Conures are beautiful birds, but as with most birds, it’s best to keep them entertained to keep boredom and destruction down.
A Conure and play stand to work well together for long hours of unending entertainment. This basically means if you have a cage, consider a larger cage even though the Conure is not exactly a big bird, so that your bird will have a larger area to sleep and eat in, but this larger space will also serve as the base for a play stand.
Your Conure and play stand will spend many hours of the day sitting on the top of that big cage you carefully chose for him, and the cage will have horizontal bars that will allow your Conure to climb and move around to his little heart’s delight.
The play stand can be purchased or it can also be homemade. Sometimes it is best to make them once you get to know your bird very well. Your bird will let you know what he needs and wants for his birdie playground equipment.
Your Conure and play stand will be spending most of the day’s hours together and the needs of your Conure and his safety will have to be met. When looking for a play stand or if you decide you are going to make one, keep in mind that your Conure and play stand must be compatible. In other words, the size of the perches and the toys and ropes must be designed for a bird this size.
The perches should be at least three-quarters to an inch in diameter – the basic idea is for the bird’s claws not to reach around entirely or to get caught.
Your Conure’s play stand should also be equipped with plenty of toys. Conures are very playful birds and as with most birds, can become very bored. Boredom leads to destructive and unwanted behavior. If your Conure and play stand is to be durable, consider ropes and wooden balls. Many Conures prefer hanging toys that have a rocking motion, this increases the playability of these toys.
Always keep in mind that “durability” when discussing a Conure and play stand, does not mean forever. Your Conure will quickly manage to chew up any toys to make available for him, but the other side of it is if you don’t get toys, they will find something else they can put their sharp little beaks into!
Conures like bells and noise-making toys. Your Conure and play stand need well-chosen toys. The bells can’t be too big or too small as with any other toy. They have to be able to play with them, but you should not have to worry about them choking on these toys.
I have seen play stand’s made with wood, while I have also seen some creative homemade or store-bought PVC (the real name is polyvinyl chloride, but only a chemist would know it by that name!) contraptions. The thinner PVC piping works, however, the wood stands and perches seem to work best for your Conure and play stand. Another option is covering your PVC, or even your wooden perches with sandpaper, which give your bird much better traction and keep the nails a little trimmer.
Essentially, if buying or making a play area for your bird, think safety and think fun – also think of your furniture and know that it is best to keep your bird occupied and happy as much as you can.