Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Fun And Stimulating African Grey Toys

Fun And Stimulating African Grey Toys



By Eugenia Dickerson





Birds in the wild spend their days in social and foraging activities. Birds in captivity need African Grey toys that entertain, stimulate, and simulate everyday parrot activities. African Greys are exceptionally intelligent. They need mental challenges and physical activity. They have the temperament of a 2 year old when it comes to tolerating boredom. Bored parrots will scream out their frustration. Feather plucking is another sad sign of a bored bird.



Toys should be rotated every couple weeks. Have activities for cage time, and activities for the playgym. Introduce new play things by playing with the toy yourself. Your bird will be interested and want to get in on the fun.



Parrots love to chew, shred, tear, and throw. They manipulate dangling objects and untie knots. Simulate foraging activities by hiding treats. Let your parrot puzzle out how to get to the food. Hide treats inside wadded up newspaper. Fruits and veggies served on a skewer-type rod simulates foraging behavior. Fill a wiffle ball with treats, fruits, veggies, and hang from the the cage using rawhide or rope.



Caged birds need exercise to stay healthy. Ladders, ropes, and swings encourage activity. Parrots love ropes and chains they can hang and swing from. All birds should have out of cage play time, preferably on a playgym with climbing structures and trinkets to play with. Many birds also appreciate a hammock to retire to at the end of the day.



Parrots enjoy manipulating objects and moving them from one place to another. A container of baubles, and another empty container is a simple way to engage and entertain your parrot. This is a great way to get more play life out of broken toys. Create new and novel toys by restringing broken trinkets and baubles.



Homemade toys add diversity to your parrots play time, just be careful to build safe toys. Use non toxic materials with no sharp edges. Make sure baubles are too large to be swallowed. Choose materials that won’t break, shatter, or splinter. Colored newsprint contains unhealthy dies. Cardboard contains toxic glues. Birds can rip and swallow plastic bags, felt, toilet paper.



Check with your vet before using wood from your yard. Some are toxic to parrots including redwood, hemlock, and box elder wood. Safe varieties include maple, beech, apple, elm, birch, ash, poplar, manzanita, cottonwood, and dogwood. Never use processed wood products which usually contain paints and lacquers - very toxic.



Check ropes daily and remove when frayed. Birds can catch their beaks or feet in a frayed rope toy. Make sure hanging structures are secure so your parrot won’t fall while climbing and playing. Only use stainless steel chains, not zinc or brass.



Buy play objects sized appropriately for your African Grey parrot. Chains must be large enough birds can’t get their beaks or talons caught in the links. Trinkets made for smaller parrots will break easily, and small pieces might be swallowed.



It’s your responsibility to make sure your bird is entertained and stimulated. Provide a variety of play objects, swinging or dangling objects, and climbing objects. Rotate regularly to prevent boredom. Toys should encourage exercise and foraging. Provide materials for chewing, destroying, climbing, swinging. African grey toys can be bought at local stores, online, or home made.









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Fun And Stimulating African Grey Toys



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