When it comes to choosing the right parrot toys, it can be not so straight forward.The range of toys is very wide, from rope ladders to plastic covers. You have to find parrot toy that are safe for your birds. Knowing what is the right toy for your parrots can be a trial and error process but hopefully this materials guide can shed more light. In particular, it will provide information on what kind of materials are best for parrot toys.
Parrots, by nature, loves to fly around and look for food. They are also clever creatures that need constant entertainment to keep them from being bored. Therefore, it is important to remember that even when you keep them as pets, they are always entertained, through the use of toys. While many bird owners might think parrot toys are just playthings, they are actually quite essential to parrots. However, not all toys are safe so you need to choose the right one to avoid causing harm and damage to your birds.
It is a well known fact that parrots like shiny materials. However, not all metals are suitable as parrot toys. Specifically, pick only those where the metal is either nickel- plated or stainless steel. Avoid other metals such Zinc and copper plated metal parts because they are dangerous to parrots and when ingested, can result in death.
Besides metal, you must note the type of leather used in the parrot toys. In particular, the leather must be vegetable tanned and free of chemicals. This is because parrots like to chew on stuff more than anything else. They can literally spend hours just pecking and choking at the leather. If you are not careful, the parrots can accidental swallow some of the leather, which might contain chemicals that cause illness and possibly death to your birds. Also, do not keep leather based parrot toys that have been soiled by the parrots. This is because bacteria can grow on the soiled leather and cause illness to the birds when swallow.
You might think that wood is a safe material but this is where you are wrong. There are several types of wood that are unsafe for parrots such as oak. It is better to choose parrot toys that are made of pine, poplar, java or manzanita as these wood types are safe for chewing.
The final material to consider in this guide is ropes. For rope based toys, do remember to keep the toe nails of your birds short to prevent the nails from getting caught in the ropes and causing injuries to themselves.When choosing such toys, keep in mind to trim your parrots’ toe nails as this will avoid your birds from getting injured as a result of the nails getting trap in the role. Also avoid long ropes as there are many cases where parrots died by getting caught in the ropes and hang themselveChoose only cotton or sisal ropes because they have not been chemically treated and hence will be safe for parrots chewing on them.
In summary, try to avoid any chemical treated materials. In fact, it is recommended to buy toys which are labeled “100% Organic.” So, keep them in mind when shopping for your parrot toy.