lovebird`s frustratingly destructive obsessive behavior

[oocho87]

I have a one year old female love bird who for the most part has been a blast. She is very very affectionate to me though does bite and chew on my fingers. I like to let her out of her cage most of the time except while sleeping and during our dinner time. She does poo poo everywhere has chewed on my lights.chewed up several houses I`ve bought for her, she`s been a blast.

Occasionally, she has crawled around the floor area next to her cages where I keep my internet modems and chewed through the cables. i have it covered in plastic and a blanket and she continues to crawl around the area and chew through any cable she can. I double covered it replaced one cable and she managed to chew through another cable. I can`t understand her absolute obsession with crawling around the floor and chewing on cables. I put her back in her cage wait an hour and when I open it she does right to the same place.

She has stuff to play with all around her cage.

I don`t want to keep her in her cage all the time but I don`t know what to to do....

I

[linda040899]

To understand the problem, you need to understand parrot background. In the wild, they have to forage for food and ways to stay safe/survive. All that changes in captivity. They have easy access to food and their human slaves do their best to keep them safe. While your lovebird may have toys to play with in her cage, she's bored so she's seeking entertainment. She's discovered there are lots of things to get into on and around the floor so that's where she goes. No matter how hard you try to conceal what she wants, she still knows where what she wants is so that's where she goes. My best suggestion is get things up off the floor and in places that are not so easy to access. My African Grey taught me this lesson many years ago when she chewed through every wire that was behind my computer desk! All wires came up off the floor, my mouse and keyboard became wireless. My wooden computer desk became the next target so I bought a glass desk and moved it into a different room and closed the door so she had no access. I have an Amazon who loves to chew up woodwork around doors so I've had to remove doors and close doors so she has no access.

Time outs in cages don't work because parrots don't understand "punishment." Being put back in the cage is simply a change of venue and they continue what they were doing before you put them in their cages. One thing I've found that does have an impact is being sprayed with water from a spray bottle. It catches their attention and they do stop what they are doing! They may repeat the undesirable behavior but they will think twice about it. Keep in mind that I only use water when they are in a safe place for them to get wet. I would never use it around electrical wires.

Hope this helps.