From: jeffj@ultra.com (Jeff Johnson)
Subject: Re: Congo grey chewing
Reply-To: jeffj@ultra.com (Jeff Johnson)
Organization: Ultra Network Technologies
Distribution: rec
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 21:31:30 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.111133.11619@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> swt@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes:
=>In article <9APR199216013351@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov>,
=>ttkunat@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (DAVE KUNATH) writes: 
=>> 
=>> 	Can anyone give me the name of something that will keep my Grey 
=>> busy ? 
=>
=>Here are some things that work for Keltset and Smokey (my apartmentmate's
=>two greys)

And other things that work for Mad Max and Jessica (although they're 'toos)

=>
=>	cardboard (especially cardboard tubes, from inside wrapping paper
=>		   and paper towel rolls)

Mad Max freaks out when he sees a cardboard tube.  If he ever goes on one
of his screaming binges, all I have to do is show him a tube and he
immediately shuts up.  I don't know why the tube has this effect, so I
don't use it for sound control often, just as a last resort.

=>	pens (with the ink cartridge removed, and don't ever count on 
=>		using the pen again! :-)  Pen caps alone are often 
=>		okay, too)
=>	bird toys with long chains and bells

Mad Max removes the clappers from toy bells too easily, leaving a sharp
protrusion inside the bell.  I don't know if greys have the same beak
strength.  Max doesn't get bells.  Instead, he gets lots of wood on
his chains.  Manzinita, Eucalyptus, and pieces of pine board (make sure
it hasn't been treated)

=>	interesting chewy food items (corn cobs, the inner cores of
=>		pineapples, celery)

Please be careful about what kind of "cores" you give your birds.  Many
fruit "cores," "pits," and "seeds" contain toxins.  For example, peach
pits are a source of cyanide, and I think that apple seeds contain a
toxin.  My bottom line is that I only give my birds the part of the
fruit I would eat.  For example, I'd never give my bird a corn cob without
the corn attached!

=>
=>Smokey's favorite occupation is ripping up the newspaper under his cage,
=>but I've heard that the ink in newspaper is poisonous so I wouldn't recommend
=>this unless you can get paper that hasn't been printed on yet.

I've heard that the ink is toxic, I've heard that it isn't toxic, I've heard that
the only the color ink (funny pages) is toxic.  Regardless, I don't use newspaper.
I get rolls of butcher paper from Price Club (Warehouse Store) and use that.
The birds rip it up, chew it, make soup in their water bowl, etc.

You read on the net and in publications such as Bird Talk about all the
dangers that exist in a household.  It makes you wonder how birds survive
in the wild.  But remember that in the wild, birds choose what they eat,
when they eat, where they play, etc.  In the wild, birds are not exposed to
concentrated airborne toxins.  In the wild, if a bird doesn't like its
environment, it can relocate.  In the house, it's stuck with what it's
provided, so it's up to us to provide only the best.
-- 
    Jeff Johnson    | Ultra Network Technologies | voice: (408) 922-0100 x284
  jeffj@ultra.com   |     101 Daggett Drive      |   fax: (408) 433-9287
...ames!ultra!jeffj |    San Jose, CA  95134     |   sex: (900) 976-4825
 The difference between ignorance and apathy?  I don't know and I don't care
Newsgroups: rec.pets.birds