Toys for Coconut PGCC

[Nanajennie]

Hello, more questions

Coconut has not taken to the $20.00 'safe' toy I bought her. (You can see it in the cage)
It is a layering of bark and luffa sponges, sticks and yarn. Instead, she is after my iphone case and remote control. It seems she want rubbery things to chew on. I gave her a cookie cutter with a rubbery handle, but she quickly was picking it apart. (don't worry, I watched her and she didn't manage to eat any, I took it away)

Not sure what to give her. She seems to put EVERYTHING in her mouth! Even my iphone charger! Danger! Her beak is sharp and strong and I am afraid she will electrocute herself

What about those paper/shredding pinata type things? She seems bored. Climbing up and down the cage, trying to always get to me, wants to be glued to me LOL W?hat do you GC's owners give as toys? or things for them to chew?

[cindy]

Welcome to the world of conures!!!!

I would at all costs avoid letting her shred rubber. Dr foster & Smith has lots of chewable toys, even pieces that you can buy to build your own toys... I use to go through their clearance section and buy ups toys and things for my Grey to demolish and shred. Toys that challenge them like the ones that get them to forage or work for a treat are excellent for challenging them and keeping their mind busy.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/bird-supp ... /5059/5648

[Nanajennie]

cindy trust me, at the first sign if the rubber handle being picked at , I took it away. And have learned to hide my ipnone case and cords and ANYTHING she can pick at .... OMG every single thing goes in her mouth

That is great advice to go through the clearance section. I will buy her some shreddable toys this weekend. What about a paper towel cardboard? Or just tissue paper stuffed in a toilet paper cardboard with a treat buried in it?

I don't know about what they might accidentally consume ya know?

[Nerien]

Put a toilet paper or paper towel cardboard ON the perch in her cage. That way she has to chew/rip it apart to get it off, keeps them busy for a longer time (my budgies and parrotlets love this). Those little woven bamboo "finger cuffs", again, slide it on a perch. At the dollar store or craft store, get a plain, uncoated/painted reed wreath form, hang it up, and let her shred it (my budgies shred it down to a single loop, chew through that so that about 3/4 of a circle remains, then leave the rest and use it as a swing. why? dunno. bird brains.)

Found a "hamster" toy that was a coconut with much of the hull still on, but shaved down and sculpted around the coconut, with three holes in it. Hung that in with the parrotlets, they took to shredding the hull off of it, took days and days. I had to take it out, then, as the m-f pair started exploring the inside like it was a potential nest. But the male had started chewing on the coconut shell itself, if not for the nesting thing, this would have kept them busy much much longer.

Hard plastic cat balls, but get the ones with round holes, not slits, so claws can't get caught. And if you can find the big ones, not the little ones that are ping-pong ball sized, they are usually thicker and harder to chew through.

Does anyone know if a hard rubber dog toy, Kong brand is the best, can resist a hookbill beak? The ones made for super-chewers? That would let her have her rubbery thing to chew, if they hold up.

[Nerien]

Also, when you introduce the new toy, do it in a way that will make her think that you DON'T want her to touch it. Nothing is more appealing than something you shouldn't have. Hang it on the outside of the cage while she's inside, or inside while she's outside. Or just out of reach outside for the first day, so she sees it but can't get it. Then move it to her cage.

[Nanajennie]

Nerien Those are great ideas. So they don't ingest the paper? And the cat toys are sturdy enough not to be picked and eaten? I don't know the difference between a budgie and conure's beak strength.

Does anyone know why Coconut stands on one leg when she is ready for rest? She did this this AM and I got nervous, but after a nap, she was fine, and now it is nap time and she is on my chest lifting a left foot. Can Grapes make her drunk? LOL she ate some grapes prior to each nap.

[Nerien]

They often sleep on one leg, tucking the other up under their feathers. Maybe that's her equivalent of rubbing her eyes and yawning?


As far as I can tell with the paper and other things, they just like to make a humongous mess, no eating.

My parrotlets have shown no interest in the cat toys. The budgies eventually start chewing through them. But once at the dollar store we found these big, heavy, thick, three inch diameter cat balls. Very sturdy. I take heavy stainless steel wires and run them through the cat balls, adding big plastic beads on it, and then something like a swing on the bottom. Makes it a climbing-swinging-picking at beads combo toy. I'd bet if you just hung the ball, she'd climb and swing all over that as well. But with 14 budgies in the giant cage, coming up with as many swings as possible was important for us. And by lengthening the swing with the wire and toys, it puts them at different heights, helps make more useful room in the cage and still leave flying zones.

[cindy]

cindy trust me, at the first sign if the rubber handle being picked at , I took it away. And have learned to hide my ipnone case and cords and ANYTHING she can pick at .... OMG every single thing goes in her mouth

That is great advice to go through the clearance section. I will buy her some shreddable toys this weekend. What about a paper towel cardboard? Or just tissue paper stuffed in a toilet paper cardboard with a treat buried in it?

I don't know about what they might accidentally consume ya know?

The best time to buy toys on clearance from F&S is after a big holiday....lots of good prices on things they can destroy.

You know the whiffle balls for golf and batting practice..my Gray loved those, tossed them about and destroyed them. Also take white butcher paper and make fans and shapes and let them shred away!!!

[Nerien]

Oh yes, Wiffle Balls! Cat balls are made from cheap brittle plastic, wiffle balls are a different kind, not brittle, so instead of snapping pieces off, they have to just slowly chip it away in tiny bits, like a dog's nylabone.

Will have to tell hubby to get me some wiffle balls. Birdies need new toys.

[Nanajennie]

Nerien Thanks so much, I will look at our local dollar store Cindy, they didn't pick the plastic apart? This cookie cutter I had was a Pampered Chef brand, very hearty and sturdy, but she managed to pick it apart still.

she just jumped off my shoulder and into the sink while I was washing my hands. Needless to say, she had a thorough rinsing off, as some soap got one her! She is proving to be a lot of work, but very funny!

AND she took a bath this AM ON ME! She is afraid to bathe without me holding the tubby LOL

[cindy]

The whiffle balls he played with and did shred them, never ate it.

I found the best toys ere made out of hard acrylic, bells, the swirly sisal rope toys, the links you buy at the store for babies, some of the infant baby toys, the non toxic wooden blocks. The make your own toy kit from F&S was really handy.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/bird-supp ... /8596?s=ts

these are ones that are for conures....any of these would keep him busy

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/bird-supp ... /5753?s=ts

He loved these and would untie the ends, triple knot the ends and he would work on it for the longest time undoing the knots http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=5658

[Nerien]

I forgot, at one pet store they were selling a holey-rubber ball shaped thing FOR hookbills, it's super tough, and it's made so you can stuff it full of peanuts or other treats and your bird has to work them out. I got it for the parrotlets, but it was big, about the size of my hand, and orange, and they were afraid of it, and it got put to the side somewhere and forgotten. This would give her something rubbery to chew on:
http://us.petvalu.com/in-our-store/prod ... bird-toy-0
just maybe introduce it slowly so she has time to get used to it, my parrotlets wouldn't go into the entire quarter of the cage that this thing was hanging in, we just hung it right in there and they freaked out.

We have a big dog ball made out of the same rubbery stuff, it's holding up to 55 pound power-chewer Bo, if it can survive him, it can survive anything!

if you want one and can't find it where you are, we now have a Pet Valu in town and I could mail you one.

[Nerien]

Here's the coconut thingy, the picture on the package isn't that good, but maybe you can search it up elsewhere:
http://www.amazon.com/F-M-Browns-Cabana ... a7eddd0-20

It's a coconut with three doorway holes drilled in it, and about an inch thick layer of the hull still attached, carved to shape around about 2/3 of the coconut. My parrotlets had a ball shredding all the coconut hull of of the thing, and then started working on chewing away the coconut shell itself, too, only Blueberry and Cricket started looking inside like, hmmmm, nest! and it's nowhere near big enough or appropriately shaped for that, so I took it out.

[Nanajennie]

cindy I will try a wiffle ball for sure, I got this one today. (first day off I have had in a long time) Thanks for all the links and ideas

@Nerien that orange ball looks great! I sense Coconut needs a little more stimulation while in her cage during work hours. As far as the Coconut idea, I have hanging off her cage, and she ignores it! She wants bright colored chewing plastic/rubber stuff. I am going to ask my local pet store to order me the Orange Insight "Nutcase" (what a horrible name) I am so grateful for your leg work!

[Nanajennie]

this is the toy I bought her today, She will not even touch it! ERRRRRRRR Crazy picky Coconut!