Stimulation
by
Gudrun Maybaum
We all do whatever it takes to have a healthy, happy bird. We buy the best food, clean, cook, read books about the right diet, cages, play stands, etc. And while those are all very important to a birds well-being, another factor is stimulation.
In nature, a bird would be stimulated from the time he wakes up until he goes to sleep. There is always something to do: looking for food and water, eating, drinking, playing, preening, pruning trees, etc.
At our homes, we try to give our birds a peaceful and trusting life. To add the stimulation a bird would have in nature, a family member would have to carry it around all its waking time, which we know is not practical.
Another possibility is for the bird to live with other birds, which provides companionship and a playmate. Often though, those birds that grow up in human company only don't want to interact with other birds.
How can we blend the necessary daily stimulation into our peaceful home environment, especially if our birds don't interact with each other? Even if they do, they still need something else to do. A busy bird is a happy bird. So, we can carry the bird around all the time or let it chew up our houses and furniture.
But a much better way is to provide different toys, particularly those that can be chewed up and destroyed easily. Often simple colored chew blocks are enough, but color is important. Of the chew blocks I provide for my birds, the natural-colored ones are usually left over.
Most
birds have a color preference. My congo grey likes orange wood, my cockatoo
goes first for the green and purple wood. They also need some toys that give
them something to figure out and some just for the fun of making noise. The
toys that are
not so easy to destroy become boring after a while, so they need to be changed.
Normally, if they are given back after a period of time, they are interesting
again. So try exchanging them every once in a while.
Toys should not only be in the cage, but at different places like the stand or play gym. I have seen cages that were so packed with toys the bird would not even go in the cage anymore because it could hardly move around. The owner of this bird told me, "My bird does not play with its toys." More does not always mean better.
When
you buy toys for your bird, look for things that could hurt it. While there
are no 100% secure toys, we can avoid the more obvious dangers like non-stainless
steel parts, which could lead to metal poisoning. Or parts (like open chains)
the beak or toe can get caught in. I prefer sisal to cotton because it breaks
easier, when it gets wrapped around a toe or leg, which some birds have developed
into an art.
©Copyright Reserved 2004 - Reprinted with Kind permission from Gudrun Maybaum - Bird Nutrition and Herb Consultant
