A Review

After the post about toys and their impact, I thought I would do a review on Planet Pleasure toys, the repeated winner in my weekly "Destroy Your Favorite Toy!" contest.

Planet Pleasure toys are a fair trade product (I would post a link to their website to learn more about the incredible program they are running, but it is currently being revamped), and are made from 100% renewable and safe resources. Instead of capturing birds to sell, why not just make incredible parrot toys?

As some might remember, Yaz is a big fan of Planet Pleasure toys, and the repeated winner of "Destroy Your Favorite Toy the Fastest!" contest. However, he is certainly not the only one that can take down a pinata; Frank is the original pinata nemesis, though he worked with the medium size, instead of extra large. Yo-yo and Miss Patty can also give any size pinata and run for its money (even beating Frank some now!) a quality they share with the budgies. Pinatas are not the only type of Planet Pleasure toy loved around here, though. Along with all their other shredder toys (if you haven't all ready, check out their new designs!), the bamboo and coconut ones are also greatly appreciated, and have a longer cage life. And for those of you with larger parrots, the mini size toys make incredible foot toys for them!

Here are each of my parrot's current favorites:
-Ava (both chewing and preening)
-Peter (he loves to climb around and hang from it)
-Luna
-Yo-yo (soft wood, crunchy shells, lots of fun)
-Miss Patty
-Linus
-Frank (lots of pieces to pull out and weave with!)
-Lola
-Claudia (ever seen an ekkie sit in complete bliss? She sits with one piece in her mouth, eyes half shut, and chewing slowly. Similar to a cow chewing their cud, actually.)
-Chester
-Yaz (Just can't beat the original!)

I was also recently given a wonderful gift by a friend, in the form of several planet pleasure toys. Here are some pics, pre-destruction (the post destruction ones seemed a bit worthless, so just picture a blank wall)

Pika and Pixel

Pika and Pixel are a normal male cockatiel and pied yellow and green female budgie, respectively. I am listing them for a friend in Richmond. They were displaced after a divorce, and were taken in by her, so she is now trying to find them a wonderful home. In case anyone reading this is looking for a delightful pair that loves flying, destroying toys, and stealing food (they love their veggies!), just send me an email!

Parrot Toys and Their Impact

Birds are destructive. This means toys are destroyed very quickly. I would quote a smart statistic here on how much destruction, in toys, an average medium sized bird could produce in a a year, but the number is too large to calculate. Therefore, I will leave it simply at a lot.

However, when you consider that you are buying toys simply to be destroyed tomorrow, it is very important to consider where those toys are from, what they are made of, and what their impact on the environment and your individual parrot is. Obviously, when considering the impact on your parrot, it is important to make sure the toys are made of safe materials - stainless steel metal, safe woods and dyes, no glues, vegetable tanned leather, etc. What is a safe material for one parrot may not be safe for another. I avoid all soft plastics for my birds, since they are full of toxins, and I am not entirely sure that those toxins are not leaching into the parrot's system as they chew on them. For Frank, though, I avoid all plastics, as he has a rather weak detox system (liver and kidneys) and will sit and chew on the plastic beads as they come apart in fine shreds. Obviously, he would be swallowing a great deal of these shreds, and they cause his system to go cattywampus! As for dyes, I completely avoid synthetic dyes for my ekkies and, again, Frank. If given a choice, I go for undyed items for the others, as well, but have not noticed a major difference either way. And finally, for all my birds, if I am in doubt, I move on. No need to put their health at risk, they will, after all, be spending hours with the toy in their mouths destroying it; if there is something bad in it, I would think it would make its way into their bodies!

It is more difficult, though, to tell what the environmental impact is. Some things are easy to tell. Plastic production, again, is very hard on the environment; another good reason to avoid soft plastics, especially. Non-organic rope is either cotton, which supports the use of pesticides (while putting those chemical residues in with your bird, by the way) or a synthetic material from petro chemicals, which are not great for the environment either. Wood, though, is something I often wonder about. How do I know the wood on my parrot toys is from sustainable harvesting? Many parrot toys are made in China, with wood taken from.....? And everyone knows the horrible environmental impact of clear cutting!

In the end, can everyone avoid these products for their birds, and only buy the best? Not really. However, by making small changes, choosing a safer toy over a suspicious one once on every toy order, it can make small differences, which can really add up. Here are some "green" products I know of:
- Planet Pleasure Toys - personally my favorite (who doesn't love supporting fair trade?), and definitely my birds' favorite!
-Organic Cotton Rope
-Stainless Steel
-Safe wood from your backyard - if unsprayed, this is always a good option!
-Java wood comes from discarded coffee trees

Let me know if you know of any more!

A new home

Miss Busy Body is off to busy another body! Milly Molly Mandy went to her new home today, one in which I know she will be very happy and spoiled. Her new family is not only very excited about adopting such a "smart, spunky, and beautiful parrot", but have also taken much time to think through the decision and make sure they are prepared for the time and expense involved in caring for a parrot. Milly Molly Mandy will be able get both all the toys, exercise, and foraging opportunities she needs, but also all the attention!

Along with a large supply of organic food, of course. Milly Molly Mandy could not be happy anywhere she did not have more food than any normal parrot should be able to consume in a week!