Best toys/perches for my baby right now?

So Yoshi is definitely becoming more and more curious about his surroundings with each day. He's so curious about mouthing everything that he continuously rips over his little food dish and water dish in his brooder. I find myself having to change out the bedding often so his feet don't get soaked! He's also trying to perch onto things, though he's not quite coordinated enough to successfully do it himself yet.

With this fast profession of his perching and playfulness, my question to you guys is, what is the best kind of perch and toys to get for him right now? I'd probably need foot toys since I don't have anything to hang them from, and a real sturdy perch that can sit on the ground for him to practice on. I'm so paranoid about him ingesting parts of his toys too, so any suggestions for a baby this young would be greatly appreciated!

Yoshi says thank you in advance. Here's a photo of him from yesterday!

Oh, he is so adorable! I absolutely love Amazon parrots!!! Although the baby stage means a lot of hard work, it is very fulfilling. Due to your care and attention, a helpless pink blob (or partially-feathered lump of cuteness) turns into a beautiful bird in a matter of weeks. It usually seems much longer to the hand-feeder because it's labor-intensive if you do it right. It's so much more than making sure the bird is warm, fed and clean. Large breeding facilities must struggle to give young parrots enough attention between feedings. I took on Kizzy to make sure she was socialized early and often. You're obviously making sure your little guy is feeling the love. He's going to be an amazing bird!

When parrots are babies their beaks are much weaker than an adult's, so your toy options can include things adult parrots would destroy. Although, looking at the size of Yoshi's beak makes me wonder how much pressure he can already apply! He's mostly beak right now. XD So cute!

When I raise babies, I stick to small toys they can (eventually) lift. This develops eye-beak-foot coordination. Your baby will try to grasp objects with his preferred foot long before he can stand on one leg. His neck will gain strength when he lifts small objects into the air. Right now, I am using small cat toys with no catnip and small, tough dog toys. I bought a red Kong toy (the smallest size) to help Kizzy build beak strength. She'll need it to eat an adult parrot diet.

When I raised CAGs and Senegals, I bought actual baby toys like rattles and teething objects. Use your best judgment as to what is safe. Yoshi might be able to destroy the softest toys right now and ingest something he shouldn't. If you get stuffed animals, be sure they are non-toxic and have no removable parts. You'll know when it's time to move up to the big boy toys: right around the time Yoshi goes into a weaning cage. Until then, a lot of things that are safe for babies, puppies and kittens are safe for baby parrots.

Things to avoid:

1) Baby, dog and cat toys that are too soft; even baby parrots might tear through them and ingest the weak rubber

2) Catnip

3) Rawhide or other edibles intended for dogs or cats. Carnivores can handle bacteria parrots can't

4) Anything with small parts or metal pieces that could contain lead.

5) Anything that makes you think the toy could be unsafe; you're the birdy mama, so you'll need to develop a sense of what might be unsafe for cute little Yoshi

As for water, I've been having a similar problem with Kizzy. She stands on the ceramic water bowl and knocks it over, which means cleaning, sterilizing and changing everything. Her flight feathers are still being supplied with blood, but I'm going to move her into a weaning cage anyway. She'll be under constant observation (or inside her aquarium) until her flight feathers have finished growing. It won't be long now. She's a grown-up little lady who is demanding more freedom. If you feel it's time for Yoshi to have a water dish and you think he still needs a brooder, you might want to invest in a shallow, lead-free ceramic bowl that is too heavy for him to topple.

Speaking of which...Looking at Yoshi, it may be time for a move. I can't see his down feathers in this pic. If they've grown in and it's reasonably warm in your home, it's time to move Yoshi into a large aquarium with a lid or a large plastic tub with tons of holes drilled in the lid for ventilation. If you go plastic, be sure it isn't off-gassing. Make sure whatever option you choose is large enough for Yoshi to flap his wings. You'll also want a nest box for him to hide in when he is feeling overwhelmed. Research has shown that chicks raised in the dark are fatter; those raised in lighted areas are better-socialized. I try to get the best of both worlds by offering a safe cardboard box. I put toys, food and other interesting things outside the cardboard box to encourage exploration.

One other thing: Soon Yoshi will start slimming down for fledging. That's when he'll be most likely to ingest a non-food item, so it's especially important to keep him on safe bedding during this time.

If you install a perch, make sure it is stable and Yoshi can't get trapped underneath. Try Googling "portable perches," but make sure you get one that doesn't condition nails. You want a comfortable surface for Yoshi's first attempts. I haven't supplied Kizzy with perches, but I have given her so much attention outside the aquarium, she has learned to perch on my hand and other places under supervision.

One more thing: Slowly introduce Yoshi to an emery board / nail file. I really wish I had done this with Kizzy. Baby parrot toenails are insanely sharp and when babies feel unstable, boy do they dig in! Instead of using a file, I took the tiniest bit off her nails with clippers and it hurt her! There wasn't any blood, but the process of clipping crimped the quick, which is obviously quite close to the end of the nail. By the time I finished clipping Kizzy's nails, I was crying because I'd hurt my baby. I don't know why it never occurred to me to use a file instead. My stupidity caused Kizzy pain. Never again. From now on, I'm going to include an emery board in our cuddle sessions with towels and the Aviator Harness.

Kizzy is very cuddly, so during cuddle sessions I introduce her to objects parrots usually find threatening. Not only is she unafraid of towels and harnesses, she loves them! They pet her cute little head! Today, I took the head loop on the Aviator Harness and gently see-sawed it on and off Kizzy's head. It felt SO good!!! She loved it. If Yoshi is cuddly, it will help you get him used to certain objects essential to his care. Wait until his head feathers have grown in before putting a harness over it. I'll make sure Kizzy's feathers have all come in before I take the next step. Blood feathers (especially on an Amazon) are very sensitive.

I hope this helped. I didn't expect it to be this long, but I guess I like the sound of my own internal voice. I hope it isn't terribly annoying. XD

It's good to see Yoshi doing so well.

P.S. Regarding reptile lids for aquariums: Depending on the size of your bird, these could be toe traps. Kizzy's toenails are small because she's small, so as long as her nails are short, there shouldn't be a problem. If my DYHA were still with me, I wouldn't want him anywhere near that lid!

Speaking of weaning, at what age did yours or do you suspect yours will go down to 2 feedings per day? I'm finding it difficult to gauge when I should do that.

ProphesizeWithYourPen said:

Speaking of weaning, at what age did yours or do you suspect yours will go down to 2 feedings per day? I'm finding it difficult to gauge when I should do that.

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This is one of the areas where I feel the least confident. Then again, sometimes people are very confident and very wrong at the same time. If someone else wants to chime in on weaning for the sake of Yoshi and Kizzy, please do. Weaning was always stressful for me. My greys usually weaned a few weeks later than what was considered normal, but I felt a longer weaning period was better for them psychologically. Is there any data on this?

Males of many parrot species are often a bit behind females in physical development, probably because their bones tend to be larger and heavier and therefore harder to coordinate. Females usually start slimming down before the males do. My baby started stalling around June 7 at around five-and-a-half weeks old in preparation for fledging. Keep in mind she was chubby, precocious and petite. She had already reached and surpassed her final weight, so she needed to slim down in a hurry in order to fledge on time. Yoshi has a large frame and is big-boned, so I bet he will need to put on more weight before he starts slimming down.

During weaning, babies are also learning to fly. Their minds are developing at an insane rate. It's all a bit overwhelming, sometimes so much so they may not feel like eating solid foods in the same amounts every single day. Lone babies like ours may be a bit behind the curve and need more nurturing and hand-feeding than babies learning together.

Because I had a very small aviary, I didn't run it like a factory or have a weaning schedule set in stone. Instead, I tried to figure out what individual babies needed and do that instead. I wasn't trying to meet a deadline. I was trying to wean babies with as little stress as possible. Some days I hand-feed Kizzy more than other days.

This is what I think I'm going to try. I'm going to give her a few small feedings throughout the day and then eat solid food with her. Human mouths are filthy--full of bacteria that is harmful to parrots--so I can't let her eat after me. We'll figure it out. I'm even entertaining the idea of eating soaked pellets. Yeah, I'm not sure it's a good idea. I bet pellets taste horrible. Gabby always knew when I was pretending to eat something. He'd only try it after he knew I had actually eaten it. Maybe he thought I was his taste tester or something. XD

I might go visit Kizzy's breeder and see how he goes about weaning his babies. He's been doing it for over thirty years, so he should have good ideas. Still, what works for multiple babies might not work for a single baby. Our little Amazons are on their own except for us, so I guess we have to figure out what's best for them.

I'm hoping someone else will offer advice for weaning Kizzy and Yoshi. This is my first Amazon. Physically, she was way ahead of the African greys I raised, so I'm on uncharted territory, here.

Thanks in advance.

A side note: Harrison's High Potency Coarse is actually not at all bad when soaked in natural apple juice. XD I enjoyed my share, but Kizzy is suspicious. Eventually, I think she will try it once she sees me enjoy it. I think. We'll see.

for Yoshi

for Kizzy

No advice on this stage of development but cuteness overload warnings for photos like that please:07:

You guys raising these babies may want to see if you can get in touch with Henpecked. I haven't seen him on recently but he is an extremely experienced long time breeder of amazons. He'd be the one to turn to for advice regarding weaning baby zons out of anyone I know of on the forum. One of our mods may know how to get in touch with him off the forum too and may be able to reach out and let him know theres some folks with baby sons who need some advice

Kiwibird said:

No advice on this stage of development but cuteness overload warnings for photos like that please:07:

You guys raising these babies may want to see if you can get in touch with Henpecked. I haven't seen him on recently but he is an extremely experienced long time breeder of amazons. He'd be the one to turn to for advice regarding weaning baby zons out of anyone I know of on the forum. One of our mods may know how to get in touch with him off the forum too and may be able to reach out and let him know theres some folks with baby sons who need some advice

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Sure! I'd certainly appreciate any tips he could offer. I've always felt nervous during this stage.