after 20 years my Macaw has climbed down her perch and chewed 2 side walls! I tried the bitter apple, no luck

Question

My Macaw has never done this why all of a sudden? How can I stop her chewing? I have had to dry walled it 2 times so far!

Answer 1

It could be she is looking for calcium (& may associate her need with the white she finds under the paint - do you put a cuttlebone or mineral block in her cage?). You might try giving her calcium in liquid form that comes in the gel caps - yes, it's for us but I've given it to my birds with good results. Cut a very little bit off the top of the gel cap and just squeeze out a tiny bit into her beak. My ringnecks came to love the stuff and would voluntarily want it. But only give your bird 1 squeeze - less than half of the contents of 1 gel cap. I had to go to a Health Food/Vitamin store to find liquid calcium because calcium is usually combined with something else like magnesium or oyster shell and it's in the tab form. But chewing on walls or furniture (except for cockatoos who will chew up a room just for sheer pleasure) usually indicates the bird is needing something she's not getting in her diet. You may need to experiment a bit with her daily food intake. Try Roudybush pellets and/or sprinkle some avian vitamin supplements on her food (I haven't had much luck adding vitamins to my birds' drinking water... changes the taste or something but they don't like it much). My first guess would behowever, she's needing calcium. Combine this with some source of Vit D which is necessary for birds as it metabolizes the calcium. People make Vit. D from the sun, birds can't. All species of birds need different amounts so talk to a vet about what's best for a Macaw.
. As a bird ages, dietary needs change, same as people.

Answer 2

Have there been any important changes in your/her life lately? Sounds like she's either bored or upset about something. Did you recently marry, move or move in with someone, or acquire another pet? She may consider you her "mate" and is now jealous. Has there been any major upset in your home, like someone moving out or a remodeling project? She may be upset by the change and working it out with her beak. Have you been working longer hours or traveling further to and from work? She may be feeling lonely and neglected. She shouldn't be left out on a perch unattended at any rate: it's not safe for her any more than it is for your home and possessions. She should have plenty of interesting chew toys designed to be safe for parrots. Some of the rubber dog toys (like Kongs and nylabones) can also be used for parrots: the kongs can be stuffed with treats like unshelled peanuts or grapes so she'll have to work at it to get the treat out. Of couse, the more time you spend with her, the happier she'll be. Keeping her too many hours in the cage can result in the development of neurotic habits like feather pulling, obsessive rocking or screaming or chewing on her skin. It's better to try to figure out what's causing this unusual (for her) behavior and rectifying it. Good luck and don't give up on her!

Answer 3

iput up a painting on the wall my bird went to..
really colorful one..
try a poster a cheap one...
i also bought that white shell the oyster shell..
cause i thought maybe something was missing in the diet..
then i bought the empty real oyster shells...and he loves that..
my son thought maybe the shell could hurt the bird then i showed him the ones i found on the beach and how birds hammer with their beaks into the shell to get the meat..
i do not feed him meat and he is 24..
i also put a cloth (cotton bright purple) on the other wall..just tack it up..and that amuses..him and the painting..bright oranges and yellows..
hope it works..
the other day i came home and my bird was singing Christmas carols to amuse himself..

Answer 4

Sounds to me she needs to be kept in her cage for a long time instead of let out all the time. You need to go buy her some bird safe wood to chew on. Look what is safe for birds and hunt down huge chuncks of it and let her have it, this is a sign of wanting to nest and breed and she will get over it but it will take a while. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

Try giving her more toys and objects that she can chew. She may have ravaged the wall out of boredom.

Answer 6

Try the bitter pill... 22 caliber will do.

Answer 7

well if you have problems with it then put it somewhere where you won't have any problems with it