# Pigeon toys



## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

I need to find a good toy for Aggie. I came up with what I thought was a good toy – tying a plastic bottle cap at the end of a string and hanging it from the top of her cage. Not a good idea I found out. She pecked at it and then of course it banged up against her, which she did not like, so she wing-slapped it. Of course this only made the toy bang up against her again so she wing-slapped it again, and it swung back up against her and she wing-slapped it again, and again, and again… until I realized if she kept up at this pace she’d either tire herself out or end up having a bad wing. So I took it away. Just wish I could find her a safe toy to play with.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Our beloved Phoebe liked hanging parakeet toys, the kind with wood shapes and a bell. She also liked toys where she could slide aside a door or beads to get a treat.they were the Habitat Defined forage frenzy and the hide and go toys. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Habitat-De...hash=item337a1b3f32:m:mUOR3Osvriy0UB9VZ8mQWWQ
They are around but are getting harder to find.
Phoebe initially wing slapped at the hanging toy but eventually just let it touch her then she would grab it and fling it around and vocalize at it. She loved it. We would hang it from above our printer. She would sit on a towel on the printer and attack it playfully. 
Any kind of easy toy where your bird can “ find” food by foraging would also be fun.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Junior (my pigeons' daughter... I haven't chosen a name yet 🙄...) loves playing and fighting with a small teddy bear.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Dont forget you are their favorite toy. Any toy that provides play and interaction with you will be fun.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

> Junior (my pigeons' daughter... I haven't chosen a name yet 🙄...) loves playing and fighting with a small teddy bear.


I have a strange feeling that Aggie would run from a stuffed animal. What I decided to do until I can find a decent toy at the pet store is to take off the bottle cap and just leave the string hanging. 

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE INTERACTION THIS BIRD IS SHOWING. 

It wing slaps the string, tugs on it with her beak and just generally tires herself out. I feel better with the string because it's softer than with the bottle cap.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Lol yes I believe it! You should see Junior fighting with the teddy bear 🤣!!!

She also loves playing with balls of yarn!!! You know, like a cat! 
Even other of my birds love playing with them (Merlino is crazy for the ones in lurex!). 
Of course, I let my birds play with them just under supervision because it could be dangerous 🙄.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

Yeah, I'll have to supervise her play time. I don't leave it in her "home" when I'm not around. I sometimes think the cheapest toys are the most loved.

She took a warm bath yesterday and just let herself soak up the warmth of it. Just when I thought she was through - she jumps back in and splashes up a storm.

Whoever said pigeons are dirty really didn't know them.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

> She also loves playing with balls of yarn!!! You know, like a cat!


I've really got to find a way to record Aggie's purring and put it out here. In all of my years around pigeons, I've never heard a pigeon purr before until I met Aggie.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

What you said about toys is true! I remember that I bought to my cat Kira some toys from pet shop (like a mouse, a ring, etc) but she ignored them and played with strings, pen, etc!

Lol my birds drive me crazy with baths... They splash water everywhere...I think they love performing cannonball 😂😂😂!!! They love soooo much bathing... Too much 🤣🤣...

Unfortunately I don't how to attach videos/recording here... I would like to attach too a video of Junior fighting with her teddy bear!

Sometimes my blind pigeon Geordi purrs...


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

Yep, I have a cat too. This Christmas I bought it a toy mouse. Took no interest in it even with catnip in it. I rolled up a ball of aluminum foil and accidentally dropped it on the floor and - WHOOSH - out of nowhere comes this cat and starts to slap it around on the floor.

I just wasted my money on that mouse.


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## 8790 (Oct 21, 2019)

I hang small origami art on top of the cage. It is easy and safe, and pigeons also like to shred paper.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

I never thought of doing origami. Not a bad idea. It's soft, it's paper, probably cheap to make. Aggie might like it. I'll have to find a book on origami. I would like to hang it from the top of the cage so that it can peck at it. 

It'll probably wing-slap it to pieces but it's worth a try.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Garye2 said:


> Yep, I have a cat too. This Christmas I bought it a toy mouse. Took no interest in it even with catnip in it. I rolled up a ball of aluminum foil and accidentally dropped it on the floor and - WHOOSH - out of nowhere comes this cat and starts to slap it around on the floor.
> 
> I just wasted my money on that mouse.


Once I bought a cat tree with a scratching post to Kira: lol she used it for a few days then she just ignored it😕 😅!!!

Unfortunately she died on May 2018...maybe you remember my thread... I miss her so much 😔...

Anyway, she loved so much running around the house and biting my ankles!!! Often the simplest things are the best 😊!


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

8790 said:


> I hang small origami art on top of the cage. It is easy and safe, and pigeons also like to shred paper.





Garye2 said:


> I never thought of doing origami. Not a bad idea. It's soft, it's paper, probably cheap to make. Aggie might like it. I'll have to find a book on origami. I would like to hang it from the top of the cage so that it can peck at it.
> 
> It'll probably wing-slap it to pieces but it's worth a try.


Even my birds love shredding paper!! They fill their nests with it. They also love taking shredded paper from my hands 😅!!!

Origami are really nice! When I was at high school I worked on a school project about Japon and I learned how to make them (just the easiest ones of course!). I borrowed some books from the library.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

Update on Aggie's toy. This is going to have to do until I learn origami. I just made a small ball of string - very small - and hung it up in the cage. 

And then I watched.

Peck peck peck - WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK WHACK WHACK. WHACK.

And then it got stuck on top of the cage.

End of playtime.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Your bird may need a mate.


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## Garye2 (Mar 30, 2019)

Now that I’ve created a toy with a pom-pom tied to the end of the string (I gave up on origami – my skills are just not there yet), Aggie looks forward to it. She grabs it with her beak and shakes it back and forth – sometimes breaking out into a coo while playing with it. And she gets upset if I take it out. She looks at me as if to say, “What are you doing? I want it back.”

So forget about all those expensive bird toys you find in stores and just tie a pom-pom to the end of a string.

It’s the cheap things that they like.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Glad you found something she likes!


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