them around to make them flap their wings, or you
can even toss them in the air (with proper wing clips, if the cut is
too short I do not recommend this) and let them fly gently down, doing
this several times in a row. You can also run around with the bird
above your head allowing them to flap their wings vigorously. You can
take them outside and let them climb a small tree up and down, or run
in the yard, supervised of course.
FLIGHT
There is also the option of allowing your bird flight, although this
can be dangerous and you need to weigh the benefits and dangers of
having a flighted parrot. When a parrot is properly exercised each day
they are less likely to be problematic in the household. So sit down
with the family and discuss an exercise routine for the parrot that
will fit into the family’s routines. Children can be included even if
the parrot does not care for them. You can have your children work
with the bird inside the cage by playing music loudly and having the
kids dance with the parrot. This is great exercise for both the kids
and the bird. Always supervise small children with parrots.
Your
parrot should receive at least two to four hours of out of cage time a
day with at least one hour of one on one time with you. One on one
time is time that you spend directly with your parrot each day. This
time can be broken up throughout the day it need not be all at once.
You will want to be careful not to give this attention when the bird is
feather picking, you will want to give this attention when the bird is
being good. If the bird is picking distract his attentions away from
his feathers before you go and give attention to him. This is very
important as we tend to want to tell the bird no or go over and stop
them. Instead make a noise by either knocking or clapping to distract,
then praise the bird the moment it stops, and give attention. Lengthen
the time between the praise and attention each time. Eventually, the
destruction will be less and less if you are consistent.
Okay
let’s recap; Evaluate cage location and move cage if necessary, sleep
10-12 hours depending on breed, shower daily even several times a day,
working for food, toys that are easily shredded with different
textures, and of course EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE!!!!!!
Courtesy of :
Michelle Karras, The Polite Parrot
