Providing Proper Toys & Enrichment
By Angie Johnson, Certified Avian Specialist
Toys are essential for a birds' well being; Mentally & Physically. They provide them with excersize and mental stimulation. Parrots are widely known for their intelligence. They are thought to have the intelligence of a two year old human, and therefore require a bit of extra work to keep their minds occupied, especially if you plan on working, as most parrot caretakers must do.
There are different toy groups that appeal to different senses for your bird. Some of them may entice their natural instinct to forage for their food, while others provide them with an outlet for their pent-up energy:
1.) Destructive Toys: It's common knowledge that parrots chew, a lot. As the owner, you are responsible to provide for them toys that are meant to be destroyed. Soft Woods, Hard Woods, Rawhide (Dog bones), Leather, & weaved Palm Fronds are great examples of Destructive Toys. Not only do these toys help your bird express his natural urge to chew, but they also encourage & teach your bird to chew on acceptable items, which can save your furniture, woodwork & body quite a bit of pain.
2.) Sound Toys: Parrots love noise. They love hearing it, and they love making it. These toys appeal to a birds' instinct to communicate as well as a toy to have fun with. Bells are a great noise making toy for birds. However, special care should be taken if your bird likes to rip the clinker out of the bell. Small pieces may become ingested. If your bird is a clinker-ripper-outter, you should instead try the newer metal pipe bells. They now have bells that look like a wind chime, and the clinker is enclosed inside the bell so the bird cannot get to it. Music boxes hung to the side of the cage can also teach your bird animal noises and other things that are pretty entertaining.
3.) Interactive Toys: Most commonly seen in the form of acrylic. They are non-destructible, usually; and feature many gears, pumps and links for your bird to figure out. These puzzles are very important for parrots, since they stimulate the mind and prevent boredum. Beads are mainly features on small bird interactive toys. Parrots love to maniuplate objects, and there are many great Enrichment/Forage toys that offer the psychological benefits of the puzzle toys.
4.) Foraging Toys: Foraging is a crucial activity for captive parrots since wild parrots spend 50% of their day foraging. It is a very natural behavior, and provides them with not only the maximum amount of Mental Stimulation than any other activity, but also an interactive way to feed your birds versus throwing their food in a dish. I would like to highlight the importance of replicating these natural behaviors in captivity to improve the quality of life for companion parrots, and illuminate the importance of implementing these behaviors to occupy your bird's time with a productive activity.
5.) Snuggly Toys: Snuggly toys are to satisfy your birds' cuddly side when you're not with him. Those soft things you twist tie to the cage bars for him to snuggle up next to, and "happy huts" or "sleepy tents" to sleep in. Many birds who "over preen" themselves or pluck out their own feathers will appreciate having an outlet in which to exert their destructive tendencies on rather than on themselves.
6.) Excersize Toys: Grippable perches, Boings, climbing nets, swings and foot toys would all fall into this category. Birds often seem fascinated with things they can do with their feet. Offer them an acrylic "toy box" that can be screwed onto the cage bars and fill it with interesting foot toys. The bird then has to open the toy box to play with its toys. Things like knotted ropes with beads and rings strung onto them, plastic balls with bells in them made for cats, putting plastic rings onto straight wooden perches that go from one side of the cage to the other, or wooden shapes will all satisfy your birds' floor play needs. Also, birds typically like to hang out in the upper area of the cage, so its nice to provide something to do on the bottom for them to increase the cage space used by the bird.
7.) Play Gyms: Also an important factor when considering a pet bird, is where are you going to let them play during the day when you're home? Certainly not let them sit in their cage? Play Gyms offer a wide variety of exploring and fun from a birds' perspective. It's a good idea to have at least 3 play gyms for your bird to play on when you're home to supervise. Providing ambient attention is just as important as one-on-one time with your bird, and is strikingly easy to achieve. Ambient attention is when your bird is with you, but not ON you. Having multiple designated play areas around your home where you usually hang out offer you and your bird the chance to bond through ambient attention.
On another note, when and if there is a toy that your bird does not seem to play with, simply remove the toy temporarily, and re-introduce later. Many birds will ignore a certain toy, but when taken out for a month or two and when re-introduced becomes a new favorite they never knew they had!
So now you've got this big, nice cage and plenty of toys. Where should you put it all? Be sure that you are making the most of your cage space. Many, if not most, toys sold incorperate a short chain with a link on the end to hang the toy from the ceiling of the cage. Hanging all your toys this way will ensure that ALL the toys are right at the top. Try buying long chains from pet stores which will help YOU decide the height that the toy will be hung at, and so on. Using a rope perch as a climbing area will provide for great foot excersize as well. Ladders are my bird's favorite. Also, you will want to switch things up, rotate the toys every couple of weeks to reduce boredum. You'd be amazed what switching places with a couple of toys will do for the birds' interest! Remember to keep all your toys accessible! Hang toys at "beak height" for maximum usage from the bird.
Try to get a good look at where your bird spends most of his time and go from there. Rotate the toys about every week or so, so as to not let your bird get bored. Boredum in parrots is often the root cause of destructive behavior such as feather plucking, mutilation, biting and screaming. To live happily with your parrot, be sure to allow the bird to be happy, and then you'll both be happy.
|
|
