Obsessed with perching where he doesn't belong

[ruffledfeathers]

Gilbert has a recent fascination with flying to my tv hanging on the living room wall and standing on it. He is like a boomerang. I say "No" and take him off and either hold him, put him on shoulder or on a different perch and he flies back to where he chose to be, on the tv, again and again. It has reached the point where he has to have caged time when he would otherwise be out, because he refuses to stay off the tv.

I tried putting "scarecrows" on the top of the tv (i lined the top of the tv with dog toys, that are all staring down, kind of creepy) but it is not a proper solution and since he likes dog toys, it will only help temporarily anyhow, before he finds it fun and even more interesting.

What tricks have worked for other people?

I keep hoping the obsession will fade after enough time of not being allowed to do it. But if anyone has any other ideas, feel free to toss them my way!!!

 

[SilverSage]

I find that birds only want to perch on secure surfaces. Maybe cover the tv with a cloth, then when he perches on it, simply give the cloth a tug so it slides out from under him, or at least gives him a good wobble. Be consistent and soon he will (maybe) learn that it is not a stable perch and he doesn't want to be on it. Also, is he doing it when the t is on or off? Could it be that the tv is attracting him with bright lights, colors, and sounds? To parrots even the wobbly perch might be worth it if the tv is turned on. Maybe you need to have him in his cage when you watch tv, or turn it off when you are not really needing to be watching it, like if you are cooking or something. It is hard to say without knowing your lifestyle or the bird, but maybe try those things?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Maybe i will try with the cloth and see if he learns to 'not like' it. He will do it with the tv off (i am not a big tv watcher really). I suspect he likes it because it is the highest perch in the living room, which is where i spend most of my time. It is higher than his cage with an excellent view of the room, and i have mini recessed floodlights on that ceiling (there are built in book cases with a tv hanging in the middle and the lights shine on the book cases). I think he just likes the lighting and the nice view and discovered that this is cool. UGH......
I wouldn't specifically mind except that it's not really good for him when the tv is on and i don't want him to poop behind the tv (it's a 50 inch plasma which is so heavy, there is no way i could take it down to clean behind it without a few people over to help).

 

[SilverSage]

Makes sense. Is there somewhere in the room where you could hang a perch as high or higher than the tv, maybe even near a window or closer to your favorite chair? Maybe a perch with a treat cup? A toy?

 

[kiwiS]

Not sure how your t.v. is mounted, but how about putting a long shelf right on the t.v, all the way to the wall. That way your bird can still perch up there, and if he poops you can just wipe the shelf down?

 

[SilverSage]

Oh I like that idea! Another thought I just had (when Flick pooped on my new couch just now) was potty training. Then the perching spot is less of an issue.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Yeah, Gil is pretty good with potty but i have always allowed him to poop on his perching spot (he has perches in different rooms and he is permitted to poop when on them), so he fails to realize that my tv is not "his perching spot". hahaha I'll have to figure something out to make it the less attractive place for him. Maybe i'll even bring his upstairs T stand downstairs again and place it right in front of the tv for a bit, to see if it entices him back to a neutral zone!

 

[kiwiS]

I'm potty-training Kiwi at the moment, but I have to say when she wants to go, she will go wherever (except my shoulders, she never goes there). I make it a point to put her on her potty spot every ten minutes. If I forget then it's just some clean-up to do, if I can even find it!

 

[ShellyBorg]

How about a hanging play pen or atom hanging near the TV?

 

[MonicaMc]

I do like the ideas of putting other high perches within the room!

Another option, maybe teach him to fly to certain locations on cue?


My conures are like a boomerang... to me! I can set them down in certain places but they prefer being on me than anywhere else. Charlie may fly to the kitchen sink or to one of the couches, but after a while usually flies back to me.


Wish I had a play-stand that I could teach them to stay on rather than being with me! I just haven't found one I like enough to purchase yet!





Jayde is currently sitting on my shoulder, occasionally preening my ear. Charlie on the other hand is sitting on my right arm (because being on arms/hands is far superior to sitting on my shoulder when I'm sitting down! Or in my lap, too) preening his feathers. He is un-phased with me typing and moving my arm.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

@MonicaMc--i have been working on telling him to "go home" (fly to cage top) but he wants to explore as well. I think i'll have to get more creative with my setup! Perhaps this new obsession with the tv is just that it is 'new' and therefore more interesting, so i can maybe divert his attention to something seemingly more cool. (His true favorite place is the kitchen island, because that's where he goes for meals, LOL....that's him training ME to feed him constantly.) If his perch is cleaned up and removed from the island, he will land on whatever is there (including a vase of flowers, with petals flying everywhere, silly bird).

 

[MonicaMc]

That's about the best you can do! Make another place more exciting and fun to be at than where you don't want him to be!

 

[Birdman666]

My macaw used to fly to a spot directly IN FRONT OF the TV, and open her wings... what? Were you trying to watch that, when you were supposed to be paying attention to me?!

 

[patch]

I put plastic round-pointed things along my lampshades so Pepper wouldn't land on them anymore. I've since taken them off and he's never attempted it again.