Forgive my ignorance: Do finches and canaries need toys?

[Sparky04]

My friend wants to know more about caring for birds and parrots. I know about parrots, but have never owned a finch or canary. Do they need toys? She's not getting a bird, but wants to learn more. TIA

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I give mine toys; stuff to preen, interact with. Otherwise they just sit around the cage. They are very scary and take a while to get used to something, but once they do, they interact with it.

 

[Sparky04]

I give mine toys; stuff to preen, interact with. Otherwise they just sit around the cage. They are very scary and take a while to get used to something, but once they do, they interact with it.

Thanks.

 

[kitsunebandit]

I also give mine toys, but things they can pull at and land on

 

[Anne & Gang]

sure they need toys..our little finch Fletcher loved to play with toys..and our canary Charlotte has a mirror, bells, and a whiffle ball type thing she loves. they also need frsh veggies etc.

 

[puddie922]

My finch LOVES mirrors and swings. She also likes the cotton ropes. One is a boing (1/2" x 52") that I hang from the top of the cage. I also have multiple cotton ropes attached that she loves to use similar to an obstacle course. We laugh because one we refer to as her "stripper rope" because she will use it very similar to a stripper pole. LOL! Finches also love water. Make sure there is drinking water and bath water available. If I don't have both available then she will bath in her drinking water. Just remind your friend that they can drown so only provide bath water about an inch deep or less. Just my observations. Hope this helps!
Lisa

 

[65sunnyday]

I don't have a canary, but I do have a Green Singing Finch, that to me looks just like a canary, with greenish markings on his head. They're in the same genus (?), he's Serinus mozambicus. My guess is that his behavior is very like a canary. He is totally uninterested in toys. I have in his cage preening toy & a swing, which he was afraid of at first, & now totally ignores. It's his choice to be this way & I find it interesting that people have canaries that DO play with toys. Mine doesn't, but I feel I should provide the opportunity to play. I got him a large flight cage, so he can fly around, & that's what he does all day, that & sing his little heart out. I may get him a companion, but then he'll probably stop singing, & his song is so delightful.

 

[Euphoria]

aww yea i do not know a lot about those types of birds but hey you should see if she would join us on here .. i would love to see them.... i love canaries they are just a ray of sunshine.

maybe she could make the inside of the cage look more like the wilder-ness instead of putting toys ??? just throwing out ideas.

 

[KimKimWilliamson]

I didnt find my Finches "played" so much as they just desperatly pulled everything apart and busily made nests and homes, etc.
They thrived on it!!! So I gave them lots of paper to shred, fabrics, fringed rope toys, etc. They loved that stuff, but they never took the "toys" really.
As long as your giving them LOTS of room to fly, and plenty to keep busy, they'll be happy!

 

[LivingFiction]

What an interesting question!

I've never even thought about it. I haven't had a canary, and when I had finches there were 4 of them and they played with each other so much it never even occurred to me to offer them toys.

Thank you for asking so I could learn!

 

[javi]

Lots of toys in my experience. Things to preen, swings, mirrors and bells to bang on. Mine played all the time

 

[Feather]

Sure they do. My two girls play all the time.

 

[65sunnyday]

Jasmine, what a neat video to see--thanks!!! Do you think my male green singer would play with nesting materials & preening toys? I'll for sure get some this weekend!!!

Anne & Lisa, thanks for the ideas.

 

[waterfaller1]

Kismet likes things that tinkle and natural stuff that hangs. Be careful not to put anything with long threads, that they can become entangled in, or snag a foot.

 

[bubblelady]

My Canary Grant loved his swing & a toy that was several thin, hanging leather thongs w/ beads on the end. He would chew/preen it. He also liked a little toy that was a fake budgie head inside a box like a coo coo clock. The head bobbed in and out when he pecked at it.

 

[javi]

Mine will grab on to one of the pices and try to fly off with it. Over and Over again.

 

[emeraldtoucan]

Kismet likes things that tinkle and natural stuff that hangs. Be careful not to put anything with long threads, that they can become entangled in, or snag a foot.

Yeah I learned the hard way that anything with long threads is a no. I had a finch get tangled up in finch nesting material (can't remember specifically what it was called, but it was thread like material), it was really fun getting the bird untangled (not). Poor finch. Since then I've been supplying them with crinkle paper, which no one gets tangled up in, and they all love to build nests out of (the zebra especially is an obsessive nest builder).
Anything that tinkles, little bells in the like, mine enjoy as well.