|
|
Post by cnyguy on Jul 15, 2024 19:53:38 GMT -5
I've often talked about how Ralph likes to arrange and rearrange his wooden dowels. He's never seemed interested in actually building a Quaker nest, but he has fun building with the dowels and it keeps him busy. Here's a picture of him starting a new structure, with his wooden ladder to support it: Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by heatherg on Aug 6, 2024 21:24:20 GMT -5
Way to go, Ralph! Willow occasionally messes with his sticks but doesn’t yet build anything. He has a bunch of fun toys in a basket and I’ve ordered more for him to chew up,
Lucy loved to arrange sticks and would put a palisade of sticks around the outside of her cage. It looked almost like a wall! Also she’d build strange arches of sticks.
Willow is now playing with palm leaf finger traps and chopsticks and wooden clothes pegs. He likes his links and his ORIGINAL REASSEMBLED TOYS from his old home. Funny bird.
|
|
|
|
Post by heatherg on Aug 10, 2024 0:06:08 GMT -5
Has Ralph got a toy box or toy basket? Willow loves his toy basket. Sometimes he just loves to take the toys out and throw them so I put them back. But he doesn’t go to his cage floor so this is a great way to supply him with smaller toys he can carry around.
I wonder if Ralph would like wooden clothes pegs(the old fashioned clothespins like people make little dolls or bugs out of)? Lucy loved them and Willow is getting more comfortable.
Did you find his forest flowers?
|
|
|
|
Post by cnyguy on Aug 10, 2024 19:22:50 GMT -5
Ralph does have a box of things that he sometimes likes to play with. It's on a small table next to his cage. He expects me to take things out for him so he can decide if he wants any of them. As usual, his attitude is "why should I do the work when I can get you to do it for me?"  He does have some wooden clothespins but hasn't ever shown much interest in them. There are a couple in his toy box. He still has lots of fun with the wooden honey dipper when he's in the kitchen cupboard. He plays with that every day. I haven't found the Forest Flowers toy anywhere, but I did find a link I could use to replace the one on his Forest Flowers chain that's worn out. I'm not sure where it came from, evidently a toy that he had before that fell apart or never used. It's not flower shaped, it's a plain oval, but it's yellow just like the worn out link. He accepted it and has been hooking it onto the cage bars just like the old link. |
|
|
|
Post by heatherg on Aug 12, 2024 23:50:11 GMT -5
I’ve just used baby links, plastic links used to attach a rattle or chew toy to a crib. I find them in the baby section of the grocery store or thrift store. I use them instead of Quick Links whenever I can because the little nut is hard to turn right enough that the bird can’t get it off.
I know there are expensive bird links, but the baby ones work just fine. Willow loves his tiny rainbow links, moves them around and makes weaving motions. He’s not wild about the clothes pegs, but Jasper has started to chew them up and they’re a lot tougher than pine chunks. We’ve got a whole bag to use, so she can eat them.
Lucy also had a wooden honey dipper that she hauled around for years. I’m sure I’ve got it somewhere. But she really loved the lightweight chopsticks. Willow isn’t very into chopsticks. He loves to chew and throw the palm leaf finger traps so he just got a big bag of 50 or 75 from Amazon.
I hope Ralph is ok. We are rooting for him in the cheese state. Feel better, Ralph!!
|
|
|
|
Post by cnyguy on Aug 13, 2024 19:56:06 GMT -5
Thanks. I'd better not use the term "cheese state" though, or Ralph would demand a piece of extra sharp cheddar. My patch job on the Forest Flowers seems to be satisfactory. Ralph has been hooking the replacement link onto the cage bars as if it were no different from the old link. Ralph got some finger traps as a Christmas gift from Scooter's former owner a few years ago and he wasn't the least bit interested in them. Every parrot has his or her individual likes and dislikes. Something else that can be used as a parrot toy are plastic shower curtain rings. Ralph has one on the side of his cage and he likes to slide it up and down the vertical bar it's attached to. He has some plastic keys for human babies that he's had since I first got him. A couple of them are hanging from leather laces and he likes to move them in and out between the cage bars too. I've said lots of times that Ralph has more fun with things that aren't supposed to be parrot toys than with any of the actual parrot toys he's had, with the exception of the Forest Flowers. |
|
|
|
Post by heatherg on Aug 14, 2024 20:56:14 GMT -5
I need to buy some leather laces for Willow. Unfortunately he hates anything metallic. So he hates the shiny clattery measuring spoons that Lucy loved. Back to the baking drawer thry go! I got many of my best bird toys in the thrift store, just buying a bag of random kid stuff, bulk packed. I think I’ll shorten the chopsticks because that might be part of Willow’s objection. He seems to like cardboard bird bagels (that I bought for Jasper) so I’ll make him a dangly toy with bird bagels. And he likes washed and baked pinecones.  Ive found other bird toys in the baking aisle. I’ve got a drs appointment across town tomorrow morning, and on the way back I may stop at Trader Joe’s to see if they have any little gadgets. Otherwise I’ll just get some dried fruit for bribes. I see Quakers online playing with canning jar rings and maybe Willow would go for that. Who knows? I’ve also made strips of cardboard and brown paper bag for Jasper to tear. I wonder if willow would like paper bag strips in his basket? I’m trying to find things to put in there because he’s not into the popsicle sticks. I suppose I can hand them over to Ms. Giant Beak (jasper) to destroy. Bird bagels in the basket? Possibilities are endless! P.s. Willow will arm wrestle Ralph for some sharp cheddar. He gets his very own single shred when I make burritos. |
|
|
|
Post by cnyguy on Aug 15, 2024 19:32:35 GMT -5
Like I said, every parrot has his or her own preferences about toys, food and just about anything else you could name. I am a cheese fanatic so there's always several kinds in the refrigerator, and extra sharp cheddar is inevitably one of them. Ralph gets a tiny piece once a week or so. George the YCA loved cheese too, but Scooter the CAG wouldn't touch it. I guess that illustrates my point about different preferences. Another rather unusual example of something that Ralph liked to play with (and eventually lost interest in) was my brother's watchband. It had alternating links made of stainless steel and soft rubber, and the rubber ones were removable. Ralph had loads of fun pulling them out. Fortunately, Ralph's Uncle Ed thought that was funny and when the time came to replace the watchband, he gave the old one to Ralph. It's in Ralph's toybox, but he hasn't wanted to play with it for a long time. Ralph likes watches and he used to reset the time on my old one.  Experiment all you want with things both parrots could play with. If one parrot isn't interested, try it with the other one. You're bound to find something that they'll each have fun with. |
|
|
|
Post by heatherg on Aug 15, 2024 22:48:22 GMT -5
Lucy loved watches and would reset the time or remove the turning knob. She’d also chew through the leather strap. I ended up buying a tough stainless steel watch that she couldn’t eat, I think I’ve had that thing for 20 yrs!
She also ate shoes.
Willow doesn’t get that opportunity. What is it with parrots and shoes? Especially expensive leather shoes.
|
|
|
|
Post by cnyguy on Aug 16, 2024 19:42:24 GMT -5
Parrots, especially Quakers, do seem to have a fascination with shoes and feet. Ralph likes to chew on my indoor leather moccasins and untie the laces. He would like to do the same with my outside shoes too, but he isn't allowed to touch those. He's also interested in my feet when I don't have shoes on. There's something in one of the parrot books I have (I think it's in Mattie Sue Athan's Guide to the Quaker Parrot) about Quakers liking to chase feet. Ralph doesn't do that, but he has tried to attack my feet when we were sitting on the floor.
|
|
He does have some wooden clothespins but hasn't ever shown much interest in them. There are a couple in his toy box. He still has lots of fun with the wooden honey dipper when he's in the kitchen cupboard. He plays with that every day. 
