Toys to keep an African Grey entertained

[thelonelysnake]

Hi, I am getting a baby African Grey parrot soon and I have been doing lots of research. As of right now I am just trying to contact as many experienced bird owners as possible to make sure the information I have collected is correct and to prepare myself as much as possible.

I work from six in the morning to noon and I was wondering what would be the best toys to get for my Grey in order to keep him or her entertained while I am at work.

Recomendations of kinds of toys or even just good brands are helpful. Thank you!

[Pajarita]

I'll be honest with you, I've cared for 6 grays and none of them played with any toys...

[thelonelysnake]

I'll be honest with you, I've cared for 6 grays and none of them played with any toys...

In that case, what can I use to keep him entertained for a few hours? I dont want him to get bored or stressed out.

[Wolf]

I'll be honest with you, I've cared for 6 grays and none of them played with any toys...

In that case, what can I use to keep him entertained for a few hours? I dont want him to get bored or stressed out.

My CAG loves music and watching TV. She also likes bells on chains, she does not use them a lot but they are her go to toys. She also likes to shred newspaper and throw it out on floor as well as shredable toys.

[Pajarita]

I don't use chains in the birdroom (heard too many horror stories of claws/toes/beaks getting caught in the links) and you have to be careful with bells because they need to be stainless steel (even the clapper which needs to be too big for the bird to swallow) but yes, they do like to shred paper (all parrots do) and mine love cardboard boxes on the floor (they go in and scratch the floor and chew the sides) during breeding season.

But, when it comes to grays, the only thing that makes them happy, in my personal opinion and experience, is been with their human... they don't even bond with other grays -at least, mine didn't and two of them were a brother and sister that had been raised together.

[Wolf]

I drill our tubes of wood big enough for the chain to be threaded through and replace as needed.

[Pajarita]

Aaaaah, great idea! It protects the birds from the danger of getting anything caught in the links and provides them with more chewing material. Genius!

[Raque]

I was wondering what would be the best toys to get for my Grey in order to keep him or her entertained while I am at work.

What my CAG likes or doesn't like seems to have no rhyme or reason. Some toys she just won't touch for months ....and then all of a sudden spends all her time playing with it.

Sometimes she likes soft woods (like balsa), sometimes harder woods, sometimes cardboard, or paper, or plastic, or small things, or big things, or round things, or pointy things, or things that make noise, or my kitchen cabinets, or ...well pretty much anything.

What I have figured out is that Missy wants a variety of sizes, shapes, and textures. Many she won't touch for a while and then decide they are the BEST THING EVAR!!!!

So my best answer is to try a variety, and find out what she plays with (but I don't recommend kitchen cabinets, even if your gray loves them).

One tip though, Missy is afraid of almost all new toys. What I normally do is bring them out, play with them in front of her for a minute and just set it down far away from her but where she can see it. Then do that again the next day. On the 3rd day I bring it close to her, if she is willing to nibble at it then it is fine and if she simply moves quickly away from it I leave it across the room from her for a few days and try again.

[liz]

I drill our tubes of wood big enough for the chain to be threaded through and replace as needed.

I string them when I have time. Most of the time I give Myrtle twigs. She also like plastic bottle caps. Rambo is easy. Give him a new cardboard box and he squeals with delight then turns it into cardb

[JaydeParrot]

Get some bird safe tree branches (small enough for the grey to hold in it's claw), snap them into smaller twigs and leave them in the bird's food dishes, my birds don't really play but really enjoy chewing. Your grey may even enjoy a swinging perch, I've seen refillable foraging toys for sale but you need to check them yourself to figure out if they're safe enough.