Biting Wires

Juliet Taylor

Regular Member
Hello my lovely Charlotte has got into a habit when out of her cage to chew through wires. Any advice as to preventing this would be lovely.
 
I would probably go with the distraction tactic and try to give her something that's way more intresting than a bit of wire.
 
Thanks. I'm trying to hide them but she seems to find them. Not sure what else would take her fancy. She's got lots of toys in her cage.
 
Run them through some trunking or have plastic tubing, we have our ceiling light cable running through an piece of grey plastic downpipe!!! Best to be safe than sorry. :thumbsup:
 
You could also try putting something scary there. For example, we bought Ruby some rope perches for her cage but she was terrified of them. I now have one on top of the living room door and one draped over the TV, two places she liked to perch but we did want her to. Did the trick, three years on, she won’t go near those places.

#humanwinthistime
 
Yes, whether you have parrots of other pets, run your electrical cables through tubing. You can get those clear flexible aquarium tubing.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PVC-Tube-Clear-Plastic-Hose-Pipe-Food-Grade-Fish-Pond-Car-Aquariums-Air/221293533874?hash=item33861f5ab2:m:mvmCix3J9tOeCuV7Mku8q0w&var=520178658701&_sop=12&_sacat=20754&_nkw=aquarium+tube&_from=R40&rt=nc

I've even used a plastic drink bottle, cut the top and bottom off and you got a clear plastic pipe.

mimyIr8.jpg


You can also get some cable trunking

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D-Line-TV-Electrical-Cable-Wire-Tidy-Plastic-Cover-Wire-Hide-Trunking-PVC-Dline/322811967324?hash=item4b2917b75c:m:mpv8_gNSys1p-_r4PIZo9_A&var=511942769742&_sop=12&_sacat=0&_nkw=electric+cable+cover&_from=R40&rt=nc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electrical-Cable-Trunking-3M-PVC-Wire-Conduit-Plastic-Cover-White-All-Lengths/322921669792?hash=item4b2fa1a4a0:m:m1I69iPWAKlESrKJF5MP8xg&var=512041060362&_sop=12&_sacat=0&_nkw=electric+cable+cover&_from=R40&rt=nc

Even if these are all not parrot proof, they will buy you time in getting the parrot away from the cable before they chew through the cable. Saying that, Princess Mia manage to take apart one of our able trunking a week ago and she chewed through the internet cable. So we suddenly lost our internet connection. Fortunately I manage to reconnect the wires using a connecting block.

It these wires that are way above 12V that you need to worry about, it's not just about the damage causes to your wires, but also could be dangerous to your bird as they could get electrocuted.
 
chewing of wires has been a major problem in my home. but not so much the birds as of late but rodents and squirrels. covering wires with trunking or even bury the wires in walls or under carpet.
 
Surely cables under carpets is frowned upon by fire brigade as a fire hazard, as because cables can get walked on and rolled over, you may not be aware of abrasion to the cable?
 
you do not run it across the carpet only along the edge. now I do not have a tv but the humidifiers dehumidifier and air filter and fly zappers are run partly under the edge of the carpet and in trunking as it goes up to the appliance and socket. as these are movable and the height of the sockets and to the appliance will be the same the cable including the excess is hidden away from the birds and dose not get chewed. It would not be practical too put all the cable in trunking as the length of cable needed will vary depending on how far from the plug you place the appliance. As the electrical items are moved regularly any slight abrasion would be noticed and I have never had the slightest damage to the cable Fixed items that are electrical should have the cable to the correct length and in trunking
 
running cables across a carpet even if it is in a protective flat trunking I would never recommend as this will also create a bump that a person can trip on or make things like the cage wheels and vacuum cleaners get caught and as you correctly pointed out it cannot be seen if any wear occurs. if you have to get electrics to a point across the room then it is far better to either rewire it across using cable set behind the wall and through the attic or under the upstairs floor. in many flats it may not be possible to do this so it is still better to take the wires though trunking set across or around the edge of the ceiling and down the walls. I will recommend getting a qualified person to re wire and insure the correct fusing and safe installation is completed. Now also on the side of safety extension leads apart from short term use and multi sockets extensions are not recommended by the fire brigade and having three wire cable to appliances (earth) can be a danger to birds if chewed. running a separate earth and a two wire system correctly and safe is a job for a qualified electrician. two wire (live and Neutral) is safer if it get chewed but insuring the items that require an earth are earthed properly it will be necessary that an earth wire or strap will connect to the earth. earth wires or straps need to be checked regally to insure that the circuit has not been broken I am sure that @darrendiver can explain better.
 
Yes, whether you have parrots of other pets, run your electrical cables through tubing. You can get those clear flexible aquarium tubing.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PVC-Tube-Clear-Plastic-Hose-Pipe-Food-Grade-Fish-Pond-Car-Aquariums-Air/221293533874?hash=item33861f5ab2:m:mvmCix3J9tOeCuV7Mku8q0w&var=520178658701&_sop=12&_sacat=20754&_nkw=aquarium+tube&_from=R40&rt=nc

I've even used a plastic drink bottle, cut the top and bottom off and you got a clear plastic pipe.

mimyIr8.jpg


You can also get some cable trunking

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D-Line-TV-Electrical-Cable-Wire-Tidy-Plastic-Cover-Wire-Hide-Trunking-PVC-Dline/322811967324?hash=item4b2917b75c:m:mpv8_gNSys1p-_r4PIZo9_A&var=511942769742&_sop=12&_sacat=0&_nkw=electric+cable+cover&_from=R40&rt=nc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electrical-Cable-Trunking-3M-PVC-Wire-Conduit-Plastic-Cover-White-All-Lengths/322921669792?hash=item4b2fa1a4a0:m:m1I69iPWAKlESrKJF5MP8xg&var=512041060362&_sop=12&_sacat=0&_nkw=electric+cable+cover&_from=R40&rt=nc

Even if these are all not parrot proof, they will buy you time in getting the parrot away from the cable before they chew through the cable. Saying that, Princess Mia manage to take apart one of our able trunking a week ago and she chewed through the internet cable. So we suddenly lost our internet connection. Fortunately I manage to reconnect the wires using a connecting block.

It these wires that are way above 12V that you need to worry about, it's not just about the damage causes to your wires, but also could be dangerous to your bird as they could get electrocuted.


do not assume nov voltage wires are safer than mains voltage , this would be a mistake , voltage will not kill anyone including a parrot BUT the amps that the voltage carries will 100% kill
 
i would never recommend running live and neutral with out a earth so for it being safer i can't see how live / neutral can be safer than live / neutral and earth

majority of houses are whats called PME which means protected multiple earth , so as the cable comes in to the property from the outside main line the neutral is also the earth
live and neutral is the same as live and earth , it will still kill
what cables is the parrot trying to eat ? how are the cables run , a pic would help
 
do not assume nov voltage wires are safer than mains voltage , this would be a mistake , voltage will not kill anyone including a parrot BUT the amps that the voltage carries will 100% kill

I know that its the amp that will kill, not the voltage. Most items that runs straight out of the plug socket will be up to 15 amps. Your electric cooker has to be wired straight into the wall as this is 30amps.

Anything that is below 12v around the house usually runs off a mains adaptor at milliamps so won't cause any harm.

If you have wires laying around that a bird or pet can chew, whether its 250v, 12v or less it's always worth covering them up to save the expense of replacing your wires. The whole point of my previous post was to highlight not just the expense of replacing your wires, but also the danger chewing wires can be to your pets. Any wires that are 250V or high amps need to be a priority to cover. Any other wire below 12V are still essential to get covered as a precautionary measure, but not as urgent as the mains wire.

Even though wires are run through pipes in our house, parrots can still chew through them or pull them apart, so they are not a total solution, but will buy you time to stop your parrot from chewing the wire if you turn your back or leave the room for a few minutes. Obviously keep checking the pipes for damage from chewing and replace if necessary.
 
Any electrical device used on a house wiring circuit can, under certain conditions, transmit a fatal current. While any amount of current over 10 milliamps (0.01 amp) is capable of producing painful to severe shock, currents between 100 and 200 mA (0.1 to 0.2 amp) are lethal.
 
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I knew of someone whose 2 Amazons died from biting through those cable/wires that are attached to Christmas tree lights, both were electrocuted.
 
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