is scratching bad? please help

[lynette]

hi everyone. ive had skye a while now and he seems to have got a habit. he stands and scratches the base of his cage it did have a grill at the bottom but i took this out as i thought he might hurt his feet now he stands and scratches the sand. i tried a rubber mat but he cheweed it in 5mins and a towel he scratches up. any ideas? is it bad for him?:unsure:

[casper]

Hiya lynette,

 

All my greys still scratch the bottom of their cages, dont worry its quite normal!

 

They tend to do it more when they are babies but my eldest grey Charlie is 17 months old and still does it sometimes. He also scratches the side of his food bowl as well as the bottom of the cage.

 

Caroline.

[Mistyparrot]

In the wild greys like to come down to the ground and scratch around for minerals

and grasses to aid digestion. Many parrots like to do this. You need to make sure that the cage floor is clean, especially if your grey spends a lot of time in there and poops there.

What your little chap is doing is natural behavior.

 

 

Steve n Misty<br><br>Post edited by: Mistyparrot, at: 2008/11/14 22:40

[Sallas]

Both of my Greys will hang on the side wall of the cage, look at me and scratch with one foot as a way of telling me, "Daddy, I want out by you!!!".

[she]

This is normal common behaviour. I also remove the grill from the bottom of the cage.

[BMustee]

All baby greys do it. Some seem to stop pretty quick but others will do it for longer. We have a TAG at the store that is about 1 1/2 years and he still digs ALL the time.