# Update and Chewing on Wires



## Noxiousted (Aug 4, 2018)

It's been a good while since I have posted on this forum. Trickee has been doing really well apart from his chewing habits. He has started coming out of his cage on his own and sitting on his ladder instead of being in the cage all day. He is more relaxed with his surroundings and doesn't get scared easily anymore. He takes a bath weekly and eats well and has a diet plan and also drinks enough water.

Recently however he started deciding instead of trying to chew on things that aren't chewable he went for my wires. I have a bit of wires on my desk most of them are braided cords and others are simple wire cords (he is more interested in the braided ones). I always redirect him if I see him chewing on cords by saying "Hey" or "No" in a assertive voice he sometimes does it again but I repeat and then he stops and goes and does something else. I don't hit him or move him away or anything like that I just use verbal communication to tell him to stop. I had a extra water bottle for when I updated his cage which I haven't done yet. I've noticed he likes chewing on that too so I put it on my desk and filled it with water. He seems to redirect from the wires to instead chewing and drinking out of the water bottle. Although sometimes he does sneak a beak grab here and there he knows as soon as I say "no" that I want him to stop. I also add a "good boy" in after he stops to show that he did the right thing by stopping.

He has also became very vocal especially when I'm talking to him. Sometimes after I tell him "no" or "stop" he chirps at me loudly and runs around. He is basically like a 3 year old in a bird's body. He has been interested in new sounds like when I'm brushing my teeth he tilts his head and watches intently. I also bought him a skateboard for the fun of it. I put him on it today and he jumps right off or when I start moving it slowly he jumps off. I will surely train him how to ride it later on but I'm still working on the basics of him learning how to get around.

His diet is the same thing mostly as for I've been too busy with school to addition some fruits and veggies which I will today since this weekend I'm free. I use plain Kaytee seeds https://goo.gl/3hbZf1 and addition about 2 of 1/4 of a tsp of Zupreem https://goo.gl/NeN8M8 which surprisingly he has started eating without any problem, and I give him dinner at night when I get home from school but my mom later in the day adds the second tsp with the Zupreem pellets. He rarely eats in the morning and if he does he eats the left overs from the night before. Most of the time he is sleepy and just falls asleep in his cage.

As for his living home it's the same cage until I can get another one. However he has plenty of room to run around and plenty of places to perch and things to play with. He has a ladder outside of his cage he sits on he also hangs out. He rarely runs around on the floor and most of the time when I'm home he's on me or on my desk hanging around talking, sleeping, or paying attention to me. His cage door is always left open when I'm gone because my mom pays attention to the cage and he never leaves near his cage when I'm not around. But when we both leave the cage door is shut and he stays inside of the cage.

Most of everything has been really good apart from him occasionally chewing a wire. Also a funny note is he hates my left finger and steps right onto my right finger. It's actually weird how birds can understand and think about stuff like that.


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## iHeartPieds (Jan 9, 2017)

Does he have any chew toys? Of course you don't want him chewing your wires so instead provide him with some toys that are safe to chew. Balsa wood and yucca disks are common favourites, they're soft and easy to chew. You can provide a variety of chews, some which are softer, some that are harder so he can choose what he feels like chewing. In addition to this I would just try to keep the wires out of his reach.


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## Noxiousted (Aug 4, 2018)

iHeartPieds said:


> Does he have any chew toys? Of course you don't want him chewing your wires so instead provide him with some toys that are safe to chew. Balsa wood and yucca disks are common favourites, they're soft and easy to chew. You can provide a variety of chews, some which are softer, some that are harder so he can choose what he feels like chewing. In addition to this I would just try to keep the wires out of his reach.


Keeping the wires out of reach is hard when they have to be on the desk to connect to the machine. I was thinking of wire covers (thick ones) to try to cover it to prevent him from being able to not get into the wire faster. Although theres a risk with the wire covers and him eating the cotton or fabric which puts me in an even worse situation. I would have to find some type of bird safe wire covers which would be really hard to probably find. I also cannot move him away from the desk because he has become attached to it and doesn't like to be on the floor or others places except his cage. He doesn't like me out of reach or view otherwise he will squawk and carry on. I think maybe a little more training would help decrease the amount of chewing but until I can get to that I gotta just redirect him.


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## Noxiousted (Aug 4, 2018)

I forgot to add the exact feeding schedule

Mon-Fri during school days 

I laid out and added precise amounts of seed into bags for my mom to distribute after I leave because I have a tight schedule and being able to feed him is not an option. He always gets 2 tsps a day no matter what because of the fact he is a little underweight but once he starts getting a little bit more fatter (not obese) I will lower it to 1 tsp. Anyways, he gets about 2 tsps a day and this starts with his all day meal which is 1 tsp after I leave then he gets 1 tsp after I get back for his dinner. Mostly dinner is the biggest and most hungriest time for him since he likes to mostly run around in the evening. 

Sat-Sun during the weekends

He usually gets 2 tsps the same thing as on school days. I usually am always free at this point so I split out the meal times. Breakfast is usually around 9-10 am which is 2 1/4 tsps and then again around 12-1 he gets another 2 1/4 tsps each with 1 1/4 tsps of Zupreem. And lastly for dinner he gets a full 1 tsp since he has worked up an appetite after 5-6 hours without food (not saying that theres never food in there because there is always leftovers) his dinner is usually around 6-7 and maybe even 5 and that evens out his food intake. 

I also additioned some new things like some romaine lettuce which he took no time to bite into as soon as I put it next to him (he enjoys leafy things). I also got him apples which I will probably cut into really thin pieces and try that since he likes things that are thin as leaves. 

As far as drinking water and eating he does very well. As soon as I put the bowl down he immediately goes to it and starts eating but I rarely see him drink although I know he does otherwise he would be drinking a lot of the water out of the bottle on my desk. When I first got the bottle out and put water into it he bit on the edge and then took a sip right on my hand which I thought was cool that he wasn't afraid of that.


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

I think wire covers or plastic tubing to encase them on your desk would be a perfect solution. It will not only make it safer for Trickee, but will make your cords look neater and easier to dust around them .


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## Noxiousted (Aug 4, 2018)

RavensGryf said:


> I think wire covers or plastic tubing to encase them on your desk would be a perfect solution. It will not only make it safer for Trickee, but will make your cords look neater and easier to dust around them .


For now until I get the covers I recently realized his addiction to hair ties. Whenever he gets one he chews on it and drags it out and will throw it and if it inflats out it spooks him and he runs away and then comes back. He doesn't every spread it open and let it hit him as it contracts and I always watch him when he plays with it. I was wondering if thats a safe toy or not. It's a normal hair tie not a rubber one which I took away because it seemed more toxic than a normal cotton one. He also has a ball and random toys I hung up on my desk he will nibble on and then run away. He likes to nibble on his toys and then go to the next one. But he really enjoys the hair ties and plays with them longer instead of switching.


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