SweetPeasFriend
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- Jun 25, 2012
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- Parrots
- Parent's have, I baby sit a blue crown conure.
My husband and I adopted a rescue blue and gold macaw.
What foot toy materials are safe to chew and get wet?
My parent's three year old blue crown conure always dunked his food in water before eating it. I think he figures, water makes things softer, so it must be a good idea to keep my toys wet!
He will store his toys in his water dish or place them on the side if he is eating or wants to take a bath. Needless to say, we change his water about 10 times a day.
He has a few toys that hang from the top of his cage, wooden stuff with beads, and a bell that he likes to put his head in if he doesn't have his head nestled in someone's hair. Mostly, he loves toys that he can carry around, and if in his cage, play with in his water.
If he has any object outside of his cage, and a person has a drink, he will drop what he is carrying in the drink. It's only a matter of time, and he can be sneaky and quick.
Before we realized how much he would chew them apart, I gave him some infant/toddler hard plastic stacking cups. At first he didn't chew them, but would stack them, and clang them together like castinets. He then figured out that he could fill them with water and carry the water to his food dish. Now we have to watch his food too, as he will make it into a soupy mess with his cups. He has told me regularly "that's my favorite toy!" when he has one or more of his cups in foot.
He carries them around with him when he preens and sometimes holds one before a nap.
I am concerned that he is chewing them apart. While he doesn't appear to be swallowing any (we had a mitred conure that got a hold of a hard plastic key ring attachment, broke a piece off, swallowed it, and brought it up later to play with it), I don't want to give him any more plastic toys.
Given that he loves cups, and will put everything and anything he finds in water. What would be safe for this bird? Would wooden toys soaked in water be better than plastic? Are there wooden stacking cups out there? Could the wood absorb nasty bacteria?
He does have some wooden foot toys, and yes they have all been soaked through, but he doensn't like them as much as his cups. He has a small wooden toy car that I bought at a very expensive toy store. It was made to be half eaten by a child, but still be safe. It seems to be coated with something that makes it washable, but he doesn't chew it either. I tried some chain metal ring puzzles. He solves them in seconds, and drops them, never to pick them up again. My dad gave him a clean, empty pill bottle with a penny inside. After he figured out how to get the child proof lid off to get to the penny, he starting treating it like a mate, or as my dad said, "he got too involved with it," so we took it away. It was pretty big too. It's all about the cups.
If I could be reassured that wood would be OK in water, I'd find a way to make him wooden stacking cups.
My parent's three year old blue crown conure always dunked his food in water before eating it. I think he figures, water makes things softer, so it must be a good idea to keep my toys wet!
He will store his toys in his water dish or place them on the side if he is eating or wants to take a bath. Needless to say, we change his water about 10 times a day.
He has a few toys that hang from the top of his cage, wooden stuff with beads, and a bell that he likes to put his head in if he doesn't have his head nestled in someone's hair. Mostly, he loves toys that he can carry around, and if in his cage, play with in his water.
If he has any object outside of his cage, and a person has a drink, he will drop what he is carrying in the drink. It's only a matter of time, and he can be sneaky and quick.
Before we realized how much he would chew them apart, I gave him some infant/toddler hard plastic stacking cups. At first he didn't chew them, but would stack them, and clang them together like castinets. He then figured out that he could fill them with water and carry the water to his food dish. Now we have to watch his food too, as he will make it into a soupy mess with his cups. He has told me regularly "that's my favorite toy!" when he has one or more of his cups in foot.
He carries them around with him when he preens and sometimes holds one before a nap.
I am concerned that he is chewing them apart. While he doesn't appear to be swallowing any (we had a mitred conure that got a hold of a hard plastic key ring attachment, broke a piece off, swallowed it, and brought it up later to play with it), I don't want to give him any more plastic toys.
Given that he loves cups, and will put everything and anything he finds in water. What would be safe for this bird? Would wooden toys soaked in water be better than plastic? Are there wooden stacking cups out there? Could the wood absorb nasty bacteria?
He does have some wooden foot toys, and yes they have all been soaked through, but he doensn't like them as much as his cups. He has a small wooden toy car that I bought at a very expensive toy store. It was made to be half eaten by a child, but still be safe. It seems to be coated with something that makes it washable, but he doesn't chew it either. I tried some chain metal ring puzzles. He solves them in seconds, and drops them, never to pick them up again. My dad gave him a clean, empty pill bottle with a penny inside. After he figured out how to get the child proof lid off to get to the penny, he starting treating it like a mate, or as my dad said, "he got too involved with it," so we took it away. It was pretty big too. It's all about the cups.
If I could be reassured that wood would be OK in water, I'd find a way to make him wooden stacking cups.
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