Calypso forages

Being in the kitchen means Calypso is getting on the blog more frequently!  This morning, I looked over and he was standing on his foraging bucket, throwing out his foot toys and toy parts.  After he was done, I put everything back in and I'm sure he'll empty it again soon.

I think someone needs anger management classes

Video explanation/description: I had bought a new toy yesterday, so Thomas thought he'd see if Rocky liked it.  Rocky did, but played roughly with that toy.  Then he threw all of the toys in his reach to the ground.

Basil plays with a toy!

To say that Basil doesn't really play with toys is an understatement.  I have tried so many different ones, but he has little interest.  However, he might be picking up on play a bit as we saw him playing with a ball on top of his cage!

Thomas called me into the room saying "Bring your camera, you won't believe what you see!" and he was right.

I'm not giving up, before long I hope I have a toy-destroyer on my hands.  Small progress.

Basil and the ball

I don't write much about Basil as he is very easy-going and doesn't get into trouble; therefore, he does not provide exciting material like the greys and Rocky.  I am planning on starting to clicker train him shortly, so I will probably chronicle that.  He is not hand tame, and I'd like to work with him to develop a stress-free way to move him around.  Right now, he pretty much stays on or in his cage the entire day, coming out when I open the door and going inside when I ask him to.

One thing that is very different about him than from my other parrots is that he tends to sit there (apparently content) and wait for something to happen, as opposed to initiating experiences.  If I place a foot toy on top of his cage, it will sit there for weeks; if I offer him that same foot toy, he will happily play with it, like he did with this ball:

I don't think it ever occurs to him to leave his cage, unless something scares him.  In that case, he flies circles around the room and lands back on his cage.  This is in opposition to my parrots who are almost always off exploring.

In another interesting departure from my parrots, when I offer them a toy, they almost always grab it with their beaks; Basil almost always uses his foot.  Then he'll bring it up to his beak:

He has gotten to the point where he'll take wood slices from the top of his cage and chip them up; he just hasn't yet applied that concept to other toys.

In other (but slightly related) Basil news, I had converted him to Goldenfeast Goldenobles pellets a few months back.  He loves them!  However, I recently found out that Goldenfeast was going to no longer produce this pellet.  I bought several containers in order to buy myself some time to convert him to something else, preferably Harrison's, since that's what the other birds eat.

I'd put Goldenobles, 3 Harrison's power treats, and 10 Harrison's pepper pellets in his cage every morning.  He'd eat all of the Goldenobles and leave all of the Harrison's.  One day, after filling his pellet dish, I offered him his dish while he was perched on his cage door.  To my shock, he grabbed (and ate) a Harrison's pellet.  He relished this pellet, so I expected he'd eat more during the day, but I returned to find a dish with 3 power treats and 9 pepper pellets remaining.  He still had only eaten the Goldenobles!

I continued this for a few days, with the same result.  Yesterday, I returned home and found that he'd eaten all of the Harrison's!  (I don't count the Goldenobles so I have no idea how many he ate.)  It's all or nothing with this guy!

Wood

I don't think I've mentioned anything about this for quite some time, but wood slices are one of my favorite parrot items, ever.  An untreated 2X4 pine provides many, many hours of entertainment.  If you have access to a saw and have some skills, they are one of the cheapest and most entertaining items for birds that I've been able to find.  Sometimes I drill them and hang them on wire, but frequently I am lazy and give them to the birds as-is.

Thomas slices them in various widths; the littler guys get more thinly-sliced wood:

I hide a bunch in Calypso's cage every morning and return home to a pile of wood chips.

Even Basil, who doesn't really play with toys (we're working on him!) loves them:

We leave a basket full of them out at all times for Rocky.  When he wants to chew, he wants to chew.  If nothing acceptable is around, he'll use the fishtank, baseboards, or other unacceptable substitutes.  By providing him with easily accessible acceptable wood, everybody wins!

All knotted up

Over the weekend, I spent some time making toys for the parrots at the shelter where I volunteer. Since my parrots see toys and think it must be for them, I made them some toys as well.

In progress:
Sometimes, Max likes playing with toy components as much as she likes playing with the toys. She really treasured this bead, playing with it for over 10 minutes -- an eternity in Max-time!With a scrap of veggie-tanned leather, I made her a little foot toy:
About to work on the knot:
She is very proficient at untying knots without ruining the leather, so I restrung the beads and took a video of her handiwork:

Short stories

Calypso loves corn. Last night, the rest of the parrots had come into the kitchen with Thomas and me, and Calypso was alone in the living room. We'd already fed the parrots their dinner, which included some chunks of corn on the cob. Calypso, who usually stays on his own cage, flew around to a couple of other cages and ate the other parrots' corn!

The corn beak thief:
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For dinner, we made a sauce with vegetables from the farmers' market and put that on some udon noodles. Rocky climbed up to help himself from Thomas's bowl:************************
Steve emptied out one of his toys of the shredded paper that was inside:
So I refilled it:
He was already working on emptying it out again. I know there is a forager in him!

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I love cherries and bought some incredibly tasty ones from my favorite farmer. All of the parrots except Max also like them. Here's Thomas feeding Stella:With cherries, because their juice really stains, we try to hold the cherry instead of letting the parrot fly all over the house and make a mess!

Steve also liked the cherries (he's actually eating one in this picture, though it's hard to see). Also, word of warning to anyone living with a mutilator: dried cherry juice looks a lot like dried blood. I had a minor freak-out this morning until I remembered that!*************************
Could this squirrel be any more adorable?
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I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm supposed to run 17 miles tomorrow. And the weather forecast is not looking promising. Rain!!!

Max and a toy

I had originally placed this blue toy in Steve's cage, but he was frightened of it, so I placed it on the stand instead. It had been in Max's cage a few years ago, and she was happy to see it again!It is a foraging toy -- I can put something inside and then the parrot is supposed to make the item go through a little maze. I hadn't done that, though. She was happy to play with it as is!
She is one of the most playful parrots I have ever seen, and it makes me so happy to see her so excited over a new toy!

This is especially clear to me now, as her behavior is in direct opposition to Steve's. I have not yet seen him play with a toy, and he spends his time perched on one perch. I know it will take time to get him to love to play with toys, but he'll get there!

After Max's toy exertion, she recharged herself with some peas:

Wood slices

One of my absolute favorite parrot toys is the simple slice of untreated pine. I'll sometimes drill holes in them and hang them on wire, but my parrots are equally happy to hold them in their feet and chip away.Destroying and chipping are so important for parrots. Lately at the rescue, I have seen a large number of parrots (mostly macaws) come in with overgrown beaks, mostly a result of poor diet and nothing to chew!
I understand that toys can get expensive, but this is one of the cheapest toys ever, as long as you have (or know someone who has) a saw. Around me, I can get an untreated pine 2X4 for less than $3. Sliced up, that can provide anywhere from weeks to months of chewing opportunities (depending on how voracious your birds are!)

Each bird has a basket of these in their cage (cut thinner for the caiques and thicker for the greys and macaw). We also keep baskets of them around the house on the floor, so if someone gets in a chewing mood, they'll go for the appropriate chewing material.

Scary toys

I purchased this large toy for one of the greys, thinking it would be perfect for foraging. So many places to hide their pellets! I thought my greys were fearless of toys, but apparently one that's four times bigger than they are is scary after all.

I'd placed it in the living room so they could get used to it and realize it wasn't going to eat them. However, since it was so big, it was getting in my way, so I temporarily hung it on the outside of Rocky's cage. He immediately went over to destroy it.He had also been scared of it when they were both outside of his cage. I'll see if I can move it inside his cage without causing fear. He can forage, too!

Toys and ramblings

Over the weekend, I was assembling some toys for the parrots at the rescue. I had some loofahs (purchased from The Parrot Asylum) and asked Thomas if he'd cut them into slices for me. He did so like it was a loaf of bread instead of using a saw!Even though most of the slices will go into toys for the rescue birds, my guys all got one too:It was a toy-filled weekend!I have a few more toys to assemble tonight and hope to stop by the rescue later this week to drop off a box of toys for the parrots who are waiting to find their new home. I was up there last week, and came away a bit sad.

There are just so many birds looking for good homes! The blue crowned conure that I love is still there, as is a severe macaw whose personality is so similar to Rocky's that I worry about where he'll end up. I also met an parrot who was surrendered when his owner died -- after spending almost 50 years with her. What a shock for this poor guy. Almost 50 years of stability and then *poof* an entirely different world. How scary that must be.

As usual, I walked away wishing I could do more.

Rope perches

Max loves preening toys. She had a rope perch in her cage that Thomas and I purchased before we purchased her. We knew we were going to get a parrot and bought and outfitted a cage in preparation. Not the brightest idea since we didn't know what species of parrot we were going to get so the cage size and/or bar spacing could have been inappropriate.

That rope perch lasted in her cage for six and a half years. One day, after using it exclusively as a perch for over 300 weeks, it's like a switch went off and she noticed it. In less than three weeks, she had severed the rope from the plastic holder. We replaced it, and three weeks later, she had chewed through it again!

So now we hang rope perches from the top of her cage, intending them to be used as a preening toy instead of a perch. When I was doing her cage inspection yesterday, I noticed that one single thread was keeping the rope perch attached.

Here is a before and after picture, as I replaced the worn-out toy.

She had made progress on her new one this morning, so I'll keep the blog updated to see how long this one lasts.

Grey Feather Toys Sale

Also, I just got an e-mail that Grey Feather Toys is having a 25% off sale for all purchases over $45 from now through Sunday evening 10/5/08. Just enter coupon code WOOHOO. I'm posting the details below, and you can also find them on their website:

• 25% Off Toys & Parts is valid with a $45 Product Minimum.
• $5 Off Toys & Parts is valid with a $30 Product Minimum.
• 4 Days Only! Limited Time Offer is effective now through Sunday evening, 10/5/08.
• Coupon must be present at time of ordering.
• Note: Order minimum does not include shipping charges.
• 25% Off is valid on ALL Toy & Parts, NEW & SALE ITEMS and all toys, swings, boings, parts, toy bases/kits, and talon toys.
• Valid for all customers. (USA and Worldwide).
• No Double Dipping Please! This offer cannot be combined with any other special offer, discount program and/ or coupon. This 25% off Promo cannot be beat!
• *Excludes: Bird Food, Treats, Skewers, Perches, Cages, Gyms, Scales, Carriers, Bird Safe Cleaners and any other non-toy item.
• Note: Cannot be applied to Previous Orders

My parrots all love their Grey Feather toys! At top is Calypso hanging from one of his favorites. At left is Beeps stretching out to play with one of his favorites.

As you can see, even though "grey" is in the store name, they are wonderful for all parrots!

This comes with perfect timing for us! Beeps and Calypso have a bell toy on their cages. The greys have the slightly larger version of that toy, but of course they want to play with the one the caiques have! Just last week Thomas told me that I needed to order more of those bell toys.

I have also been lucky enough to meet the owners of this company, and they are two of the nicest people I have ever met. They truly have the birds' best interest in mind. Their toys are designed with safety in mind, including all stainless-streel parts.

They share their lives with several African Greys that are as cherished as can be.

Parrot toys

I wrote a few weeks back about making parrot toys. In addition to making toys for my own parrots, I make toys for the birds at the shelter where I volunteer. If anyone reading this wants to help out at a parrot shelter but either lives too far away to be able to go there frequently or just doesn't have the time, this is another option -- making toys in your spare time (while watching TV, for example) and bringing them up when you're in the neighborhood. Just ask your local parrot rescue -- I'm sure they'd love the help!

At the rescue where I volunteer, we take in several hundred birds ever year, and usually have at least 15-20 cockatoos and 5-10 macaws at any one time, in addition to many smaller birds. As you can imagine, they go through a lot of wood!

The other shelter volunteers save toy parts left over when the bird has destroyed the toy, such as wire and chain. I'll take a box or two of parts home and remake them into new toys for the birds. In this way, we save money as well as landfill space by recycling parts into new toys.

This is what I brought home last Saturday:
And this is what I dropped off at the rescue this morning:
By making toys, you also know that your donation is going directly to help the birds, and you're making their lives more enjoyable!

On the same toy note, I was at the hardware store over the weekend and noticed a plastic 5-drawer storage container. I have used 3-drawer containers as foraging toys for the parrots, but this one was taller and about perfect Rocky size!
I filled the drawers up with different things. Around Easter time, the stores near us are filled with paper Easter grass. I always buy a cart-full and use it throughout the year. I could probably make this cheaply at home using a paper shredder. In addition to the paper sheds, I put in various toy parts (including wood pieces to chip), and a few Harrison's power treats (Rocky's favorite).
I placed it in his cage, like this.
When I returned home from work, several of the drawers were open and he had gone through them. I think the whole toy cost about $7. Keeping your parrots' minds active does not need to be expensive!