Читать книгу Birds For Dummies - Gina Spadafori - Страница 99

Most pet birds — from budgies on up in size — need time out of their cages to explore, exercise, and socialize (the exceptions are canaries and other finches, who are happy to be left alone in roomy cages). You could allow your birds to explore, taste, chew, and destroy your furniture, or you could offer them an alternative — a play stand, gym, or other safe location (see Figure 4-4).

Photograph courtesy of Rachel Baden, DVM

FIGURE 4-4: A rose-breasted cockatoo has an assortment of toys on the play stand that tops her cage.

Play stands come in two varieties, for the most part: large, freestanding models or those designed to rest on a table. The freestanding models are fit for the largest parrots.

Any size stand or gym offers a variety of perches, swings, and ladders; places to attach toys; and usually a container for food and water. They can be made of natural material (such as grapevine or wood branches) or of turned-pine dowels or hard plastics. A skirt or tray incorporated into the design helps capture mess and thrown food.

When choosing a play stand or gym, look for a model that combines entertainment for your bird with easy cleanup for you. Turned pine or abraded hard plastic is fine, but more natural pieces of wood are likely easier on your bird’s feet.

Some cage designs feature a play gym on top, or they’re flat-topped to accommodate the addition of a separately purchased setup. Although a gym on top of your bird’s cage may be okay, it may also make it challenging to persuade your bird that it’s time to come down, particularly if your bird isn’t well trained.

Height generally equals comfort and security in the bird world. When you ask your bird to come down from a high position, there has to be something of greater value to make it worth his while. From a training perspective, examples of this “added value” may include the ability to spend time with you, to be moved to other locations by you, or treats. (For more on avian behavior problems, see Chapter 12.)