Sudden change in behavior.

[robow]

Hello, My African Grey, Icarus, has suddenly become very destructive. He is almost two years old, at the end of February. I have a play stand for him in my home office with lots of toys food and water that I have always left him on while I am at work, but recently the stand doesn't seem to be enough for him; he is now venturing out and destroying anything he can find. Today I came home to an office chair he had begun to tear apart, and a jacket that he had been so kind as to remove the zipper from, tooth by tooth. Even when I am with him he misbehaves, if he is on my shoulder he is constantly biting at my shirt and putting holes in them. Like I said this behavior just started probably in the last 2 months. He is fully flighted and we spend a lot of time with him, he loves to help us cook. I change his toys often so he always has something new to play with.

 

I don't know if this matters or if it will help anyone find a solution but his diet is, odd. He likes pellets, red beans and rice and that is about it. He runs from spaghetti, and throws most fruits and vegetables away. He seems happy, always singing, he talks a lot. I just hate that I may have to leave him in his cage when I am not home.

 

If anyone can help me figure out what to do I would greatly appreciate it, as would Icarus.

[danmcq]

Hello and welcome. If you wish to leave Icarus in a "Room" as described, you should make it a dedicated bird room and remove anything you do not want chewed up. Chewing and ripping things up is what a parrot does. If you cannot turn that room in to a parrot room, then you will need to cage him when gone, as most of us do. We just make certain their cage is filled with plenty of toys to shred and chew on. In regards holes in shirts, all us parrot owners have shirts with those and have resigned ourselves to wearing "Parrot shirts" that we do not care if they get chewed on.

[Dave007]

There's a difference between a baby grey and a grey who's reached the age of 2 or 3. Tht's the time when some greys start being destructive simply because they find out that they can be destructive. They're only doing what comes naturally. Their big thing is wood but other things satisfy them. If you have a bird who is destructive when you're not home and no one else is there all day, he must be caged because there's nothing you can do to make him stop.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Welcome to the terrible two's! Nancy

[Wingy]

I highly recommend providing a wide variety of objects for shredding, chewing and destroying. My buddy has been on a wooden block chewing kick but next week it might be shredding paper or just chewing. I keep both hanging and foot toys with various textures for his enjoyment. It is a great feeling when I come home from work and see that he's turned one of his toys into chunks. I know that "I got it right" and that he had fun while I was gone.

[Mickeys Mom]

This sounds like a phase, because my boy did the same at this age, but I never ever ever left him unattended or out of the cage when im not at home. This does not sound very safe for the parrot.

[chezron]

This was a phase for my grey. Your grey needs redirection and vigilance to keep him out of trouble, but on the good side he IS sharing his exuberance with you. He is testing his new found self confidence and abilities. Try to find what I call "the sacrificial lambs" so he can be destructive with things that have little value, and be kept away from things with value. You will soon figure out what he likes to destroy. Keep those things out of reach or covered. Most of my furniture has quilts covering it, so he cannot chew nailheads or cording. If he likes zippers buy an old garment at the flea market that he CAN chew, or get lots of chewable bird toys, or give him broccoli stems, corks, clothes pins, or other entertainment. Part of the way around this phase is to realize that some stuff is going to get defaced. My guy is five, and he still has his times of the day when he gets into stuff, but we deal - no problem. I love that I can almost see the wheels in his head turning as he tries to figure out how to destroy something. He feels accomplished and smart when he does and that makes me happy. I just steer him to the stuff he CAN destroy.