Birds biting bars of cage

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:06 am

I have one female zebra in a hospital cage recovering from being plucked half bald while I was gone for about a month (I didn't abandon them, I had a "sitter"). She is not happy in the smaller cage but I want her to get all her feathers back before she goes anywhere. Well she has taken up biting the bars of the cage, she will just sit there and sort of chew on them. Now my other two zebras in their cage have taken to hopping around on the bottom of the cage and biting the bars, or standing on a perch and biting the side bars. It reminds me of when I had a cat and they would lick the blinds. I wonder if it's the same kind of thing? Anyone have any experience with this?

As I finished typing this my other hen started doing it again!

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:01 am

That sounds like a stress reaction. Maybe they just want out of there and to be all together. Can they all see each other? Maybe you should consider trying to put the hospital cage in a totaly separate room where she can't see or hear the others and see if that makes a difference.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:14 am

I didn't think of that. It could be stress, the two hens have been buddies for a while and they can hear and see each other. The only problem with moving Whitey to the other room is that there is only one other room in the apartment, and they can hear each other from that room too. It might be far enough away though. She is probably healthy enough to go back into the flight cage, but the zebra couple is caring for a chick and I don't want them to get distracted. One of their chicks already didn't make it because of my interference. (Though in my defense I didn't know it had hatched yet...)

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:19 am

I was just watching the zebra pair in the flight cage and the hen that is biting the bars is hopping on the bottom the same way she used to hop in the litter in the old cage (I didn't have the bars on the bottom of her last cage). She used to kind of forage or poke around in the litter. She's just hopping around the same way pecking and biting at the bars. I think now that with the hen in the hospital cage it is probably stress related; she doesn't hop around on the bottom like that, she bites the sides and top of the cage. Would they likely be doing it for the same reason even though they are going about it in different ways? I wish they could just tell me what's wrong! All I want is happy finches.

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:11 pm

One of my Javas does it all the time, usually about 7:30am and 7:30pm, that is there play time with me and I am sure they can tell the time, they just want some exercise

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:08 am

Bar biting occurs all the time in my breeding cages, in my large aviary it's not that obvious but birds are always looking for ways and means to entertain themselves.

I think it is more out of frustration that the bar biting occurs not because there is anything else wrong with the bird.

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:30 am

try sticking some pebbles in the cage and if you can get your hands on any, some coral, my birds love jumping around on it and it stopped the cage biting to an extent. Be creative with your construction though.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:39 am

Geordie- So your birds chew on the coral and pebbles instead? That's interesting.

Williep- That makes me feel a little better about it.

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:06 pm

They don't "chew" the coral, they might rub their beaks on it but mainly they just bounce around on it, and after everytime I clean the cage I put the coral in different places, keeps them busy...

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:21 pm

Ah ok. I will look into that.