Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat What kind of toys for smart parakeet?

I have a very smart female keet. She's about 2yrs old. She is so curious that she has to watch everything I do, including putting on my shoes. She has to get right up close to me when I sit by her and wants to look at all my mail with her. She looks at magazines and looks at cartoons. You can tell when you look at her that she is really interested as she looks all over the pages. What kind of toys are good to stimulate her interests? I've never had a keet as smart and curious as her

That kind of budgie is going to want toys with lots of moving parts.

Examples:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+24476&pcatid=24476
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+24474&pcatid=24474
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+13344&pcatid=13344
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+18063&pcatid=18063
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+22317&pcatid=22317
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+26378&pcatid=26378
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+12580+25020&pcatid=25020

But don't be surprised if she starts turning all kinds of objects into toys! Budgies are clever like that ... especially the curious ones.

Enjoy your little companion. It sounds like you really got lucky with her.

Thank you for the ideas! I think she's bored or very smart as she keeps trying all the access doors of her cage to see if she can open them. She even checks out the hinges on the sides of the cage to see if she can open them! She is a rescue bird and where she lived before, she had a smaller cage that was shared with an older female. They figured out that if they knocked the food dish loose, there was a hole to get out and the people would come home and find them sitting together on the tv stand! Also, after the other keet died, someone loosened the hinge on top of the cage and she managed to push it open and flew upstairs! Like I said, she is one smart birdie!

Good for you getting a rescue bird. All of my current flock are rescues.

A smart budgie can get bored very quickly, as you have already guessed. I had one that learned how to cling to the bars just above the cage door and kick it open.

The smart ones are the most entertaining.

Here are a couple of pictures of my all-time favorite, Chatterbox, "reading" the TV guide and "making" a phone call.

I love your birds! I did find a new toy for Jazz today. It attaches to the side of the cage and looks like a 3 dimensional pinwheel with small beads inside each wheel and a small bell attached to the bottom of each wheel so when they turn it with their beaks it makes noise and it's brightly colored. As soon as I put it in her cage she went to it and started playing with it! She loves playing with it.
Today she decided that she wanted to play with my sweater and kept trying to pick at it!

That sounds perfect for an inquisitive budgie.

I can see you two are going to have lots of fun together. It's a perfect match of adopted budgie and forever home.

Hi,

My name is Sharon and I just joined the group. I have a question and also a reply to someone who asked about toys.

My keet' is Barney. He is about 4 yrs old now. Good little guy. Love him lots. But wonder how I might stop him from chewing on walls, etc? I asked at pet store and they told me to try Bitter Apple spray. It seemed to work for a while, but now it doesn't seem to phase him! He also acts like he is chewing a lot. Do all your birds do this as well?

Also to the person who asked about toys: I have found Barney LOVES to play with pill bottles, all different size tops off the bottles, toilet paper rolls, etc. There are not a whole lot of toys for Keets, so I just tried different things. He is playing right now with a pill bottle top. Or any tops. I give him a different colored one every few days so they seem new to him. Course I wash them out real well first!! Hope this helps someone.

Thanks in advence.

Sharon

Some budgies like to chew. For others, it's the farthest thing from their minds.

I would suggest getting Barney some chewable hang toys, made of rope, leather, and softer wood and see if that diverts his interest from the walls.

Example:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+5654&pcatid=5654



My little guys prefer hanging toys, so I have a "do-it-yourself" kit with parts to make same.

But I have had budgies that liked small toys they could pick up with their beaks and carry around. These are called "foot toys" because the larger birds frequently pick them up with their feet to play.

Example:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5648+25029&pcatid=25029

I had one budgie who thought an empty butter tub filled with castoff buttons was a great source of amusement.