Best way to save the AC?

[SilverSage]

I have 3 AC units in my house, and my two IRNs have recently discovered that if they sit on top of them, they can chew on the ceiling. When I am home I wave them off, but when my husband is home he "doesn't see what the big deal is." And he will not leave them in their cages, he is too much of a softy. I obviously cannot have them eating the ceiling, and I am thinking about putting bird-safe plants on top of them or something. I dont want them to be able to knock them down though, so maybe hanging plants around them? (Of course just as I say I dont allow them up there they both just flew onto the one above me and stared down at me with "naughty-birdie face, and waited to be told "no") Has anyone had a similar situation, such as on a high shelf? What did you do?

 

[Kiwibird]

Get some fabric and cut it into strips that are just wide enough to cover the gap between the ceiling and unit then hang them with thumbtacks from the ceiling. Like visual barrier to confuse them so they no longer see a perching surface

 

[SilverSage]

That is way too easy - Why didn't I think of that? Will it get in the way of the airflow though?