"Linda Ambrose"  wrote in message
news:irixazul-8D414F.15582521012005{at}news.videotron.net...
>
>  "jmcquown"  wrote:
>
> > Peaches has several toys with vegetable-dyed blocks of wood, bells,
leather
> > strips and large beads.  She has a swing with wooden beads on the sides.
> > She gets on the swing and when she gets tired of playing with the wood
beads
> > on the swing she gets the swing going really hard so she can try to grab
the
> > dangly toys on either side of the cage.  She gets into some rather
> > precarious positions trying to hang onto the swing and also tug on her
other
> > toys at the same time! :)
> >
> > She seems happy with the toys she has but I'm in the market for
something
> > new to let her play with.
> >
> > If you have a lovebird and a medium-sized cage (18X16-ish) what would
you
> > give to your lovebird to introduce more fun to play with?  Thanks in
> > advance.
> >
> > Jill
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Hi Jill:
>
> A lot has to do with the individual bird.  I have seven lovebirds (five
> black-masked and two peach-face mutations) and they all seem to prefer
> different toys.
>
> None of my lovebirds really enjoy swings, but they love their boings.
> None of them are too enamoured of their mirrors, except for my Dutch
> blue boy. Some of my  LBs like hard plastic coloured links and string
> toys that have wooden beads and leather strips.  My female lutino
> peachface likes hanging toys with beads and small bells.  She also loves
> to play at the bottom of her cage making paper strips from the newspaper
> lining her cage.  This keeps her occupied for hours on end.

I wouldn't recommend paper for the fact that many female birds will go into
nesting behavior and start laying eggs. This can be dangerous to their
health for a number of reasons (low calcium--egg binding). Not everyone
knows what to do when their bird goes into egg laying mode.


> 2.  Also, if you buy toys with lots of "stringy bits", make sure to
> inspect these toys on a very regular basis.  Birds can easily get long
> loose hanging strings caught around their legs/feet/necks which can cut
> off circulation or, in some cases, even be fatal.  I've heard of birds
> getting tangled in stringy toys, so although lovebirds generally like
> this type of toy, be extremely cautious with them and check them
> regularly for wear and tear.  Remove toys when the stringy parts become
> frayed.

I wouldn't give string toys to lovebirds either. Soon after I got my first
lovebird, she caught a string around her neck from a string toy, and if I
hadn't coincidentally walked over to her cage when she did, she would of
hanged herself.

Agree with the rest of your post.

Dave




--- UseNet To RIME Gateway {at} 1/22/05 2:29:47 AM ---