Birds For Dummies. Gina Spadafori

      

Many birds enjoy using water bowls as bathtubs. For them, the water bowl is not only a location where they can get a drink; it’s also a place to get gloriously wet and freshen up.

Keeping Your Bird Entertained

Toys, like the ones shown in Figure 4-3, are not optional when it comes to pet birds. A constant variety of interesting and destructible toys is essential to your bird’s mental and physical well-being. They give your bird something to do with both his mind and his body, keeping him fit and staving off boredom. A bored bird is at high risk for behavioral and health problems, such as feather picking.

      Photograph by Kim Campbell Thornton

      FIGURE 4-3: Good bird stores, pet stores, and online retailers carry every kind of toy your bird could possibly want or need.

      Providing play and opportunities to perform natural behaviors such as foraging for food are an essential part of living with a bird. You may have heard it called enrichment, a term that encompasses puzzle toys; destructible toys; multiple perching sites; stainless-steel baffle cages filled with treats, fruit, veggies, toys, or shredding material; and play areas with climbing and swinging objects, to name just a few of the ways we can benefit birds by addressing their mental health needs.

      Different types of toys serve different functions. Some toys entertain, some are brain games, some let birds practice their amazing manipulation skills, and some are just for tearing apart. Anyone with a young child — or who remembers being one — knows how much fun that is.

Foraging (the act of searching for and finding food) is a natural behavior of birds and other animals. Many avian species spend more than half their day foraging and eating. Birds who don’t have the opportunity to forage are missing out on an important normal part of bird life. Ways to encourage foraging include toys that require birds to “work” for their meals by chewing, manipulating, or opening objects to get at food. You can scatter foraging items on cage bottoms; use branches, leaves, or clean shavings to hide food for your bird to seek out; and offer whole nuts for your bird to crack.

      Play stands and gyms

Most pet birds — from budgies on up in size — need time out of their cages to explore, exercise, and socialize (the exceptions are canaries and other finches, who are happy to be left alone in roomy cages). You could allow your birds to explore, taste, chew, and destroy your furniture, or you could offer them an alternative — a play stand, gym, or other safe location (see Figure 4-4).

      Photograph courtesy of Rachel Baden, DVM

      FIGURE 4-4: A rose-breasted cockatoo has an assortment of toys on the play stand that tops her cage.

      Play stands come in two varieties, for the most part: large, freestanding models or those designed to rest on a table. The freestanding models are fit for the largest parrots.

Any size stand or gym offers a variety of perches, swings, and ladders; places to attach toys; and usually a container for food and water. They can be made of natural material (such as grapevine or wood branches) or of turned-pine dowels or hard plastics. A skirt or tray incorporated into the design helps capture mess and thrown food.

      

When choosing a play stand or gym, look for a model that combines entertainment for your bird with easy cleanup for you. Turned pine or abraded hard plastic is fine, but more natural pieces of wood are likely easier on your bird’s feet.

      

Some cage designs feature a play gym on top, or they’re flat-topped to accommodate the addition of a separately purchased setup. Although a gym on top of your bird’s cage may be okay, it may also make it challenging to persuade your bird that it’s time to come down, particularly if your bird isn’t well trained.

      

Height generally equals comfort and security in the bird world. When you ask your bird to come down from a high position, there has to be something of greater value to make it worth his while. From a training perspective, examples of this “added value” may include the ability to spend time with you, to be moved to other locations by you, or treats. (For more on avian behavior problems, see Chapter 12.)

      Food as entertainment

      Don’t underestimate food as a way to keep your bird busy and amused. Check out puzzle toys designed to make eating a challenge. These challenging toys have skewers or nooks to hold foods such as fruits or nuts and are meant to make a game out of getting to these treats. One of our particular favorites is an acrylic tube you load up with favorite items, with holes to insert plain wooden pegs. To get the treats or toys out, the bird has to figure out how to pull the plugs. Ingenious!

      Puzzle toys vary in complexity and may require birds to unscrew the toy, find food hidden in pockets or other compartments, lift flaps, or shake food out. Depending on the level of difficulty, you may have to help him learn how to successfully acquire the hidden delights. Break up training into small steps and be patient. You’ll be rewarded by your bird’s enjoyment when he figures out how to work the puzzle. Rotate different puzzles so he doesn’t get bored.

      Look for these kinds of accessories in a good bird shop, at a bird show, or online.

      Fortunately, toys are fun — to buy, to give to your bird, and to watch her enjoy. Knock yourself out, and know that your bird appreciates the effort. Try toys your bird can hold, toys that hang from the top and sides of the cage, and toys that also serve as perches, such as swings. Twirlies, holdies, chewies, puzzles, bright colors, and noisemakers all can keep your bird occupied.

Do you know the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins”? Although a large number and variety of toys is important, you can go overboard — sort of. If your bird’s entire treasury of perches, dishes, and toys is stuffed in his cage, you may be limiting his movement and reducing his quality of life. Instead of giving your bird everything, get in the habit of rotating toys on a regular basis. Rotation every month or even every week not only reignites your bird’s interest but also helps you spot toys that need to be cleaned or replaced.

      

Toys come in an almost unimaginable array, and many are lovingly handmade. Some basic rules apply when shopping for toys to ensure they’re suitable for your bird and, of course, safe. Look for the following things when you’re in the market for toys:

       Materials: Like perches, toys are subject to your bird’s destructive nature — and safety during demolition is a must. Wood, rawhide, plastic or steel chain, rope, cloth, and hard plastic are among the more popular construction materials. Be sure to choose toys that can break down without splintering or breaking into pieces small enough