Dear Parrots magazine,
Watch those toys
I have been reading a lot about how we must keep our parrots entertained to stop them becoming bored, as I have heard that boredom can be a big cause of feather plucking.
I have a Sun Conure and he is always up to mischief, let alone the noise he makes. I know Sun Conures can be very noisy but I don’t mind at all as along as he is happy and content. It was because of the thought of boredom that I decided to buy him some toys and this is where it all went wrong.
It was when I was on the Internet that I saw all these toys for sale and as they looked good and were not expensive, I bought a couple. When I got home, Joss, my conure, was so excited and just went mad for the toys. But is wasn’t long before there was a serious problem when he got his beak caught in one of the metal rings. This ring was flimsy and it bent into such a shape that his beak got really stuck and a part of the ring got stuck into the skin by his beak. My husband and I tried for ages to remove it but were afraid of causing further injury, so took of sharply to our local vet. It wasn’t long before his beak was released and back home we went. Joss soon recovered from his ordeal which has taught us a lesson in never be tempted with cheap toys. When I add on the cost of the vet and the worry we have all been through, those cheap toys turned out to be very expensive.
Marjorie Endle - by email