Toys for Finches - Finch Enrichment - Articles and Information - Lady Gouldian Finch Supplies USA

Toy for Finches

..a busy finch is a happy finch

by Myra

Articles and Information - Lady Gouldian Finch


Sure why not.. Even these small song birds like to play. Who doesn't need a fun distraction from time to time. However chew toys, large toys, smart toys, and just about anything else you can buy won't really work for a finch. You must be creative and find things more to their scale.

Mirrors are good if you only have one finch in a cage, but if you keep a male/female pair the male will probably see this "other male" as a threat and as entertaining as watching the little finch peck at his reflection may be, it's really not good. We don't want our little darlings to injure themselves or become stressed out over the intruder that will not go away.

What really works best is small ladders, swings, and bells. I keep 2 small wooden ladders hanging vertically from my aviary ceiling. Finches won't walk up and down a ladder like a parrot, they prefer to use them as cozy perches. My finches love to zip through the rungs of the ladder and it helps the young ones work on aerial dexterity.

Swings are something most birds like, it just makes sense that a finch may like it to. A finch won't actively push the swing back and forth but when a playful pair hop on and off a swing repeatedly it can really get to moving.

Bells are something I just stumbled on my accident. I had a few old Parakeet chew toys with bells on the bottom of them so I tried them in the aviary. At first I though they would make an interesting object for the finches to sit on, a little something for them to wrap their feet around. It was quickly made apparent that they would much rather chew and tap on the bell than sit on the toy.

They don't actually ring the bell but they do spend lots of time tapping it, chewing on it, and exploring it. Occasionally they do move it enough to make sound and that get them all very excited so they will continue tugging at it until it makes more noise or they find something better to do.

You can make your own finch toys very easily and with as much as these toys get pooped on, it really makes more sense to make them your self.. A little string, a bell, maybe some strips of leather for a small perch and they will be entertained and active for a long time.

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