• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Favorite Toys - Small Bird Edition

Shezbug

ASK ME FOR PICTURES OF MY MACAW!
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/28/18
Messages
25,823
Location
Vic, Australia
Real Name
Shez
My budgie loves bells and beads to bash about and seagrass rope and balsa perches to chew. There’s other stuff he gets and likes but those four things would have to be his long time favourites.
 

Ripshod

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/18
Messages
7,529
Location
UK
Real Name
Linden
My budgies also like bells, but then they (the females especially) love chewing wood - but they're more into pine now rather than balsa.
When I had the parrotlets here I remember they loved to hide amongst a group of soft hanging toys I deliberately placed over a perch for them.
Big bells are great for many birds.
 

Ripshod

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/18
Messages
7,529
Location
UK
Real Name
Linden

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
Difficult question. I have multiple birds and each like different things, so someone is bound to like every type of toy :rolleyes:

Favourites would be shreddible stuff like raffia, dried banana plaits, dried palm shreddables. My females like balls. Most like bells or other noise makers. They all love boings and swings. Most love foraging cups for obvious reasons :lol:
 

WikiWaz

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/2/21
Messages
1,260
Location
Midwest, United States
Real Name
Signe
My budgies love shiny things and bells. But their favorite toys are toys related to food. They're also into preening toys.

Sprite and Wisp's favorite toys (in no particular order):
Pin Head - Made in the USA Bird Toys
Mahogany Foraging Wall - HootnHoller Bird Toys
JW Activitoy Disco Ball (it's shiny)
Rope Boings
Small Food Pyramid - Myparrotshop.com
Foraging Box Feeder - Caitec
Snack Table - HootnHoller Bird Toys
Star Cluster Mini - Planet Pleasures
finger traps filled with millet (with keep them busy for hours, because they are just learning how to shred)
 
Last edited:

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I need to replenish the toy stock
Get a little of everything and observe your birds playing with each thing, see what get´s them excited and what interests them more. Having a good selection will help you discover your birds favourite toy types :)
 

calibird

California Bird Nerds
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
10/16/09
Messages
6,783
Location
Palmdale, California
Real Name
Ann
The little ones love balsa.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
The little ones love balsa.
I second this.
All of my birds love wood. Most like balsa, some like thin pine.
Most of the comments in this thread are budgie related, but a lovebird is much more destructive and will usually play with wood toys. I don´t know about p´lets... @fashionfobie ?
 

Chris1234

Strolling the yard
Avenue Veteran
Joined
9/23/14
Messages
137
Location
Wisconsin
Real Name
Chris
Our Rose Breasted Too LOVES the treat cage. If he ignores a toy it gets disassembled and placed in here and he's all over it.

Our Meyers loves her little foraging tray. She gets a dash of seeds and dried fruits and veggies sprinkled in it every day and has to toss everything around to find them.
 

Attachments

Mizzely

Lil Monsters Bird Toys
Super Moderator
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
8/9/11
Messages
39,966
Location
Northern Mitten Michigan
Real Name
Shawna [she/her]
By far, my customers seem to love balsa, yucca and Sola the most :)


Followed by cork and mahogany

 

fashionfobie

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
1/4/19
Messages
5,246
Location
Qld, Australia
Real Name
Natalie
My little parrotlets like paper shred toys and rattan type toys. The most popular chew toy is probably branches with bark on. They love shredding bark usually stripping the branches bare. If you can find natural perches with bark on, I would choose those.
 

BirdLady13

Sprinting down the street
Joined
8/24/19
Messages
354
Location
Massachusetts
Thanks for all the comments! My birds always have a variety of toys; I was just looking for some new ones.
 

WikiWaz

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/2/21
Messages
1,260
Location
Midwest, United States
Real Name
Signe
By far, my customers seem to love balsa, yucca and Sola the most :)


Followed by cork and mahogany

I can't wait to order toys from Lil Monsters. First Erwin, Sprite, and Wisp need to learn how to shred. Sprite and Wisp have learned to shred cork and finger traps.
 

Mizzely

Lil Monsters Bird Toys
Super Moderator
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
8/9/11
Messages
39,966
Location
Northern Mitten Michigan
Real Name
Shawna [she/her]
I can't wait to order toys from Lil Monsters. First Erwin, Sprite, and Wisp need to learn how to shred. Sprite and Wisp have learned to shred cork and finger traps.
Not sure if you've seen it or not, but I do have an "Intro to Toys" section with some good starter options ;)

 

PetFoster

Strolling the yard
Joined
4/6/21
Messages
141
Real Name
Julie
Our Rose Breasted Too LOVES the treat cage. If he ignores a toy it gets disassembled and placed in here and he's all over it.

Our Meyers loves her little foraging tray. She gets a dash of seeds and dried fruits and veggies sprinkled in it every day and has to toss everything around to find them.
I have a dumb question: is that really called a "treat cage"? I NEED one! Finally, after more than month, just today, Lucy started working on chewing up some balsa slats that I had intended to make toys with, but... She won't really play with the toys in her cage. I think the motion and instability of anything hanging really throws her off. But today, I wedged a few pieces of balsa slats into a mason jar that she could reach from her play stand perch, and she went to town on it! I want to be able to give her a similar setup inside her cage, but (for obvious reasons) a mason jar is not going into her cage. ;)
 

WikiWaz

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/2/21
Messages
1,260
Location
Midwest, United States
Real Name
Signe
Not sure if you've seen it or not, but I do have an "Intro to Toys" section with some good starter options ;)

Yes I have! I read your article several months into bird ownership (way before I joined AA) and it influenced how I was buying toys! Beforehand, I was buying toys that were too large, too busy, and thus too intimidating for my birds. I was getting the wrong size wood, like 1/2" pine blocks for my cockatiel and budgie. After reading your article I started simple and small and based on your suggestions and worked my way up. That was with my past cockatiel and budgie. For my birds now, it took 6 months of living with us for Sprite and Wisp to actually show any interest in toys, now they look forward to the monthly toy rotation. I'm still trying to figure out Erwin's preferences.

Thank you for writing your "Intro to Toys" article, it helped me to get a better understanding of small beaks.
 
Top