Cockatiel keeps getting head stuck in bars in cage?

Question

Well, my cockatiel has got his head stuck in between the bars in the cage twice while we've been home. Then he starts squealing. I think he does it because he wants to get out of the cage. Yesterday, he got his head stuck in the bars on the front of the cage, the time before that, he got his head stuck in the bottom where the metal grate is. Both times we managed to free him but I am worried about him because we have spens a lot of money on him and the cage. Will he learn not to put his head through the bars or not?

Since yesterday, he has been spending most of his time on the cage floor, there is water and seeds in the cage feederd but he is stayng on the floor biting on the metal grate on the bottom, sometimes I even see him eating his own faeces. Whatis wrong with him?

Answer 1

You need a different cage with less space between the bars. Your bird is going to try just about anything to entertain himself and sticking his head between the bars is just one tiny example of what he might try.

As for the other behaviors, it sounds like he is bored. Birds need entertainment and can become bored with toys very quickly. You need a variety of different types of toys so you can swap them out every few days or so. If he does seems to enjoy a certain toy, leave that one in the cage for longer periods of time.

I once actually went so far as to make a "bird frustration" toy for a conure I had. It was a hollow block of wood with big rubber bands running through it and beads on the ends of the rubber bands. My bird would try to pull off the beads and when she tried to grab them with her foot, it would just snap back to the block of wood. Kept her busy for hours!

Answer 2

You definitely need a cage with smaller spacing in between the bars.

You should put some food on the bottom of the cage for now.

Put it in a small bowl, a flat dinner plate or even on top of non-shiny newspaper.  They will chew on paper and shiny paper has more chemicals which you do not your bird putting into his system.

As to toys, pet shops sell toys.  

Also, a dog rope toy with lose stringy ends most Cockatiels love.

Just hang it from the cage with one stringy end sticking through the top and a close-pin on the top outside clipped to that end.

A rawhide like dogs chew on is another thing our Tiels like to chew on.

Also try a variety of diet to break up his boredom.

Cockatiels love Millet seed on the branches

(available in most pet shops and pet catalogs etc.)

Most of Our Cockatiels love cooked eggs.

Boiled, plain fried or plain scrambled eggs

(When cooking eggs; milk is ok to add to the eggs but not required) and once cooled off even cold cut or mash into very small pieces and put the eggs in a dish at the bottom of his cage or in feeder.

For now I would suggest in a dish at the bottom of the cage.

When we ate watermelon this summer, I already knew that was a safe and healthy food for Cockatiels. What surprised me is when I gave them a piece of watermelon and left some of the red fruit on it was that they liked the green rind better and chewed half way through the bottom of the rind.  So that is a treat you can have and then give him a piece of your left-over watermelon rind!

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