Note: If you prefer video blogs, just watch the video. If you like to read and see pictures, that’s what the text and photos are here for. Your choice on how you receive this blog post’s information!

Here in New York, I’ve had a really hard time getting around without it taking all day… and there’s a Petco super close to us that is convenient but has a terrible selection.

So on my last trip there for the summer, I decided to get a little creative. I remembered my friend Patty (who also blogs here) said something about how she almost bought some small animal toys for her birds because the selection was so bad at a store she went to. I thought about this hard, and decided to go look at the selection for animals like rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs and other small creatures.

To my surprise, I found some things that would work for my birds as well! And I happily got them. I wanted to share them with you, so that if you’re in the same situation as me, your birds can go on enjoying new and exciting toys nonetheless!

The first toys I found were the ones pictured above, they have one walnut in the center of each of them. Perfectly fine for birds.

Other things I found were mats like this one where the birds can use it as a preening toy, and just more or less take it apart like Cash, our military macaw, is starting to do in this picture.

The one that most excited me though, was the organic (USDA certified) wheat grass in the stores that was already grown and freshly green! I’ve gotten bird ones before, and posted videos of which, but this one was for cats. I read and looked closer, and it was labeled good for birds and other small animals as well and isn’t treated with anything at all. I was so excited I bought one for each of my smaller birds who dug right in.

Check out the video at the top of this post to see more toys I found that work as bird toys!

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“Using this ‘Real Speech’ system for only 15 minutes a day, teaches your parrot how to speak more words, phrases and songs than you can ever imagine. Even species that can’t talk will whistle your favorite tunes.” Click for more »

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Watch a LIVE video demo of me taming our wild, biting Macaw, “Tiko.” (See how I handle “Tiko” as he lunges at me, screaming and biting — how I lovingly calm him down… and mesmerize him so much that he BEGS me to pet him with my BARE HANDS 5 minutes later!) Click for more »

When discussing bird toys, there are two very common statements made:  “I don’t give my bird toys anymore, she never plays with them.”  and  “Whenever I get my bird new toys, he just destroys them.”  Do either of these sound familiar?  Read on…

Toys are multi-tasking things. They should be fun, educational, provide challenges and satisfy a bird’s instinctive needs. They are there to fill the void that a caged bird might feel with limited space and social activity. They exist to be chewed on, smacked around, yelled at and reduced to splinters. An utterly annihilated toy, is one that has been most enjoyed.  So, to the guy who laments over his bird’s destroyed toys: well done. You found the perfect toy for your bird!  For the guy whose bird doesn’t play with toys: keep looking!  You just haven’t found what interests her yet.
Toys are there for the use and enjoyment of your bird. While we may think that the giraffe shaped pinata is adorable, your bird may have no interest in that type of toy. I will venture to say that most parrots really don’t care that a toy looks like a monkey or a snowflake. In fact, your bird has no idea what either of those things are. It is the texture and functionality of the toy that interests your bird.  Be careful not to buy the toys that are appealing to only you.
Toys are expensive and it’s hard to be able to afford to experiment with a $40 toy that your bird may not like. Try some things from around the house to test the waters. Here are a few suggestions:

• Offer a paper towel or paper bag. See what she does with toilet paper or paper towel tubes  Your bird might prefer shreddables.
• See how your bird reacts to pieces of an old t shirt or a facecloth. She might like fabric toys .
• Go to Home Depot and buy a couple of small wood scrap pieces from untreated pine 2X4s for the larger birds, and watch the gnawing begin!
• Fold a favorite treat up inside a unwaxed dixie cup to inspire her to learn to forage.  How well she does with this simple forager will tell you if your bird might be ready to try a more sophisticated toy.

Once you get a feel for the types of materials your bird prefers and makes the best use of, look into the different types of toys available that have that composition. Try, also, to get a feel for the activities your bird prefers. My umbrella cockatoo loves to put things inside of other things. Often I find he has jammed bits of wood into any crevices he can find in his cage. I have noticed that he has a longer than typical attention span than most cockatoos when it comes to accomplishing tasks. Puzzle toys are right for him, but he is very particular about the ones he likes.
I had several friends in Austin who own parrots. We had an arrangement for toy swapping so that we could experiment with what our birds liked.  I bought a Rainstick for Linus once. He hated it and actually got angry when he would hear the sounds it made.  I swapped it with an african grey’s owner for a moving parts toy that is now a favorite to Linus.  We would ONLY do this with plastic or metal toys that could be sterilized before passing them from bird to bird. It saved us a ton of money on wasted, unused toys.

Once you decide what your bird’s preferences are, look into these options:

• Foraging toys: Foraging for food is an activity that occupies a great deal of a wild bird’s day. Our companion birds benefit both mentally and physically when we create a foraging environment for them in their cages.
• Puzzle toys:  These are the educational toys. They can keep your bird busy for hours with different tasks.
• Wood/shreddables: Your bird has an innate need to chew. Gouging out a tree cavity or creating materials to line a nest are behaviors performed by your parrot’s wild cousins. This is hard wired into companion parrots as well. Providing toys that satisfy this urge will hopefully make the furniture less appealing.
• Preening toys:  These are great for the bird who would spend hours on your shoulder grooming your hair.  If you suspect your bird is an over-preener, or might be heading in the direction of feather destruction, these types of toys might distract him from that.
• Plastic toys: From pony beads to bullet proof acrylic, things that spin, slide, and speak. These are toys that will last a long time, but are not always the favorite. These are great toys to use in rotation in the cage to offer a variety of activities throughout the month. Since they don’t serve a purpose as far as destructibility goes, they should provide a fun/educational activity instead.

Toys are an essential part to your parrot’s well-being.  Unused toys in the cage are no better than no toys in the cage.  Observation and a little inexpensive experimentation will give the info you need to provide just the perfect ones for your bird.  The pictured toys and more are available at Birdtricks.com.

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