How destructive is your parrot ?

[wrench13]

Salty is not very. He likes to chew up small hunks of balsa wood, but harder pine he hardly touches. He is hell on bells, but not a real toy meat grinder. I see some of you folks talk about giving your birds a lot of toys but salty has 1 or 2 favs and the rest sit idle. Right now , he likes to tear up this tiny sneaker I got. Man, he hates that shoe. So how destructive is your flock?

 

[OrnithAudrey]

Rio is the biggest toy destroying machine I have ever known. He'll demolish the largest wood toys I can find in literally 5, maybe 10 minutes. Bayju is easier on toys than Rio, but more destructive with perches and knaws his way through manzanita like nobody's business. Clover is also a fiend for wood and I buy/make her wood toys suitable for much larger birds that she still gets through quickly. Sage, Major and Fruit Loop are definitely the least destructive and toys tend to last them much longer.

 

[wrench13]

Lol, I don't know if I'd feel worse if salty destroyed a toy, or just ignored it like he does most. So who else has a buzz saw?

 

[chris-md]

Parker is what I'll describe as a slow destroyer. He loves shredding toys but a toy other birds would completely destroy in a week takes him a couple months to finish off. The one exception being the branch I put on his play stand. I replaced a wooden dowel with the branch from the Apple tree in my backyard. I left the bark on, and he had about 25% of the bark stripped within 24 hours.

In regards to furniture and clothing, he's not really a chewer or destroy her, though if he's ready to go back to his place and he will walk to the other side of the couch and start biting at one of the seams. Definitely doesn't chew on stuff like window frames and baseboards

 

[JerseyWendy]

My Ripley is a wrecking ball! I have to make a new toy (or refresh one) every single morning.

Hardware stores know me by my first name, that's how often I'm buying (untreated) 2X4s. Doesn't matter how big or small I cut the chunks. It no longer matters if I go through the trouble of dyeing the wood either. He's got one mission - and one mission only. Make toothpicks out of everything wood.

He's also working on the Java trees, much to my dismay.

A tub like this full of colored chunks lasts me a week - if I'm lucky. :54:

 

[texsize]

My biggest destroyers are 2 of my cockatiels. The 2 that I let out to fly around the house have to be watched constantly, if they are quiet and you don't see them you need to find them cuz it's a sure thing they are into things they should not be into.
They have bitten the dry-wall around the house and even made a hole in one spot.
they chew up paper and for some reason they like to chew on the banana husks (rinds, the outside of the banana). If you put pieces of banana in there cage they ignore it.
My amazons toys last a long time but my YNA likes to go exploring on the floor when out of his cage. He will shred boxes and newspaper. He goes after wires and power cord's so he also must be watched constantly.
Both cockatiels and amazons like to have cardboard boxes in there cage. These go the fastest but are cheep to replace.
texsize

 

[DexMom]

Dexter likes shredding paper, cardboard and soft wood, but not the harder wooden blocks. He likes to empty out boxes and those polycarb foraging balls, which I stuff full (very tight) with shredded paper. He will kill anything made of softer plastic, like the wiffle ball type toys. And, he has completely killed one of those small sneakers, too! I didn't know if he loved it or hated it, but it didn't last long LOL.

He's a real "thinker" and is as likely to spend his time figuring out how to loosen and unscrew the quick link a new toy is hanging from as he is destroying the toy itself. I've found I can't use the smaller pear shaped links because he opens them right up and I'm afraid he's going to get one caught around his lower beak. He also likes to unwind chains from a split ring (like a key ring) and untie knots. I can spend an hour making a twisted, knotted toy with leather cords and stainless chains and rings and and he will disassemble/untangle it in half the time. Punk.

 

[ToMang07]

I think Willow is part beaver.... I haven't found a wood she can't chew through yet. She'll gnaw through a 2x4 as quick as a piece of maple or willow tree, lol

 

[wrench13]

Wow , maple? Really? Has anyone tried Oak toys, for the real chewers? I wish I could get Salty to try carboard boxes, we got a steady, FREE supply at work.

 

[Scott]

Destructive is a dual observation!

Destructive "A."
My Goffins have altered parts of their "bird room" by chewing some of the baseboards, window frames, the door, and in one case started stripping paint from the wall! Several cages are now set-back from the wall, and the chewing seems to have stopped - for now. If/when I sell the house, some R&R work will be necessary in addition to the obligatory new coat of paint.

Destructive "B."
Wooden toys rule! Some are more buzz-saw than others, but my wild-caught adult Goffin tackles macaw-sized toys. His favorite is a series of untreated 2" x 4" x 12" planks strung on chain. I've seen him take thin sections and "mount" them between the bars of his flight cage. Some birds seem to have stages ranging from indifference to voracious chewing of toys.

 

[JerseyWendy]

... Has anyone tried Oak toys, for the real chewers? .....

As a matter of fact, I have. That was an expensive toy I made. :54: Lasted an entire day. Oak appears to be easier to splinter than pine (at least for Ripley) :11:

The toys that hold up the longest for us are chunks of dragonwood. But then he loses interest and just snaps the sisal chord. :21:

 

[Scott]

The toys that hold up the longest for us are chunks of dragonwood. But then he loses interest and just snaps the sisal chord. :21:

They just love to dismantle frangible toys and send whole pieces to the bottom to be crapped on!! Most of my chew-toys are mounted on chain to preserve them at altitude for as long as possible!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

They just love to dismantle frangible toys and send whole pieces to the bottom to be crapped on!! Most of my chew-toys are mounted on chain to preserve them at altitude for as long as possible!!

HAHAHAHAHA! You nailed it, Scott!!! I try and be quick with the chunks Ripley drops to the grate, and get them out before he 'unloads' on them.

I've been using mostly sisal to string up his toys because I need to use 2 pairs of pliers if I use a SS Quick Links and chain to fasten it properly. If I only use my hands, he'll undo them and drops the entire toy to the bottom.

Found some awesome big SS chains at Lowe's and bought some. I can actually string sisal right through the links, attach woods, legos, other chewables, and fasten it securely and it's easy enough to refill.

Oh the lengths we go through to keep 'em happy and occupied. :21:

 

[Mariar]

Left alone in the house..sissy has chewed a hole threw the couch arm...throwing all the pieces of stuffing out into a neat little pile. When my fiancé falls asleep on the couch...sissy will pick the couch..just enough to make strings so she can come back later for them. She has plenty of attention and toys....Little brat.

 

[waynes91]

no life span on anything that hangs in the cage,store brought or home made but yeah there happy and quite for a while