Deter them from chewing.. if possible?

[momo]

Hi All,
Elmo is abusing her new found flightness.. :x she has begun to chew the curtain.. Does anyone know if there is anything I can put on the curtin.. to deter her?.. if possible.. :x mum said some chili but that just ring's badness in my head.

She's cage bound at the moment until I can figure this one out. I have let her out through the day and she has gone straight for the curtain.. and I chased her back to her cage as she landed there.. I know she knows it's wrong but she is Queen Elmo and doesn't care..

There is no door between our kitchen and lounge room.. how much I would LOVE a door.. I am thinking about getting door beads.. but they are so tacky.

Any suggestions?

[linda040899]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
My very best suggestion is to clip just a couple of her flight feathers so she can fly but not up to the curtains. Two primaries on each wing should do it!

Another suggestion might be using a water bottle set on "stream" and squirting her with it each time she lands on the curtains. Luck may have it, though, that she will like being squirted with water.......

I've used hanging beads before and it worked with a Quaker Parrot. Humans found them annoying because the door they were hung across was access to the kitchen!

Ginger (CAG) likes the to of my drapes in the dining room so I clip just enough of her flights so she can't get there.

[momo]

My apartment is about 3 meters high.. I would love her just to be able to fly 2m high.. the two primary might be the way.. I'm also paranoid.. because I know elmo is a good flyer.. She could get 2m length.. when she had two feathers on EACH SIDE... she could fly properly when she had about 75% of her wings too.. *sigh* Im still hoping that the two feathers on each side will work.. but when Elmo is determined... no point to stand in her way any more.. I am always defeated by a 51g feather ball!

I know if I squirt her.. she wont care.. she isn't afraid of water.. *sigh*.. The worst part about it.. shes pulling the threads out of the curtain where it's been sewn together!

---

Edit.. I just had a chat with my mum.. God elmo is so spoiled.. shes going to re-arrange half the house so elmo doesn't need to have her two feathers clipped.. :rofl:

[linda040899]

I just had a chat with my mum.. God elmo is so spoiled.. shes going to re-arrange half the house so elmo doesn't need to have her two feathers clipped.. :rofl:
You have a very special mother and don't ever forget that!!!!! :whistle: :whistle:

[momo]

You have a very special mother and don't ever forget that!!!!! :whistle: :whistle:

I think Elmo better not forget that ;) hahahaha..

I came home after a night out.. her temporary solution.. there is cellophane EVERYWHERE... covering all of Elmo's naughty not allowed spots.. purple.. all over the house... the shelves with the special ornaments.. the blinds...

[wilkiecoco]

ohhhhh - we are going to need a picture of that!!!!!!! :omg::omg::rofl::rofl:

You have a wonderful and very understanding Mom!!! :)

[momo]

Sometimes I wonder if my mother loves Elmo more than she loves me!.. and I'm an ONLY child!!!
hhaa.. I will have to take a photo of my new purple covered house..

[thebubbleking]

Well sunshine likes to chew as my pictures can attest, i haqve found a squirt bottle on stream works best even is she likes water the juet hitting her shocks her out of misbehaveing. but that just stops them for that second they go right back lol.

[BarbieH]

Be careful with the cellophane. Elmo might decide to chew that too, and it can be bad for her. Plastic can be particularly bad once it's digested, which is why the beads might not work either. Elmo might just like that place for chewing, and may chew anything.

BTW, chili wouldn't do anything but make you and your Mom cough and sneeze. Our birds don't have the same "heat" receptors on their tongues that we do. Many seed mixes for larger parrots even include whole chili peppers.

[Z28Taxman]

Be careful with the cellophane. Elmo might decide to chew that too, and it can be bad for her. Plastic can be particularly bad once it's digested, which is why the beads might not work either. Elmo might just like that place for chewing, and may chew anything.

BTW, chili wouldn't do anything but make you and your Mom cough and sneeze. Our birds don't have the same "heat" receptors on their tongues that we do. Many seed mixes for larger parrots even include whole chili peppers.

Ditto loves chili peppers!:omg:

[BarbieH]

That's right, you've gotten chili kisses before. :lol

[Bubblelady]

How about hanging a sheer curtain over the curtain she's shredding to protect it? I have a beautiful shoji screen made of soft wood that all my birds in the past 30 years think is just meant for chewing. For a while I covered it with a blanket but then I couldn't see the carvings I love so much. Finally, I got smart--it was covered on the back side by sheer fabric much like curtains. So I bought twice as much and covered it front, back, and top. Not quite as attractive as it's meant to be, but the wood is protected from birdie beaks. Of course, occasionally they crawl up inside the front & back layer, from the bottom :omg: I also tried hanging beads (wooden) years ago to keep a budgie out of the front room. He just landed on the floor, walked under them, then flew on his way :rofl: Bird brain at work!

[momo]

LOL @ the birdy getting past the door beads!

I will have to look into this sheer curtain.. the curtain I have is one of those pull down ones.. it's to keep the sun out because it comes through the kitchen in the afternoon and it's up quite high and she lands on the handle but mum has covered the handle up with the cellophane so she hasn't been able to land there and has given up. (for now...)

Thanks for the heads up about the chilli, I could have made the situation a whole lot worse!!... I might just have to give her a chilli.. maybe it will be the only veg that she will eat.. Her daddy lovesssssss chilli.. to the point I cry watching him eat it so spicy!

[Z28Taxman]

That's right, you've gotten chili kisses before. :lol

Yeah, that smarts! I like chili's but not up the nose! :omg::omg::omg:

[FuzzyAga]

Momo, I had a similar problem with Juanita loving my drapes, Dupioni silk--no less!, that I spent hours making when I first moved into my house, complete with a wooden valance that I gold-leafed the trim on. She would fly to it, get inside at the top, snuggle into the darkness and start to chew the top of the drape. Oh, no, missy, not my drapes, I told her. I used to shake the drapes and she would come flying out, but I could easily spend the whole day doing this, because the persistence of a love hen is greater than your determination.

I accidentally found the solution when I was wrapping Christmas presents near her. It's a benign, impersonal, and tireless solution. She hates with a passion the tubes of bright wrapping paper that come individually wrapped in cellophane. You've seen them. I just leave one leftover tube of this wrapping paper propped against the drape where she can see it, and now she avoids the drapes. If she forgets, I casually move it, and she flys off the drape, screaming her alarm call the whole time. If I see Petey hanging on the drape, I just tell him, "Watch it, stick-man's going to get you!" And wouldn't you know it, he understands and flys off, calling his alarm call. Smart bird. Just be sure to pick the colors that seem to fit the decor. (Kidding :))

Hope this will help you.

[LauraO]

I always tell people that if I had the will of a little bird (a lovebirdy) I would rule the world:whistle:.

I think findiing something Elmo doesn't like and putting it near areas you don't want her is a great idea. We did something similiar with those long green floaters kids used in pools. We called it the green noodle. The birds were terrified of it. So we'd put it wherever we wanted to keep them away from. The problem is lovebirdies always find new and exciting ways to get in trouble. So we had to keep moving the noodle around:x.

[BarbieH]

We also have something that the birds hate. It's a broom handle that's red with black spots. I'm sure it looks like a very dangerous snake! It's been very effective at "coaxing" birds off the cupboards, just by moving it near them. If I needed to keep them off curtains, it would work there too. Green noodle probably looks like a Python!