Baby toys for Galah Cockatoo?

[MustLoveAnimals]

I was thinking that some interactive baby toys/puzzles would be great for a Galah! What do you think? Safe? Am I being ridiculous?
Here are some I was looking at. Do you think a Galah would have fun with these? I was also wanting to do some training with some of the puzzles.
http://cdn.stylisheve.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Awesome-Baby-Toys-from-IKEA-20.jpg

http://di1-2.shoppingshadow.com/ima...50-0-0_Little+Tikes+Baby+Tap+A+Tune+Piano.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/..._zbzhfl3nwb_CWUmNn1L6iQm75MF0lYWXZK-JjeAytmJQ

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...sQZTyBJz7-1MyXYQ9WkjPetJ-GdJfMA2QOoJ52SdqqHNv

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GwmlogbPL._SY355_.jpg

 

[Kiwibird]

My amazon LOVES baby toys. In fact, he has one of those ones where the beads slide around on tracks. I think the mini piano and owl would probably not be safe. The piano appears to have small knobs a powerful beak could pry off (and who knows what's inside that could be unsafe) and stuffed toys are never safe due to the potential for the bird of ingesting the stuffing. The other 2 look fun, though expect more ripping up than learning! They make acrylic puzzles like the last one especially for birds. They are indestructible, so better for teaching than wood ones.

My bird REALLY loves baby rattles and those plastic keys. I buy them at goodwill and garage sales for next to nothing, wash em up, and he's just overjoyed. It's super adorable to see him carrying his keys around Just use common sense with baby toys (remember how strong their beaks are compared to a baby, and nothing with batteries, stuffing, screws or liquid teething rings), but they are generally safe for birds.

 

[MustLoveAnimals]

My amazon LOVES baby toys. In fact, he has one of those ones where the beads slide around on tracks. I think the mini piano and owl would probably not be safe. The piano appears to have small knobs a powerful beak could pry off (and who knows what's inside that could be unsafe) and stuffed toys are never safe due to the potential for the bird of ingesting the stuffing. The other 2 look fun, though expect more ripping up than learning! They make acrylic puzzles like the last one especially for birds. They are indestructible, so better for teaching than wood ones.

My bird REALLY loves baby rattles and those plastic keys. I buy them at goodwill and garage sales for next to nothing, wash em up, and he's just overjoyed. It's super adorable to see him carrying his keys around Just use common sense with baby toys (remember how strong their beaks are compared to a baby, and nothing with batteries, stuffing, screws or liquid teething rings), but they are generally safe for birds.

Great! Yes, I was thinking that the stuffed owl would be dangerous...I mean, you don't see babies ripping them to shreds. And the piano, you're right, who knows what kind of electronic stuff or wire is under there. I see those little plastic keys everywhere! That would be great! And I'll try to find some tough puzzle toys, so I don't have to keep buying new ones.
Thanks!!

 

[strudel]

I just bought my girl another baby toy the other day. She actually showed some interest in it, it's got some tiny balls inside a clear plastic thing which she tried to get out (she couldn't). She's also got keys and rattles and stuff although she's not that interested in those.

 

[Betrisher]

Most of the toys you're looking at will not last long with a Galah. They're pretty handy at chomping through most wooden items! The sliding bead game might be fun, but be careful of the painted metal wire. Either the paint or the metal could be toxic and the bird might managed to get stuck or hurt among the wire.

Stuffed and/or fabric toys are also a bit dicey because the bird can tease out fibres which can either become wrapped around a limb or cause a bowel obstruction. Mostly, plastic toys are fine so long as there are no small or thin pieces that can be chewed or gnawed off, or any metal contents that could be swallowed and cause metal poisoning. Beware of small screws or nuts on bolts! Birds are utterly brilliant at undoing these! If you get rattles, make sure your bird can't chew into them and release the rattling material: if it's metal, it could be poisonous or if it's plastic, it could cause digestive problems.

It's best to use untreated and unpainted wood for bird toys, but anything that's baby-safe ought to be OK for birds. Just be aware that beaks can loosen and crack many more materials than little fingers can!

The best place to get baby toys (IMHO) is at Op Shops or Thift Shops. In that way, you don't wind up paying a small fortune for a toy that will probably only have a short life once your parrot gets hold of it. I got a couple of great wooden abacuses for a dollar and our Lovebirds have dismantled one and are well on their way into the second.

 

[Jayyj]

Yeah, my galah only likes toys that can be shredded or turned to sawdust. Her ideal toy is a laptop computer but she'll settle for TV remotes if a laptop isn't available. Since I meanly fail to provide either on a regular basis - and anyway I now use tablets after a spectacular incident involving a Sony Vaio and a cage door that wasn't properly fastened when I left for work - we stick with cardboard and wood, vine or gourd type toys that can be destroyed. It's an expensive business...

 

[strudel]

My galah isn't much of a destructo-bird. I bought her a hanging slices-of-loofah on string thingie. She still has 2 of the slices in there. She's had a go on them, but they are still intact. I never thought I'd be able to view her as a good girl, but maybe she is.

 

[Kiwibird]

I guess I should have thought about the paint and wire. My boy is very gentle and just slides the beads around. It's something I forget that I got the oddball parrot who doesn't really chew very much! Big chewers may be able to chip paint of wire that was never meant to be exposed.

My safe bird store (mysafebirdstore.com) has a wonderful selection of acrylic foraging toys (your bird solves the "puzzle" to retrieve a treat) and amazon.com has the "trick" puzzle toys (ones where you'd teach your bird to retrieve a certain shape or color). Search "bird trick toys". Be sure to get the size-appropriate ones (large)!

 

[strudel]

Those acrylic foraging toys are really expensive over here. They sell one that you can put treats in, like lollies, but they don't sell the treats to go in it, so I don't know what else you could put in it. We don't have much available locally. I also bought my girl another baby toy, it's a fisher price thing with baskets and stuff on it. Looks pretty indestructible, although she's never paid it much interest. It can get expensive trying to find something they like. If you get it from the op shop like Betrisher said it's no great loss if they ignore it. I also get her baby toys from the Target clearance shop, they might have something missing or be off display but again, it's no huge expense if she isn't interested.

 

[Kiwibird]

Those acrylic foraging toys are really expensive over here. They sell one that you can put treats in, like lollies, but they don't sell the treats to go in it, so I don't know what else you could put in it. We don't have much available locally. I also bought my girl another baby toy, it's a fisher price thing with baskets and stuff on it. Looks pretty indestructible, although she's never paid it much interest. It can get expensive trying to find something they like. If you get it from the op shop like Betrisher said it's no great loss if they ignore it. I also get her baby toys from the Target clearance shop, they might have something missing or be off display but again, it's no huge expense if she isn't interested.

I put small toys in the larger foraging toys. And nuts in the shell (a galah could crack an almond or filbert). For a cockatoo, you could just fill it with shredded or wadded up paper and let them have a ball!

 

[strudel]

I put small toys in the larger foraging toys. And nuts in the shell =

The one I'm thinking of is a circular one, you'd need circular things in it, but they don't sell any circular treats.

 

[kagan1042]

Pinky's favourite things so far are:
> paper weaved in and out of the bars
> chop sticks
> baby keys
> the plastic round baby rings that you can clip onto things - he has one in his toy box that he likes to run across the bars with
> pinecones
> cupcake wrappers that are strung together - like a HEAP of them - he fluffs them up and end up looking like a toilet brush
> cotton rope with big big coloured wooden beads
> we also wrap up whole nuts into squares of paper like a bon-bon so he has to work to get the nut

Oh! we also have a wiffle ball that is super hard plastic that I shove chunky bits of veggies in..bugger to get in, so figure it's a bugger for him to get them out!