For Parrot Toys, Try Thinking Like A Bird
Now I know that we keep our exotic birds, parrots etc as our pets for many reasons.
Some of us have them just to hear them talk or sing. With some of us, it may be more of a flock mentality, we actually bond with and think of them as one of the family.
But yet still others, lose interest after awhile, and really neglect the attention these beautiful creatures deserve.
So, what ever you motivations are, or were, for keeping a bird in your home, be aware of your bird's feelings, and whatever you do, or don't do, when you are home with your feathered friend,, please keep the following in mind:
A bored bird is really really a sad thing to see.
Most parrots need toys to be happy, not having something to do has been shown to cause feather plucking, and other behavior problems.
So, what can we, the human, the head of the flock do?
Put yourself in the mindset of your pet bird and think about this:
Sitting there in his cage with nothing to do while his master is out of sight, he must feel like a lion in a cage.
He looks around for exciting things to see and explore, but there is nothing there but the confines of his enclosure, the bird cage.
Yes there may be some scraps left from his last meal that he could peck at, but that's such a bore. What to do, what to do? Out in the wild, his instincts would tell him, look for food, look for food.
Along the way he may encounter a funny looking plant that seems to have some kind of edible morsel hanging within. He would land there, check it out, hunt and peck, try to find a way to get at that treat.
He would have to use all his learned and instinctive skills just to get to and inside that nut shell, or the remotely hanging fruit or seed spray that seems to be just outside of a place that's easy to get at.
Eventually he would have found his tasty reward that made him full and content.
But you know what? He would find that part of the reward of getting to this prize was that he got to do all kinds of exciting things to get there!
Things such as climbing all around on limbs, hanging upside down by one foot while trying to reach whatever tasty treat might be hanging there.
Or maybe sitting there and grinding away on a branch until the piece breaks off and crashes to the ground.
Or things like shredding the leaves with his beak just to watch the pieces fall down on the critters below.
Or things like hopping from one small branch to another branch just to watch them spring back.
Oh such fun!
Now wouldn't it be nice if his bird cage came equipped with a variety of useful fun things that a lucky bird might find in the wild?
Maybe we could find something that would create a challenge for him to get to his food, something fun. Maybe we could add something to his cage like this. Fun Bird Toy
So, think like a bird!
