Conure (Nanday) — Toys & Enrichment

Nanday Conures are boisterous, curious, and physically active birds with a play style that reflects their intelligence and social nature. They are manipulators by instinct — they want to grab, twist, shred, and disassemble anything within reach. Understanding this natural drive is the first step toward selecting toys that will actually hold their attention rather than sitting untouched on the cage floor.

These birds also have a strong chewing instinct that serves both behavioral and physiological purposes. Chewing keeps the beak trimmed and conditioned, provides mental stimulation, and satisfies a deep-seated urge to forage and process materials. A Nanday Conure without adequate chewing outlets will redirect that energy toward cage bars, perches, feathers, or household items during out-of-cage time.

Social play is equally important. Nanday Conures are flock birds that crave interaction, and many of their play behaviors are designed to engage a partner — whether that partner is another bird or their human companion. Toys that facilitate interactive play, such as items that can be passed back and forth or games that involve a human hiding and revealing treats, tap into this social drive and strengthen the bond between bird and owner.

Fear of new objects, called neophobia, is common in parrots and can affect toy acceptance. A Nanday Conure may ignore or actively avoid a new toy for days or even weeks. Introducing toys gradually — placing them near but not inside the cage first, then moving them closer over time — helps the bird acclimate. Playing with the toy yourself while the bird watches can also spark curiosity and reduce apprehension.

Foraging toys are arguably the single most important enrichment category for captive parrots. In the wild, Nanday Conures spend a significant portion of their day searching for, processing, and consuming food. In captivity, food arrives in a bowl with zero effort, leaving hours of mental energy with no productive outlet. Foraging toys reintroduce that cognitive challenge by requiring the bird to work for its food.

Simple foraging toys include treat cups with lids, paper-wrapped food bundles, and skewers threaded with fruits and vegetables. These entry-level options are ideal for birds that have never foraged before and need to learn the basic concept that food is hidden inside or behind something. As the bird masters each level, you can increase the complexity by layering obstacles, using multi-step puzzle boxes, or combining multiple foraging elements into a single station.

Acrylic puzzle toys with sliding doors, rotating compartments, and hidden chambers offer higher-level challenges for experienced foragers. These toys require the bird to observe, experiment, and remember sequences of actions to access a reward. Nanday Conures are smart enough to solve moderately complex puzzles, and watching them work through a new challenge is one of the most rewarding aspects of parrot ownership.

Rotation is essential for maintaining foraging interest. Even the best puzzle toy becomes boring once the bird has memorized the solution. Keep a library of foraging toys and swap them in and out every few days. You can also change the difficulty by using different food rewards, adding paper or cardboard barriers, or repositioning the toy within the cage to create a novel experience from a familiar object.

Chew toys are consumable by design — a well-used chew toy should be destroyed within days or weeks, and that destruction is the entire point. Materials like untreated softwood blocks, balsa, yucca, sola, cork, and palm leaf are all excellent chewing substrates for Nanday Conures. These materials splinter and shred in satisfying ways that keep the bird engaged and its beak properly maintained.

Shreddable toys made from woven palm leaves, corn husks, seagrass, and crinkled paper appeal to the bird's instinct to strip and process fibrous materials. These toys are often inexpensive and can be replenished frequently without straining the budget. Many owners find that their Nanday Conure is more enthusiastic about destroying a five-dollar shreddable toy than playing with a thirty-dollar acrylic puzzle, which is a useful reminder that cost does not always correlate with enrichment value.

Leather strips and vegetable-tanned leather components are popular additions to chew toy assemblies. The texture and resistance of leather provide a different chewing experience than wood or paper, and many conures enjoy pulling and tugging on leather knots. Ensure that any leather used in bird toys is vegetable-tanned and free of dyes, chemicals, or metal hardware that could pose a toxicity risk.

When selecting chew toys, always verify that the materials are bird-safe. Avoid toys with lead-containing components, zinc-plated hardware, or treated or painted wood. Stainless steel hardware and nickel-plated quick links are safe alternatives. Natural dyes made from food-grade colorants are generally considered safe, but if you are uncertain about a product's coloring, opt for undyed versions.

Nanday Conures are among the louder conure species, and they are naturally attracted to toys that produce sound. Bells, rattles, and clackers satisfy the bird's desire for auditory feedback during play. Stainless steel bells are the safest option — avoid jingle bells or cow bells with small openings that could trap a toe or tongue. The bell's clapper should be securely attached and too large for the bird to remove and swallow.

Some enrichment products incorporate electronic sound elements, such as buttons that play tones, melodies, or recorded phrases when pressed. Nanday Conures can learn to associate pressing the button with the resulting sound, which provides a sense of agency and cause-and-effect learning. These toys are not essential, but birds that respond well to auditory stimulation often find them highly engaging.

Music itself can serve as enrichment even without a physical toy. Many Nanday Conure owners play music for their birds during the day and report that their conures respond with dancing, vocalizing, and increased activity. Upbeat music with clear rhythms tends to elicit the strongest responses. While this is not a product recommendation per se, pairing music sessions with interactive play time creates a multi-sensory enrichment experience.

Be mindful of the noise impact on your household and neighbors. Nanday Conures will often vocalize alongside noisy toys, amplifying the overall sound level considerably. If noise management is a concern, prioritize toys that produce moderate, pleasant sounds rather than sharp or repetitive clanging. Rotating noisy toys out during quiet hours and replacing them with silent foraging or chewing options helps maintain peace without sacrificing enrichment.

Climbing and swinging are fundamental movement patterns for Nanday Conures, and toys that facilitate these activities contribute to both physical fitness and mental well-being. A simple swing hung from the cage top provides a dynamic perching surface that engages the bird's balance and coordination. Many conures adopt a favorite swing as their primary resting spot and will defend it from cage mates or even from the owner's hand during cage cleaning.

Ladders made from wood and rope allow the bird to traverse the cage in ways that flat perches cannot replicate. Vertical ladders encourage climbing, while angled or horizontal ladders create bridges between perching areas. Rope ladders with wooden rungs combine the stability of rigid steps with the flexibility of rope, creating a challenging and engaging climbing experience.

Play gyms and tabletop stands extend enrichment beyond the cage and provide a dedicated space for out-of-cage activity. A well-designed play gym includes multiple perch levels, toy hooks, food cup holders, and a tray for easy cleanup. Positioning the play gym near the family's main gathering area allows the Nanday Conure to participate in household activities while having its own space to climb, play, and forage.

Bungee-style perches and spiral rope perches add unpredictable movement to the climbing experience, which many conures find stimulating. The bounce and sway of these flexible perches require the bird to constantly adjust its grip and balance, providing a mild physical workout. As with all rope products, inspect these regularly for fraying and replace them when fibers begin to separate.

Homemade toys are an excellent supplement to commercial products and can be produced at virtually no cost using materials you already have. Toilet paper rolls and paper towel tubes stuffed with treats and crumpled paper make instant foraging toys that most Nanday Conures will eagerly shred. Plain cardboard boxes with holes cut in the sides become exploration stations when filled with crinkled paper and hidden food.

Untreated wood scraps, popsicle sticks, and wooden clothespins can be strung on cotton string or vegetable-tanned leather to create custom chew toy assemblies. Drilling holes through wooden blocks and threading them onto stainless steel skewers produces durable toy bases that can be refreshed by swapping in new wood pieces as the old ones are destroyed. Always verify that any wood you use has not been treated with pesticides, stains, or sealants.

Kitchen items can double as enrichment tools. A muffin tin with treats hidden under crumpled paper balls in each cup creates a multi-station foraging challenge. Ice cube trays filled with fruit juice and small treat pieces produce frozen enrichment that combines foraging with a novel texture experience. Woven straw or raffia placemats can be hung in the cage for satisfying shredding sessions.

The key to effective DIY enrichment is variety and rotation. Even the most ingenious homemade toy loses its appeal after repeated exposure. Maintain a rotating schedule that introduces new materials and configurations every few days. Combining homemade toys with commercial products creates a diverse enrichment program that keeps your Nanday Conure mentally engaged without requiring a large ongoing investment in store-bought toys.