What is your birds FAVORITE toy?

[Susan27]

I constintly buy stuff for my lovies cages. Different perches, ladders, toys of various shapes, material, cozies...you name it.

None of my lovies LOVE any of their toys, sure they all sleep in their various cozies (store bought and home made), but no love for their toys.

So it would be great to know what toys all of your lovies like, where you got them...any info would be WONDERFUL??

(ok, they do actually have a favorite toy, ME...oh and paper).

[DebSpace]

Outside the cage, they LOVE the Boings and a ladder I suspended from the ceiling horizontally with leather strips. The ladder is high, they get to climb the boings to get to it, and I tied 6 inch strips of heavy gauge fishing line in clusters in a few spots on all four corners of the ladder with large beads. They enjoy climbing up and swinging :happy: around the leather strips, too.

Inside the cage, in spite of the fortune :roll: I've spent on activity toys, etc., they love the small plastic chain links (I discovered this by accident when I gave a treat that had a free chain inside) and little wooden ice cream spoons. :lol I buy the undyed spoons, punch holes in them and suspend them with the leather. They chew on the leather (which is vegetable tanned) and usually split the spoons in half and chew on them.

[lovey_dovey]

My lovey Jellybean either really really loves or really really hates bells and mirrors. I always hear the bells being rung and she has ruined every plastic mirror I ever got her until I found one framed in wood with a wooden perch that she just loves.

Those plastic cockatiel toys don't even stand a chance! It's super stong small parrot toys or wooden toys all the way for little Jels.

:) Ashley and Jellybean

[graushill]

Swings are a big hit with my flock. I have all types, from small single swings that accomodate two lovies in a pinch to big several tiered swings. I hang them both inside their cages and from the curtain rods.

Then there are more individual preferences: Pidget loves an acrylic kind of cilinder hanging toy that he boxes with. Little Elmo (my loooooouuuuud lovie) loves loud toys as well so his favourite is a big bell. He sits on it and loves to ring it with all his might :roll:. Pontus sees all toys as potential nesting material, but chewable leather strips with beads are a big hit with her and a bit more lasting that anything else. In general I have to say that it has taken a while for them to get used to new toys. I usually introduce any new toys slowly, specially if I'm planning on hanging them in their cages. So I will hang them outside their cages in plain sight for a few hours the first day, then a bit longer the second day and so forth, until they come over and inspect it during their out of cage time (never underestimate the power of lovie curiosity :wink:). I will often play with the toy myself just to show it's not evil. This approach has worked well with most things, although I did try to introduce a very big rope toy that had a ton of jingly watchamacallits hanging all over (in retrospect it did look kind of terrifying >o ) to no avail.

Gloria

[wilkiecoco]

susan,

kiwi is the same - his favorite toy is ME!!!!!!!:omg: i have tried shreddables, boings, leather, wooden stix, you name it, he has no interest UNLESS he is on or near me. >o since he is out of his cage all the time, i don't worry about it too much anymore. i will say though, when he is out, he loves the wooden popsicle stixs to chew and destroy!!!!!

[bellarains]

Bela and Little Man are my two that love toys, my other two aren't into them that much. Bela's favorite I made. It has vegetable tanned leather strips through holes, and at the end of the strips, I tied two of those birdie safe plastic balls with the bells inside. He beats the crap out of that toy all the time:lol

Little Man's favorite toy is one that has some sort of chewable type fiber rings on it. I'm not real sure what they are made of, but I got them from a man that makes them out of California at a bird show. He specifically makes them for conures, and they also have mineral blocks, and cuttlebone rings on them, so it's got something good for him too:)

Boings, ladders, swings are all a big hit, but Bela and Lacey's favorite swing is the rocker swing.

[Eliza]

Gloria -- swings are a big hit with Beetle as well :)

Beetle also seems to enjoy those Chime Time toys by Prevue Hendryx. I don't know if he likes the noise that they make or the shiny metal parts but more often than not, he's roosting or playing with one of those :lol. Jeanette from Shadybrook Aviary sells them on her site, if anyone is curious.

Beetle has one toy that he's had since I brought him home. I call it his clacker-bell: it's some sort of plastic/acrylic tube w/ two plastic bits on either side that make a clack-clack noise. It originally came with two or four mini koosh balls but he removed those quickly. The toy has seen better days, that's for sure, but he really seems to love it so... and when I tried to find a replacement, they seemed shoddy compared to his original. I bought him a stainless steel bell from The Nature Chest to see if that will be a suitable replacement. Of course, I plan on keeping the original clacker-bell unless it becomes dangerous for Beetle to have. I think that it's going to be moved to his travel cage ;)

-e-

[ottermom]

Bubble loves the swing, Squeak loves the mirror. Those are the 2 constants. The other toys I buy go into and out of favor. I got this one toy from Mother Pluckin' Bird Toys they they adored, but it didn't stand up too good. I have tried some shreddables, but they're not interested.

I can't wait until we move and I can start hanging boings from the ceiling.

[Susan27]

It looks like FINALLY my lovies are moving into their new basement home this weekend. Oh the fun I will have hanging toys from the ceiling. My dad also loves to build birdie play gyms (have 3 already) he will probably have some good ideas.

This area will give me more toy room from the flock. Hope they will like it!!

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto's favorite toy is ME! :happy:

[dovelady4]

Paper, paper,and more paper! He likes to play "dodge bell" as well!

[michael]

Besides manipulating me most the time, Goofy likes to knock stuff off the table. So, I set out a small table just for him with lots of toys on it. He loves to knock them off then peer down to look at his handy work. I think he feels that anything on the table is fair game for him, or safe, I'm not really sure but it works. Most toys he wouldn't touch when they were introduced by hand one at a time. Whats really funny is he actually kicks them off sometimes like he's punting a football, and other times he picks them up and just drops them over the edge!

[Ginich]

Although my fids have many expensives and fun-looking toys in their cages, I recently discovered a very frugal toy that has all three of them very excited! It took a few days for them to figure it out but then they went to town. I found a box of skinny bendable straws in the back of the cupboard. I took a several and tied them in half with another one and attached this to the side of the cage. They are having a ball shredding these and playing with them-more fun than with the $7 pinata that has been in their cage for months.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

My birds have a lot of favorite toys.

Melody has a toy which consists of 2 strands of wooden beads, hanging on the side of the cage. She likes to get MAD and BEAT that thing into submission. Pretty much any toy that hangs freely, that can be shaken and screamed at, is her favorite.

For climbing, my lovies' favorite toys are their human playgym - uh, that would be me.

For chewing, they like popsicle stick toys and the palm leaf pinatas - neither of those last more than a few days in this house.

The swings are also a big hit - we have to have one for each bird. This morning Milo was swinging as hard as he could and then jumping mid-swing into the water dish for a big old bath.

[dovelady4]

Would the straws be safe for them??? Wouldn't they be at risk of ingesting some plastic??? I really like that idea! I'm gonna try it if it's safe!!!!

[chris_lynn]

Bebo really liked boings and any toy with a bell on it

[michael]

I'm sure a little overkill is a good thing when it comes to bird safety, their so small and fragile we know it doesn't take much. I like the straw idea too. I doubt they would harm birds unless upon observation your bird was a nit picker, you know, like pulling off tiny pieces. I tend to supervise my bird and try to eliminate hazards according to habit, his or course. One thing I found about plastics is the harder the more dangerous, and plastic coating as well, like on eyeglasses, digital cameras, cell phones etc. cellophane wrappers and such weren't too swift ether. I think, but could be wrong, that most soft plastics are actually tougher for them to pull apart. The one scary thing I found recently was the disappearing hair brush. Goofy likes to fly upstairs and chirp at the birds outside the bathroom window. Not only was he doing that but he was skillfully eliminating my wifes hair brush! Can't leave him alone for a minute! Tupperware seems safe for him as he really likes the lids. I'm going to try the staws, it sounds fun for him and if he picks off little pieces to maybe swallow I'll have to take it away. Hope this helps a little...