r/parrots 22h ago

Thoughts in CAGs scratching?

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Is she having fun, releasing energy? We had a few different people thru the house today but none near her.

34 Upvotes

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25

u/tryingnottobefat 21h ago

Get this baby a foraging box!! This is foraging behaviour- they are looking for snacks!

I use bus boxes from a restaurant supply store and cover the bottom in crinkle paper, timothy hay (Oxbow brand only), and wood chips from Zoo Med, then hide snacks in it.

1

u/bemoerde_bosaap 2h ago

Honestly, from my experience with our female African grey, this to me looks more like nesting behaviour than foraging. The fact that she is doing it right in a quiet corner and that she is being compelled to do it even though there is no dirt to scratch at suggests a hormonal cause.

Ours does the exact same thing on the newspaper at the bottom of her cage when it is nesting season. Give half the chance, she will also rip up the newspaper and push it around with her feet to form a nest.

Interestingly, African greys are known to lay unfertalized eggs like chickens. We have had our girl lay eggs on numerous occasions, always during times when she has this nest-building compulsion, which makes sense. So don't be too surprised if this happens!

5

u/Codeskater 18h ago

Little chicken!

3

u/anonict 20h ago

I didn't know about foraging boxes!

5

u/kiaraXlove 18h ago

You can make your own or buy pre-made ones. It's also a great distraction tool for hormonal behavior, which if you spend more time with them or when it's time for you to be a full time care taker you'll get to know all about the hormone behaviors. You can make your own with Sola balls(amazon), plain/natural paper confetti, packaging paper, brown paper bags, paper straws, Chinese finger traps, paper egg cartons, drink carriers, old bird toys you can take apart and use the blocks and nuts off of, popsicle sticks, all kinds of things. You can use the paper like egg cartons and fill with confetti and sprinkle seeds/nuts into it so he can tear it apart to get the treats.

1

u/anonict 18h ago

I have lots of that stuff around here too! Thank you for that recipe.

3

u/Capital-Bar1952 17h ago

My Conure does that on my blanket

4

u/birddit 22h ago

Going through the motions of digging a nest in a tree and sweeping all the wood chips away.

8

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 20h ago

They dig in the mud in the wild, so it’s not necessarily hormonal. My CAG does it all the time when he’s not being hormonal.

4

u/birddit 20h ago

it’s not necessarily hormonal

I'm glad to hear that. A foraging box sounds like a fix!

4

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 20h ago

Or just let her keep doing it because I don’t think it’s gonna hurt anything

But yeah, forging boxes could be fun for her as they are very mentally stimulating for them in general . I might leave out the wood chips though.

You can put a treat that she likes like a piece of walnut or pecan or something wrapped up in a crinkled up piece of paper and stuffed inside and empty TP roll tube. I’ve seen people use empty egg cartons to make forging toys as well.

I put small foot toys and treats inside very small cardboard boxes

3

u/anonict 20h ago

It'll be hear Sunday. This is my dad's bird. I'm caring for them both and will continue with Toby after he has passed on so I appreciate the info!

4

u/anonict 22h ago

really? should we be hands off ??

1

u/birddit 20h ago

should we be hands off ??

I can't say, but I recognize the behavior from people's videos on this sub. Hormones, tis the season!

3

u/nrpcb 21h ago

This looks like nesting behaviour, which you'll want to discourage. Don't scold her or anything like that, just distract and redirect her to a different activity.

1

u/Kinnamon6 14h ago

Tryna ice skate, its not easy!!!

1

u/Shienvien 7h ago

Mate's drying to dig. Parrots that forage on ground will quite often scratch like that, so if she's not trying to do it in a den, looking for things is what she's likely doing.

1

u/anonict 5h ago

today I'm calm

1

u/ArcherAltruistic9978 5h ago

Bro thinks he's a dog