Toys? Should be Replaced?

[Caitnah]

Am sure this has been addressed previously so will apologize for the redundancy.
My Conure has a variety of toys consisting of ropes, swings, plastic pieces, bells, etc.
He has had them at least 3-4 years. Should these be cleaned or completely replaced or are they fine as is?
If cleaned, what’s he best way?
Thanks.

 

[Owlet]

Toys need to be rotated regularly. They also need shredding toys like wood or anything from planet pleasure.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Am sure this has been addressed previously so will apologize for the redundancy.
My Conure has a variety of toys consisting of ropes, swings, plastic pieces, bells, etc.
He has had them at least 3-4 years. Should these be cleaned or completely replaced or are they fine as is?
If cleaned, what’s he best way?
Thanks.

Toys are expensive so I wouldn't throw them out if they're still safe and usable. Even if your bird doesn't like them now, hide them away for a while and he may change his mind when he sees them again. I run anything plastic or metal through the dishwasher. Anything that's wood gets soaked in warm soapy (Dawn) water for about an hour to soften up any poop or dried food, and then I scrub with a dedicated kitchen scrubby sponge to get them as clean as possible. Next I dry them off with a paper towel and lightly spritz them with a vinegar and water solution to sanitize them a bit and let them air dry completely. A good way to quick clean wooden perches is to scrape them with a butter knife to get off the poops and then use a piece of sandpaper to sand off the soiled stained areas of the wood.
Any loose frayed ends on rope toys and perches should be neatly trimmed off. The rope toys can also go in the dishwasher but you'll need to let them air dry for quite a while.

 

[ravvlet]

You can run wooden toys through the dishwasher, they’ll just bleed their food dye coloring. We have a wooden chew toy Kirby likes that they carry at Petco, and I wash it a couple times before I end up replacing it.

A scrubby brush is your friend for perches too!

I replace rope perches that are being chewed on as soon as I see frays; crop impaction requires emergency surgery and is no joke. I replace toys after they’ve been in his cage for a month or two, because even if the bird isn’t pooping on or playing with them, they are building up ambient bacteria from being in the environment, but my guy is really prone to bacterial issues. Especially the cardboard shredding type - I like to buy the layered ones so I can remove the topmost layer of cardboard and be left with a mostly clean toy, which makes them last longer if he’s not in the mood to tear into that one yet.

 

[ravvlet]

If cost is an issue for rotating toys, the planet pleasures shredders someone mentioned here are almost all under $10 for a conure sized bird, and you can order them online from Amazon or similar if you can’t get to the store.

Our Amazon likes the little bird toys, so we buy them for his playstands. I think he finds it satisfying to CRONCH them in one big go, lol.