Peculiar gnawing

[Khaiqha]

My 6 month old ringneck likes to chew on my roommate. It's not aggressive, and he's really interested in only the skin. He's learned to lift shirts, pull down socks and crawl up pants to reach skin.

Ace only does this with my roommate, no one else. He'll cross the room to chew him. When my roommate gives him toys to distract, Ace literally climbs up and sticks the toys in my roommate's mouth, then goes back to chewing.

I'm wanting to understand why Ace does this. Does anyone have an idea? I know it's not a lack of things to chew on, as I give him several things that he likes to chew. I wonder if my roommate is unwittingly encouraging it, but I don't know how.

[Mum2rory]

Sorry, cannot help ypu with this. But its cute that he puts the toys in your room-mates mouth. Not so cute if you roomy doesnt like the attention tho. Hope a more experienced person can help you.

[Saerphe]

Is it an aggressive painful chewing or just gentle nibbles?

One of our campers has a peach-faced lovebird that likes skin too. P.T. refuses to perch on fabric if asked to step up. He'll only perch on skin. It's kind of strange, since fabric generally gives a better purchase than smooth, slippery human skin.

[liz]

Could he be preening your room mate?

[Khaiqha]

It's definately not aggressive. Ace has even named my roommate, making the same distinct noise every time he sees him. Also if I don't do anything with him for a long time, he'll wander out of my room and into his room looking for him.

I'm starting to think he just likes to chew anything I handle/touch often, because he loves phones/remotes/controllers/keyboard/etc. He's starting to ignore bird toys in favor of people toys.

[liz]

Wait a minute. He is 6 months old. He is like a 1 year old child. Everything goes in the mouth.

Good luck.

[sidech]

He does it because your roommate let him... Now the habit is set in, it will take a while to stop.

Just don't allow him to do so anymore, and expect some angry reactions at first. Always better to stop unwanted behaviors right on the spot, the first time.