Are Flavored Toothpicks an OK Chew Toy?

[Vicki5280]

I'm hoping that gets some attention! This is the sit... We use bamboo toothpicks because they are really hard and on occasion I'll dip one in extract and chew on it to keep myself from grinding my teeth. This morning I had prepped one with lemon flavoring and was letting it dry for a while when Bucky sauntered up and checked them out. He picked it up and started chewing, and I've never seen him stay occupied with something as long as he chewed on that toothpick. It probably kept him interested for 30 minutes - a record for him.

I'm having a really hard time finding anything more than tissues that he'll play with. Apparently he started plucking/chewing shortly before coming to my house. He has a small bald spot on his neck I found last night that's actually covered by other feathers about 1 cm in diameter, he's stripped the feather shaft bare of barbs on the ends of his (clipped) primary flight feathers, and he has four tail feathers where he had started to do the same thing. When I brought him home, I saw him chewing his tail and wings for 4-5 days, but it seemed to taper off and I've not seen it since. I've been introducing some preening toys and soft wood chew toys, but I've been playing with them far more than he does. Besides the toothpick and tissues, the only other thing that's captured his interest is a molted tail feather from a bird I was fostering/hand taming for a week. He preened that sucker to DEATH in two sessions.

So back to my original question - the toothpicks. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The "extract" I use is totally organic. This was lemon flavored and contained Sunflower Oil and Lemon Oil - obviously human grade. In addition, I cut off the pointed ends (with difficulty) and supervised his "toothpick play-time" to make sure that whatever he managed to chew off he didn't mistake for food for some reason. (He did chew off a few little bits, and it looked like he ate a couple of tiny tiny tiny pieces, but I picked up several slivers when he was finished too.)

Am I obsessive? Absolutely! Am I obsessive enough? Nope. I let him play before asking advice - I felt pretty sure once wouldn't kill him. But I'll ask advice before letting him do it again... I'm not a total 14 year-old boy! (Whoops! Was that out loud?) SO, Do you think the toothpicks are an OK "toy" for him to have? Are there any oils that I shouldn't be using? Does anyone know of anything I could get him interested in to play with? I feel like I'm dying here! I just want my baby to be happy.

Thanks in advance for feedback, I/we really appreciate it!

Vicki and Bucky

[entrancedbymyGCC]

How strong is the flavoring? If there is no alcohol base and it's just oil extracted from lemon peel and vegetable oil, my best GUESS is that it's not a big deal in moderation. Wooden toys that are flavored are not uncommon and I expect they use a similar product, or even a more traditional extract containing alcohol, which you'd want to be careful to evaporate off before allowing chewing.

However, that's my best guess... I don't know if any hard data exists.

[coral]

im not really sure about extract but maybe try soaking one is a juice that he likes? my little guy likes pencils and he doesnt really play with much, so i bought him these pieces of wood from the bird store that look like pencils, maybe you could try that to? it seems they like whatever you play with

[Vicki5280]

@enchanted - I looked at the ingredients and it listed only Sunflower Oil and Lemon Oil. I have some old "traditional" extracts and the ingredients do list the alcohol (I checked). It's a fairly strong flavoring, I use it to flavor icing because a little goes a long way and doesn't thin the icing like a traditional extract does. BUT, because the toothpicks are such a hard wood (it wont absorb the oil very fast) and I don't soak them (just dip and drip), there can't be too much left on the toothpick. I know I don't taste it for very long when I'm gnawing on them... so... <shrug> I suppose we're ALL guessing, right?

@Coral - I might give the juice thing a try, it can't hurt! Good idea, thanks. And as for pencils, he's totally uninterested. I've tried.

[Vikki]

As mentioned, as long as there is nothing harmful in the extracts you use (like alcohol) its perfectly fine and believe it or not, the stronger the better. Birds taste buds are much different than ours and it is considered that their tongues pick up stronger flavors better and they appreciate them more, that's why they tend to love chilis and things of that nature. I guess if you think about it, their tongue is more like a heavily used finger, so its tastebuds are probably not as sensative to blander tastes. Good idea though, I will have to buy some wooden skewers or chop sticks, soak them and see if my littler guys like them. Thanks!

[CheekyandMalolo]

Our GCCs love, love, LOVE tooth picks. Tika has learnt now how to tip the container over and make it roll along until the end of a tooth pick pokes out so she can pull it out! Sometimes she'll even then bring it over for us to clip the tips off and give it back to her!! ... And then sometimes she grabs it and runs away with it haha. They love to fight over them too.
I'd give Bucky a go with just a plain one, see if he's interested at all. It may just be that he likes the texture of it, not necessarily the flavour, altho I wouldn't be surprised if he really likes the flavour too!