# Budgie likes to chew wood!



## PlumpyParakeet (Apr 22, 2018)

Lily loves to chew wood and just about anything else. Except for the chew items I have placed in the cage! She came with some toys that had rope, obviously after seeing her shred that up I took it away. She has chewed a few times on the manu mineral perch but not much. Loves to sit on the lava stone but doesn't chew it much. The wooden dowel perch however is a favorite. Obviously I'm concerned she might ingest some of the wood. She doesn't care for the cuttle bone or mineral blocks.

She has not done any chewing with the manzanita branch perch or the plastic contoured sandy perch (not really sandy anymore cuz it's old). Hopefully she wouldn't start to chew those if the wooden dowel perch is gone.

My other birds have one of those wooden corner perches with several dowels for perching. Right away she went to chewing on it!

I have seen some interesting toys, paper meant for shredding, birdie bangles which are rings made of compressed cardboard, or toys made of cardboard pieces. Are any of these safe??

1) I'm looking for ideas of safe chew items to place in the cage- perches, blocks, toys etc. that might distract her from the perches.

2) Do I need to remove the wooden dowel perch? Or is it fine for her to chew it?


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

It sounds like Lily could use a variety of fun toys! There are many types of budgie toys available either from pet shops or online. My Safe Bird Store is a great place to find a wide variety of appropriate toys (and other supplies) for Lily. I highly recommend this online shop for birds. https://www.mysafebirdstore.com

She won't ingest the wood. A dowel is fine as long as she has a variety of other sizes of natural branch type perches to exercise feet and not keep them on the same diameter all the time, which 'can' lead to foot problems.


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## sweettreat (Jan 3, 2014)

My Iris is also a wood chewer. She loves to chew on the manzanita perches. She has lots of different type of toys. She loves the weaved toys and has some wood toys with bells. I have found the trick is to keep her in toys. She loves her round swing with large beads.
Iris also likes to chew on brown paper bags. I take the grocery bag with out printing on it and cut it into strips. Tie the strips on her toys to shred. The ink might be toxic so i avoid the printed part. Keeping Iris happy is a challenge but she is worth it.
I hope some of these ideas help.


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## PlumpyParakeet (Apr 22, 2018)

Thanks for your replies. I guess I will let her continue to chew on her dowel perch if it isn't an issue. I have seen so many bird toys with wooden pieces that I wondered if the wood might be safe. However, I also know that just because something says it is "bird safe" doesn't mean that it is. I appreciate the link to the safe bird store. I have looked at that before and will give it another visit. 

Lily does play with her numerous toys once in a while and believe me I enjoy splurging on new bird stuff. The paper bag idea sounds fun to try!


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