Ditto on the ABC blocks! Such a great idea!
Had a question... I would've thought the foam pieces would not be safe, in case of ingestion. Have you used them before?
I'm really not that crafty. Just
cheap economically minded. The ABC blocks have little lids. They came that way. I just used my dremel (that I got to file dog nails) to put holes though them all.
I don't really worry about Jasper eating things. If swallowing and eating things that are non-edible was a concern for most parrots, there would be far fewer parrots about, both in homes and the wild. Granted, there are a few that do swallow things that are not food, especially metal because it has an attractive taste, but the majority of birds are smart and just shred and destroy. In addition to the foam beads, I also give Jasper pony beads without concern. He LOVES to beak them, but has never swallowed one. MOST of the things in parrot toys could cause an impaction if they swallowed enough of it or a big enough piece. This includes foam, but also plastic, paper, wood, and cardboard. String is especially dangerous (in all species) because of how it blocks things up in the body (look up 'linear foreign body' for more info), so I am very careful not to leave any string bits, etc, where he could get to them. There is risk to everything, and everyone must have their own tolerances. I actually got the idea to use foam beads from several commercial toys I'd bought.
