Parrot Care Made Easy » Parrot Toys

Cockatiel Toys

Parrot Care — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:06:09 +0000

Cockatiels make very interesting pets, but, unfortunately, they seem to struggle to remain interested in anything themselves for more than a few minutes. This is why having lots of different Cockatiel toys, that you frequently change around is absolutely vital. I like to have a set of anywhere between 3 and 5 toys in their cage at any one time, and then switch this set for another set every couple of days or so. Three of these sets of Cockatiel toys are all you will need.

You will probably find that your Cockatiel isn’t all that interested in the usual parrot toys that you find on the internet, but he instead loves anything that he can chew on. Some people recommend giving Cockatiels simple things such as the card tube inside a toilet roll, but I personally don’t think this is a good idea, because your Cockatiel will naturally swallow some of the card, which won’t be great for his digestion.

The best Cockatiel toy as far as I am concerned is cuttlefish. Your bird will really enjoy chewing it, and it has the added advantage of keeping his beak sharp enough to crack seeds, but not that sharp that he rips up everything he comes into contact with. You will obviously need more than just this to keep him stimulated, so my advice is to search the internet for ‘Cockatiel toys’, and mainly choose toys that are designed to be chewed.

photo credit: Arcadiareptiles

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Cockatiel Toys

Macaw Toys

Parrot Care — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:50:23 +0000

All parrots should be given lots of toys to keep them mentally stimulated and amused, and the Macaw is certainly no different. However, when choosing Macaw toys, you need to pay particular attention to the strength and durability of the toys, because Macaws have extremely strong beaks and claws that are able to destroy virtually anything.

Macaws love hanging toys, and any kind of toys that they can climb on, such as parrot towers. They also get a great deal of mental stimulation from treat-stuffed toys, which need to be dismantled to extract the treats. Another great choice is foot toys, because they will help your Macaw with his co-ordination.

A simple online search for Macaw toys will provide you with more choice than you know what to do with. However, one word of caution when choosing parrot toys – make sure they are made by a responsible, and reputable parrot toy manufacturer. The reason I say this is that it has been recently discovered that a number of toys on the market have been made from materials that are poisonous to parrots.

photo credit: Just chaos

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Macaw Toys

Budgie Toys

Parrot Care — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:48:54 +0000

If you have one of the larger parrot species, you have to be very careful about what toys you choose, because a lot of toys aren’t durable enough for them. This means your parrot might break the toys, and harm himself. You don’t really have to worry about this when choosing budgie toys – as long as a toy keeps him amused, there shouldn’t be a problem.

If you visit some of the online parrot forums, you will probably see a debate about whether or not mirrors make good toys for your budgie. Some people think they are great, because their budgies spend hours looking at themselves in them. Other budgie owners think you should never give a budgie a mirror, because the reason a budgie will spend hours looking into a mirror, is that he is waiting for a response from the ‘other bird’ that will never actually materialize. This can lead to frustration, and possibly long-term mental health problems.

My opinion is that mirrors aren’t a good idea for any pet bird. I once made the mistake of showing my pet cockatiel his reflection in a mirror, whilst he was stood on my shoulder. The minute I removed the mirror, he started circling around my head, and ‘dive bombing’ me. I can only assume that he thought I had harmed his new friend.

In conclusion, if you stick to the usual budgie toys, such as swings, bells, ladders and rings, your budgie will be ‘happy as Larry’ – even if he is called Fred!

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Budgie Toys

Parrot Accessories

Parrot Care — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:00:02 +0000

If you have never owned a parrot before, it is very easy to overlook a number of key parrot accessories which are absolutely vital for both the mental, and physical health of your bird.

The following is a list of the parrot accessories you must have as an absolute minimum. Some of these items might seem obvious, but I have included them for completeness. None of the items on this list should be viewed as being optional.

A cage that is big enough for your parrot.
A travelling cage that is big enough for your parrot.
Perches of various thicknesses and textures.
Food and water containers.
A bird bath, or a water spray.
A selection of parrot toys.
A parrot stand or parrot gym.

Don’t be a skinflint when it comes to buying parrot accessories, because it will have an adverse impact on the health of your parrot. After the cage and food, the biggest cost will probably be parrot toys, because they constantly need replacing. Therefore, if you are interested in saving some money, and you enjoy making things, you will probably find the book below to be very useful.

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Parrot Accessories

Which Parrot Perch Is Best?

Parrot Care — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:00:41 +0000

The traditional smooth, round, uniform parrot perch is not the best choice for your pet. The reason for this is that it doesn’t replicate what a parrot perches on in the wild – how often have you seen a tree with perfectly round and smooth branches?

You probably don’t realise it, but having perches of various sizes and textures contributes greatly to the health of your pet. The two main benefits are:

1) Constantly having to re-adjust his feet to remain balanced will stimulate and strengthen your parrots’ leg muscles, and keep his feet healthy.
2) The rough textures will naturally keep his beak and claws trimmed.

For the greatest health benefits, put parrot perches of different sizes and textures in your parrot’s cage. I bet you didn’t realise just how important choosing the right type or parrot perch is!

photo credit: The_Gut

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Which Parrot Perch Is Best?

Parrot Stands

Parrot Care — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:27:15 +0000

Parrot stands are vital accessories if you are planning on letting your bird out of his cage – which you should be! They provide an alternative to your arm, or your best piece of furniture, and (if you choose the right design) they have the added benefit of keeping your parrot entertained.

Parrot stands come in lots of different designs and sizes, so you obviously need to pick one that is appropriate for your bird. My advice is to buy one that has a number of different components to keep your pet amused – don’t just buy a glorified perch! You can get them with a variety of toys and puzzles attached, which your pet will love. A built-in mess tray is also a good idea, for obvious reasons!

Whatever you do, please don’t buy cheap parrot stands. At best, they will wear out really quickly, and therefore not provide good value for money. At worst, they will be made from inferior materials that could actually harm your bird.

photo credit: Arcadiareptiles

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Parrot Stands

Parrot Toys

Parrot Care — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:10:38 +0000

Parrots are very intelligent creatures which require a lot of mental stimulation. Parrot toys are an important tool to help to satisfy this need, because you won’t always be available to keep your pet entertained. Therefore, it is very important that you provide your pet with a large variety of interesting parrot toys to play with. There are lots of different categories of toys for you to choose from, and it is important that you provide your parrot with a good selection from each category.

Tips

Do not make all of your parrot’s toys available to him at once. If you do this, he will quickly become bored with them. The best thing to do is to only put 2 or 3 toys into his cage, and rotate them with different toys every few days.
Don’t overload the cage with toys, because you will make it difficult for you parrot to move around – he may even injure himself.
Check the condition of the toys frequently to make sure that they are safe for your parrot, and immediately remove any that aren’t.

The different categories of parrot toys you can choose from are:

Activity toys.
Climbing and swinging toys.
Foot toys.
Chewable toys.
Foraging and puzzle toys.
Preening and shredding toys.

Most parrot toys aren’t expensive, and they really make a big contribution to the mental health of your pet. Therefore, my advice is to make a commitment to buy one new parrot toy every couple of weeks.

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Parrot Toys