keys...

[BUUZBEE]

for those of you that have parrots, do you let your birds play with keys? i was thinking of new toys for the conures and i know coco love bottle caps, and bells, and wondered if keys are safe to play/nibble on? if so, i will go to home depot and buy a few of the uncut ones. what 'cha think???

[BUUZBEE]

(obviously i would wash them well before giving them, incase there are any oils used when they were cut)

[Budgiekin]

Sounds like a fine idea Anna. When we had Apollo, he used to love the keys! He never got to play with them but when we came home from somewhere and he could hear the keys in my hand, he'd chirp up a crazy storm!!! I loved that! And I certainly miss it now that he is no longer with us.

[zarrion101]

I'm sure I saw plastic ones in my pet shop unless I was imagine things. :)

[BUUZBEE]

yes, i've seen some plastic ones on toys, but the conures love metal, like bottle tops of the tab on a coke can

[Donna]

When I first bought my Budgies, I hung 2 metal keys from a metal ring and attached it through a hole that I had drilled through the perch. They not only went crazy playing with the jingling keys, but they loved playing with the metal ring, too.

PS. I only have Budgies. . .

[BUUZBEE]

thanks donna, i never thought to try with the budgies, i just figured they would be too big. i'll have to get extras for them too!

[zarrion101]

I tried rattling my keys at the budgies yesterday but they were quite tired and stared at me with confusion. :o

[BUUZBEE]

lol, "whats crazy mum doing now?" look, i get that a lot!!!

[ETAHoffman]

Keys make wonderful toys for the birds. My Quaker, Yma, loved to play with keys. The only problem was that, when she was out of her cage, she'd take our keys and hide them. Normally, in her cage.

One or two keys on a ring would be great. If you have any old keys you're not using, you could employ those and save some money.

Another suggestion would be to buy several of the round rings you put keys on and make a chain out of them. I made a really long one, about 18 inches, for Yma and that was her favorite toy. She'd hang it over perches, weave it between cage bars, and swing on it. Just make sure the rings are either small enough that the bird can't get her head through them or large enough she could easily.

Another fun toy for budgies and small parrots is metal jacks like little girls use to play Jacks. My birds go crazy over them. Large marbles too. They love to roll them around and, of course, they are so easy to clean.

A fun thing is to see how long it takes for the parrot to remove the keys from the ring. Yes, they can do that. Amazing.

Send photos. :-)

[BUUZBEE]

Thanks so much!!!

i dont think i have any old keys, but will have a look. if not when hubby goes to homedepot, i'll have him get a few for me!

[ETAHoffman]

Another suggestion.........ask, at the hardware store, if they will sell you their "duds." The dupe keys they make that don't, for whatever reason, don't work and people return. They may just give them to you.

[BUUZBEE]

good thinking!!! i'll give that a try!

[redgirl]

thats a really good idea