Morana

I don't think he is doing just fine!! He is eating paper and cardboard! He is not fine! So without his usual, favorite toys, I saw (when I came home from my trip an hour ago) that Zak played with just one of the alternative toys I have left him:-( My father tells me he cuddled a lot but still.. I start working on Monday and don't know how will he be doing without his toys. I see he's likes playing on his boing and he is flying around quite a bit but when I'll be gone all day he won't be able to stay outside the cage and there fore he'll have less things to play with.. Maybe he warms to those other toys, but my first wish is he stops eating paper and cardboard so we can get backed to our usual games :-) Thank you all for answering:-) And Talon,it is normal at our house. I trim/clip his beak when necessary (without toweling). He is not happy about it but lets me do it. I wanted to order pine nuts at several occasions now and somehow I end up without them because the shop I'm ordering from at that moment doesn't have them. I usually buy everything together (food, toys..) because the cost of the shipping is terribly high. If someone has some good sites where I could order, pleas put them here.

So guys, do you think there is a way to make him stop? Any thoughts why he would have start eating it in a first place?

He is pooping a LOT lately. I have the vet checked the droppings and everything is fine. I must say that I haven't really watched myself that closely..

Oh, and I forgot to mention!!- One day (that's how it started) I saw Zak puke (2 times!!) a bits of paper. Both were slimy so I started to suspect something might not be OK.

Well, here is the video and I really haven't seen him throw it away at any point. Let me know what you think. http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd240/evilzlo/?action=view&current=MOV02269.mp4 The question is, what if he is eating it?

Yes he is eating normal as always..He sure is not hungry.

Well, he definitely changed the way he is shredding. He used to chomp of a bit, no matter the size of the piece, and throw it instantly away. Now he is biting the smallest bits, rolling them in the beak and as I watched him, my nose against his beak,he makes that motion where he swallows and he doesn't spit anything out and rarely I can see something shredded on the floor. I watched him for few days now and today it dawned on me that he is doing it on purpose!

Well, as some know, my Zak LOVES shreddable toys! :-) Since now, it meant give him any piece of paper or a birdie bagel and you'll have a happy, happy bird. Well now, you'd still have a happy, happy bird but now this happy bird EATS paper and cardboard!! :-((((((((( I'm totally miserable! Zak is banned playing with all his favorite toys and I have one sad bird. It just happened literally one day. Yesterday he was just shredding and throwing instantly everything on the floor and another day he was taking just little bits out of paper/birdie bagels/tea boxes, making little balls off of it and swallowing them. What should I do? Why the hell did it start? What do you see and I don't? I need any input because now we are both really miserable! :-( I'm going on trip tomorrow and of course I wanted to leave him the whole cage filled with birdie bagels, paper toys and other stuff and now he is stuck with just 3 toys that aren't eatable to him (for now) and he doesn't like 2 of them. So, Zak we'll be even sadder without me and all the toys. Help guys! How much can this swallowing stuff hurt him? How can I rehabilitate him?

Well, I just have to say this.. One day you'll "forget" to hold feet of your birdie because something can startle you and there is a chance not that your bird flies off somewhere far, but just falls from the safety of your hand..In the street it might bee enough to harm it very much-..a dog; a person who doesn't look where he/she is going; a car; a bicycle; whatever that comes along..- a bird on the ground can be easily harmed. Especially if it leaps suddenly. I'm not saying don't clip your bird, or don't take it outside. I'm saying do the responsible thing-better safe than sorry. Do what ever you can to ensure your lovely birds safety. And younger birds are more prone to excepting what ever you bring their way, so aviator suit is a good idea to try as soon as possible.. BTW, I have a story that goes: my bird NEVER .....(in my case) eat paper or cardboard and I had him for almost 10 years, but guess what, he does now! It just happened one day..My point is-if it didn't happened till now it doesn't mean you are safe for a lifetime..

Great video but my heart almost stopped when I saw you're birdie doesn't have a harness. I must say, that is really dangerous. Please read all the posts about harnessing and many threads where people explained how clipped bird can still fly off and get lost/hurt. Wouldn't want that cutie pie to get hurt.

Tnx guys for answering:-) I know you would take any precaution necessary but I didn't have the same luck in the days I was volunteering (not with birds). I know it is not really for comparison but I'm gonna tell it anyway so you please add on with any thoughts. I worked (actually volunteered) with horses. They were in a program helping disabled people have exercise/healthier life. Horses were extensions of their bodies- their legs, for all those people who came there (mostly children) and could never walk on their own. So, since there were lot of animals beside the horses- cats, dogs,.. I was aware that there would be fleas so I frequently and thoroughly sprayed my apartment with something that would kill fleas, I changed all my clothes before I came in the house and left the clothes by the door and still, I would have fleas:-S I just hated it! When a flea bites me I have a sour, itching spot for TWO months and I was eaten so much that I looked as ladybird with all those spots:-S So my point is..-I took precautions and still ended up with apartment full of fleas:-S They eventually died because of the bio kill but never the less.. I know fleas are not the same as airborne or some odder ailments in birds but somehow I'm still not at ease.. Any thoughts on that?

Yeeeeeeeeeeeey!:-D Really wonderful news!! -about Barnaby, about you not so much:-S I'm so glad that he is OK:-D You did a great job!! And say hi to your vet from me and Zak! It looks like she is really looking out for Barnaby too:-) I hope you'll get better really soon!

Well, I'm paranoid. I'd like to be more on the safe side. I do not wish to hurt them but to ensure they don't hurt anyone else (even unintentionally).

I didn't mean that as a punishment. I meant it as a precaution or call it an insurance that they wont get another bird.

Behehehehe! I agree!

Maybe you should call them again some time after all Barnaby's results come in to scare them a bit more. Let them now what happens when a bird is neglected and when owners don't know a proper way of taking care of a bird. Just to make sure they wouldn't acquire another. And where are the pictures!? Pictures please!! :-)

I have a question. Aren't you a bit afraid, while volunteering at a "bird shelter" that you won't bring some kind of ailment to your bird home?

If he hasn't set up some rules/conditions upon which all this charade would not be valid I say he should definitely go through with shaving his head!

hahahaha..nice one! Sorry I do not have a Facebook account

I must say.. Since I found this video with a chameleon I find myself watching it even few times a day and it makes me laugh so hard that it is a good pick me up. The music is perfectly coordinated with the scenes, the chameleon is so beautiful and I'm kinda always thinking that he bit that guy really hard so it is even funnier

Whee for great success! :-D Way to go you two!!! Can't wait to see some pictures!! :-D

Hahaha.... Great videos! And god forbid she would cut herself by walking on that broken pieces!!-she just flew away when the job was done. It is somebody's else job to clean that up! Hahaha! What a character! My Zak loves to throw coffee mugs from the counter. In our last apartment he threw 5 mugs, some with tea still in them, some empty Lol

And while searching for that video I found this one and LMAO! In the end the owner got what he deserved:p

The funny thing is that I just found it myself on you tube! :-P Lol I remembered it differently. I was sure there were some other bird and the video seemed longer before..Lol Thank you DawL for coming to the rescue :-)

Thank you DawL, I hope you feel much better very soon too:-) I was glad to see them the first few hours, but then I wished I was home and had left seeing them for some other time -I was pretty sick, as it turned out. Still am but I need to go to work today. I do not know how will I manage. Actually, i have a ton of stuff to do in 3 days to come.. Hate it!