Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Conner and the Box

Conner has continued to chew his box. He'll need a replacement pretty soon, and I've been trying to figure out how I'll find the proper one. We have several boxes in the house, but the box must be high enough for the bird to stand upright and wide enough for the bird to turn around. It also helps if the box is made of thick cardboard, preferably in multiple layers.
Here's a side view. He chewed almost to the bottom on this side.
Here's the other side of the box. Look at the destruction! At night he puts his head inside the hole and chews.

I'm glad that he likes the box. He only likes a toy the first time you give it to him to destroy. He ignores replacement toys. But he only likes popsicle sticks and koosh balls, so there are a limited number of toys available. You can see in the second photo that he's not very impressed with the pinata. It's been there for almost a year.


I'd like to mention again for any new bird owners, that you should not give boxes to females. It encourages their nesting behavior. Nesty females frequently lay eggs, which can be very dangerous. Conner is treating the box as a toy. Audrey is nesty with his box, but his hasn't harmed him after all these years.

2 comments:

  1. Picky, picky tiels. Mine used to be the same way, but it seems over the years they have gotten better. In the beginning, if the toy was not in the right place, of the right material, the right size, etc., they did not touch it. Now, I hardly notice it anymore. The toys they used to like, they will now "travel" to destroy, and they will also lower themselves enough to play hard even with formerly disdained toys. I can't say if all birds, or even all tiels are like this, I might have just gotten lucky!

    On the subject of boxes, though, they are verrryy popular here. Of course, as you say, I am extremely careful giving them to females, so I either cut the boxes open, or just use smaller boxes. My tiel pair are quite happy to tear up a small cracker box on top of their cage, and I never have to worry about stimulating Miss Patty, since she can't get in it!

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  2. I also give Conner a lot of smaller boxes. Conner likes to chew the edges. They're even more popular than the "toys"!

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