I have two African Grey Parrots, and let me tell you, they go through wooden toys like crazy. It is not a bad thing. They are amusing themselves. The toys help them to learn and keeps them from being bored. Please keep giving your bird wooden toys. I say this because parrots need a lot of attention and when they don’t get it from us, they look for ways to play and keep them selves busy. When you take this away and do not provide them with the toys, they can become self destructive. They can begin to pluck their own feathers and hurt themselves.
I found a cheap way to get toys. Got to a hobby store and buy wooden blocks and heavy twine. Most hobby shops like Hobby Lobby, carry different shapes and sizes of already pre-cut blocks of wood. Most also already have holes drilled in them. Get creative and put them together with he twine. To make it more interesting, get a few bells and tie a bell to the end of your creation. You can also use food coloring to dye your blocks and make them more colorful.
Another thing you can do is buy some of those small brooms with straw, not plastic, and put them in the cage. Walmart has some that don’t have handles and you can hang them in the cage. My birds love to chew on them.
I hope this helps.
All parrots chew on wood, some more than others. In order to keep them healthy and their beaks in good shape, you have to have chewables available all the time.
Do you have other things available for him to do while you’re gone? What about enrichment toys, puzzles, foraging toys etc.
My Goffin loves palm fronds and works for days on destroying them, you can also get grapevine wreaths to keep their beaks busy. Just make sure they don’t have any paint or gloss on them, they have to be purely grapevines.
Some birds just really like wood, and buying new wood toys on a frequent basis is a whole lot better than having a frustrated bird that either bites or turns to self mutilation or feather picking.
Some of the enrichments I give my Goffins are:
1. Use a zip tie to cinch a handful of plastic drinking straws to a perch. When you cinch it down tight around the straws they flare out like a star. It’s pretty cool, doesn’t last terribly long, but fun for a while.
2. Take a paper lunch bag and fill it with lots of different goodies like, bits of wood, treats, unsalted unbuttered popcorn, leather strips or chunks, peanuts etc etc. Tie the top with a piece of paulie rope and tie the other end to the top of the cage. They have to break into the bag with their beak to get at the goodies. You may have to start the hole in the bag until they get the idea, and don’t leave too much rope that they could get tangled in.
There is a recipe book for things to cook for your pet birds, and it has foraging stuff and bread machine recipes in it too. Check it out
That’s a very good thing. Not that he’s eating it, if he literally is swallowing the pieces, but chewing is a very good outlet for stress, energy, it keeps the beak down, and it keeps him occupied. The exact purpose of wooden toys is to occupy them in that sense, and I can’t tell you how happy I am when I see mine chomped down to slivers because I know my guys have successfully kept busy while doing good to their beaks.
If you want to slow the process of this (because you can’t stop it, and you shouldn’t), you can use tough cardboards or buy cheap wood pieces in bulk from any craft store (make sure all wood you buy is untreated) and create your own toys. You can also buy coconut shells, as they’re tougher but he may like chewing at them anyway, and with all of those, you can easily hide foods. Foraging is a fun game for any animal, but birds instinctively do it, so it’s highly recommended. It tends to keep birds busy longer if they know they’re supposed to be looking for something, and you can get more and more discreet every time you hide something new. Check out for some great tips and pictures to demonstrate other bird owners’ ideas.
Other than that, I think my only advice is to invest and bump up your bird toy budget.
thats just what they love doing. they love chewing.
you can make “toys” out of food for your ringneck to give it something to do during the day. maybe hang food up so its a bit harder to get to and more fun,
if you need to know more about ringneck go to this great site.. heaps of great people there that will help you out.
7 Responses to “Help, my Indian Ring Neck Parrot is eating all his wooden toys?”
that is what they do…just keep bringing more toys…lots of rope toys help too…they will work on them a little longer than wood.
By spottedmyappy on Nov 26, 2008
parrots all tend to chew things. Give him something else to chew on like a few sticks or a piece of rope.
I dunt know if they are still sold but there used to be some stuff that you could brush on to help stop the birds chewing on things.
By mark on Nov 27, 2008
I have two African Grey Parrots, and let me tell you, they go through wooden toys like crazy. It is not a bad thing. They are amusing themselves. The toys help them to learn and keeps them from being bored. Please keep giving your bird wooden toys. I say this because parrots need a lot of attention and when they don’t get it from us, they look for ways to play and keep them selves busy. When you take this away and do not provide them with the toys, they can become self destructive. They can begin to pluck their own feathers and hurt themselves.
I found a cheap way to get toys. Got to a hobby store and buy wooden blocks and heavy twine. Most hobby shops like Hobby Lobby, carry different shapes and sizes of already pre-cut blocks of wood. Most also already have holes drilled in them. Get creative and put them together with he twine. To make it more interesting, get a few bells and tie a bell to the end of your creation. You can also use food coloring to dye your blocks and make them more colorful.
Another thing you can do is buy some of those small brooms with straw, not plastic, and put them in the cage. Walmart has some that don’t have handles and you can hang them in the cage. My birds love to chew on them.
I hope this helps.
By yellow on Nov 28, 2008
All parrots chew on wood, some more than others. In order to keep them healthy and their beaks in good shape, you have to have chewables available all the time.
Do you have other things available for him to do while you’re gone? What about enrichment toys, puzzles, foraging toys etc.
My Goffin loves palm fronds and works for days on destroying them, you can also get grapevine wreaths to keep their beaks busy. Just make sure they don’t have any paint or gloss on them, they have to be purely grapevines.
Some birds just really like wood, and buying new wood toys on a frequent basis is a whole lot better than having a frustrated bird that either bites or turns to self mutilation or feather picking.
Some of the enrichments I give my Goffins are:
1. Use a zip tie to cinch a handful of plastic drinking straws to a perch. When you cinch it down tight around the straws they flare out like a star. It’s pretty cool, doesn’t last terribly long, but fun for a while.
2. Take a paper lunch bag and fill it with lots of different goodies like, bits of wood, treats, unsalted unbuttered popcorn, leather strips or chunks, peanuts etc etc. Tie the top with a piece of paulie rope and tie the other end to the top of the cage. They have to break into the bag with their beak to get at the goodies. You may have to start the hole in the bag until they get the idea, and don’t leave too much rope that they could get tangled in.
There is a recipe book for things to cook for your pet birds, and it has foraging stuff and bread machine recipes in it too. Check it out
Good luck and keep chopping up wood!
By Maki's Mom on Nov 30, 2008
That’s a very good thing. Not that he’s eating it, if he literally is swallowing the pieces, but chewing is a very good outlet for stress, energy, it keeps the beak down, and it keeps him occupied. The exact purpose of wooden toys is to occupy them in that sense, and I can’t tell you how happy I am when I see mine chomped down to slivers because I know my guys have successfully kept busy while doing good to their beaks.
If you want to slow the process of this (because you can’t stop it, and you shouldn’t), you can use tough cardboards or buy cheap wood pieces in bulk from any craft store (make sure all wood you buy is untreated) and create your own toys. You can also buy coconut shells, as they’re tougher but he may like chewing at them anyway, and with all of those, you can easily hide foods. Foraging is a fun game for any animal, but birds instinctively do it, so it’s highly recommended. It tends to keep birds busy longer if they know they’re supposed to be looking for something, and you can get more and more discreet every time you hide something new. Check out for some great tips and pictures to demonstrate other bird owners’ ideas.
Other than that, I think my only advice is to invest and bump up your bird toy budget.
By PinkDagger on Dec 3, 2008
The other answer is correct birds need to chew
By jonnyraven on Dec 4, 2008
thats just what they love doing. they love chewing.
you can make “toys” out of food for your ringneck to give it something to do during the day. maybe hang food up so its a bit harder to get to and more fun,
if you need to know more about ringneck go to this great site.. heaps of great people there that will help you out.
good luck
lady
By lady on Dec 6, 2008