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| | From:  Nanmeister (Original Message) | Sent: 12/14/2005 12:42 AM |
Have you bought toys for your birds only to have them thrown on the floor of the cage and ignored? Have you seen a toy you just knew any bird in his right mind would love, but yours does not? I have been making toys for the gang lately because I have discovered what a lot of them like. <o:p> </o:p> To discover what makes your bird happy you need to watch them play. Does your bird like to rip everything up and destroy it? Or does he like to take things apart? Do certain kinds of toys give comfort? <o:p> </o:p> For instance I thought the acrylic toys were pretty cool, but I made the mistake of putting some in the Too cages. and they are completely ignored!! Why because my bigger toys live to rip, tear and mangle wood and paper!! Giving them something they couldn’t tear up was boring. <o:p> </o:p> My grey Beau on the other hand likes to take things apart. I have a toy by Jungle Toys that he can take shapes out of a box and put them back He enjoys things like that and isn’t much of a chewer. Bogie my DYHA loves to swing on things and tear at them same time. He likes to chew but not with the same vigor as the cockatoos. <o:p> </o:p> I’ve also noticed that most of mine like toys that are somewhat smaller than they are. None of my bigger birds like the huge blocks on toys and won’t play with them. Medium sized blocks on down however, seem to be much more fun to chew. <o:p> </o:p> I’ve taken a bunch of pieces parts and remade them into toys that they like, so even if was initially a failure, it can be remade into a winner! <o:p> </o:p> So watch how your bird plays with his toys and you can either make or buy the things he will really play with. Nan |
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Good post, Nan. I've found by watching my gang play that there are several things to look for (good and bad) in new toys. Shannon, for example, can get hung up in the most unlikely toys. He had one of those jungle toys with the shapes in the box--promptly got himself stuck in it. I mean, within 30 seconds. Think dog trying to bring a 2 x 4 into the house. I believe he could get hung up in a coffee filter if he tried. Ms Morgan likes instant gratification on chew toys, so the wood has to be soft enough for her to destroy quickly or she starts throwing blocks. Believe me, if you've ever been hit in the head with a block of wood you'll understand why I try to limit the hard toys. Shasta and Morgan are both toy slingers, I can't put bells or large acrylic toys in their cages or they'll bonk themselves in the head as they're slinging them around. Shasta broke an acrylic toy slamming it against her cage bars. I shorten all chains on toys to maybe 4 links total--enough for slinging action but not long enough to get wrapped around anybirdie's neck. I don't like rope in their cages for that reason. The playstand has several toys tied with rope, I have to make sure they're short because Ms Morgan likes to wrap the rope around the back of her neck and rub. Those toys are with adult supervision only. Plush baby toys with squeakers and crackly paper inside are big hits, but have to be watched for signs of wear. Shasta can kill a squeaker in no time flat. Right now the big hit with Ms Morgan is a baby toy that looks like a roly-poly puppy, it giggles and barks and says a few fun things...and she just loves shaking it to make it talk. I just bought a mega block toy for Ms Morgan for Christmas. I think the last one I got her lasted about a week, it has 90 pieces of wood for her to destroy and weighs more than twice what she does. Will post "before" and "after" pics, (if I remember to take the camera in on Christmas day) so y'all can see. |
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| | | From: momnoah | Sent: 12/14/2005 5:59 AM |
You hit the nail on the head Nan. Kit loves chewing on and tearing up paper and cardboard. He isn't into wood chewing much at all. He'll chew rope (sisal/jute) ot get the beads and blocks off- he loves dismantliing toys, loves undoing the quick links, dropping them to the grate and then tossing them out to the floor. This is especially fun to do in Rica's cage. He likes weaving things in/out of the cage bars. He also loves playing fetch/kill with balled up sox. Yes, I have a 'Too with a sock fetish- it goes beyond that but it's a story for another day.. as is the shoe lace thing.... He also likes cat toys and plastic slinkies. Rica is all about the beak. Eating, chewing my chair, my couch, any toy hung out on the play top... wood, fabric, paper, rope, kids toys... but she won't even look at a toy IN her cage. Some tiels are not really into toys much.. Some are. They aren't bad about chewing wood- although the three 5 mo babies chewed through their perch and were very suprised to come crashing down with it when they did. I replaced it and they haven't chewed on this one at all- it's been 3 weeks so far. Mostly they nibble and like swinging. All of mine, big and small, adore phone books, newspaper, adding machine tape, tp, etc... Of course now that I say this, they'll all start destroying all and making a liar out of me! lol |
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Good tips Nan. If you have a bird that is into wood chewing its always a good idea to get a toy that is a combination of hard woods and soft woods--the soft for instant gratification and pride in destruction with that first crunch--and the hard to give them something to work on for awhile. Katz |
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I find mine like the chewing toys over the brightly coloured bead or ball ones. With having so many birds if I see one toy isn't getting full use in a birds cage I'll switch them around until the toy finds the right owner.... Just now they like the paper plates, plastic cups and alternated with blocks of wood and plastic teaspoons. Not that they last long but gives them a few minutes of pleasure..... And it's almost time to replinish the stock of toys once again........  |
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Thanks, Nanners!! This is another keeper! Abby |
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