Having a parakeet—or two—in your home is a rewarding experience. The birds are adorable, with their chattering and antics. If you keep your pet in a cage all the time, toys become essential. Without the outside world to explore, your parakeet will likely get bored and may start plucking his feathers. That could leave him vulnerable to skin infections or worse.
The best toys for parakeets can take care of that problem. We rounded up some of the most clever and engaging products on the market. We’ve included detailed reviews that highlight both the pros and cons of each one. Many will challenge your bird and offer welcome mental stimulation to improve his quality of life. Even if you take your pet out of his cage, these toys will keep him occupied.
We’ll discuss the features to look for in these parakeet toys that make some better than others. Our buying guide will tell you everything you need to know when shopping for your pet. The essential thing to remember is that toys aren’t a treat but a must-have, especially if you only have one bird. Join us on our deep dive into the best way to entertain your parakeet.
A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024
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Best Overall
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Planet Pleasures Pineapple Foraging |
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Best Value
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JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Disco Ball |
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Premium Choice
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Bonka Bird Toys Foraging Star |
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Super Bird Creations Flying Trapeze |
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JW Pet Activitoy Birdie House of Mirrors |
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Check Price |
The 10 Best Toys for Parakeets
1. Planet Pleasures Pineapple Foraging Bird Toy – Best Overall
The Planet Pleasures Pineapple Foraging Bird Toy ticks off a lot of boxes with one purchase. Just looking at it, you can see that it’s well-made. While a larger parrot might make short work of it, your parakeet won’t. We liked that there are multiple sizes available, in case you have a flight cage with several birds. The other thing we loved was the hiding places for treats.
It’s a brilliant way to stimulate your pet mentally and make him work for his food. It also replicates the bird’s behavior in the wild, where he’d have to forage for something to eat. It’s also a way to ensure that your pet won’t get bored with it since there’s a reward involved. It’s sure to keep your budgie occupied for long stretches.
2. JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Disco Ball Toy – Best Value
The JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Disco Ball Toy is one of the best toys for parakeets for the money. It’s an excellent value that plays on your budgie’s vanity and social nature. He’ll peck on it, thinking there’s another bird on his turf. We liked that we can hang it anywhere in the cage, even on a perch. The toy is made of plastic, which makes it easy to clean, too.
The manufacturer has gone the extra mile to ensure its safety. There’s no learning curve with this product. Your parakeet will figure it out right away. The price is right, too. It’s a suitable toy for parakeets but probably not for other birds.
3. Bonka Bird Toys Foraging Star Bird Toy – Premium Choice
The Bonka Bird Toys Foraging Star Bird Toy is both an interactive and visual treat. There is so much going on with it that your parakeet might not know where to start. It’s another product that caters to the budgie’s drive to forage. It also allows him to climb, which are behaviors from the wild. The toy is stuffed with paper that resembles tree bark with that crinkly noise to drive him bonkers.
Parakeets will take a while to empty it. Unfortunately, there aren’t refills, so it’s essentially a one-time purchase. In the meantime, he’ll have a ball with it. The other concern rests with its construction. It’s imperative to keep your bird’s nails trimmed to avoid him getting caught in the toy.
4. Super Bird Creations Flying Trapeze Bird Toy
The Super Bird Creations Flying Trapeze Bird Toy gives your parakeet so many things to do and a place to snooze when he gets tired of playing. The mat is made of seagrass, whereas the toys are all plastic. Those are easy to clean, anyway. The platform is excellent. We could see a budgie working on it for hours. Unfortunately, there aren’t replacements available.
On the positive side, it is well-made, albeit expensive. It’s a good sized-mat that more than one bird can use. That means it’s best suited for larger cages that have the real estate. If you have the space, it’s worth the investment.
5. JW Pet Activitoy Birdie House of Mirrors Toy
The JW Pet Activitoy Birdie House of Mirrors Toy builds on the bird’s instincts to investigate intruders in the territory, even if it’s his reflection! It works and keeps your parakeet guessing about who is treading on his turf. We like that it’s made out of plastic, which makes it easy to take off and clean. It also is an excellent way to make it seem like a new toy if you wait to put it back in his cage.
The concept is excellent. Being social is part of a parakeet’s life. The interaction with other birds is a part of his everyday life. This toy simulates it. That said, not all pets will like this product since it’s a real in-your-face interface. We’d put it in either the love-it-or-leave-it category. On a positive note, it’s affordable if your budgie doesn’t like it.
6. Kaytee Forage-N-Play Ladder Bird Toy
The Kaytee Forage-N-Play Ladder Bird Toy replicates an activity that parakeets engage in often, namely, climbing. Of course, you have to make it interesting, with toys along the way. This one contains a lot of things that are sure to catch the eye of your bird. There are fibers and plastic balls to encourage interaction with the toy.
The rungs of the ladder are wood, which provides an excellent way for your bird to keep his beak trim. Your pet’s acceptance of this toy depends on how many new things you’ve introduced to him. It’s large at 26 inches long. It may overwhelm some budgies because of its size.
7. Super Bird Creations Rainbow Bridge Bird Toy
The Super Bird Creations Rainbow Bridge Bird Toy offers your parakeet many options for mental stimulation. The bridge is well-made, with secure clips on either end. The design allows you to put it in any sized cage in any configuration to suit your pet’s cage. You can also change it up to prevent boredom with a new setup for your budgie to investigate.
There are several toys along the bridge to challenge your pet. Unfortunately, the colors are not colorfast and will blend if you want to clean it. That almost puts it into the dealbreaker category for us since we want to keep a sanitary environment for our pets.
8. JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Basketball Toy
The JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Basketball Toy is a unique product that challenges your parakeet to complete a specific task. Unfortunately, your pet will have little motivation to complete it, without any kind of reward, i.e., treat. It depends on the budgie’s curiosity to figure it out and do the task. It’s not an instinctive action for parakeets, so we question how quickly they will figure out what to do.
The toy takes up minimal real estate, which is always a plus. You can secure it on the side of the cage without the worry that your parakeet will move it. It’s plastic, which also makes it easy to clean. We think it’s only appropriate for birds like budgies because of the lighter weight of the chain.
9. Wild Harvest Sunrise Rope Bird Toy
The Wild Harvest Sunrise Rope Bird Toy is an excellent product in concept. It hangs from the top of the cage to encourage climbing behavior. Parakeets enjoy things like this that help them get in touch with their inner-budgie. It hangs pretty low at 9 inches. You need a higher cage to get the most out of this toy. On the positive side, it doesn’t take up a lot of space going down from the top.
Your parakeet will enjoy this toy. There’s a lot of things for him to chew and play with to make it interesting. The only problem is that your bird will do too good of a job at unraveling it, which can present a choking hazard.
10. Bonka Bird Toys Foraging Heart Bird Toy
The Bonka Bird Toys Foraging Heart Bird Toy builds on your parakeet’s love to climb and chew on things. He’ll have a lot of things to munch on with this one. There are several different textures, which adds interest and makes it less likely that your budgie will get bored with it. They will encourage him to keep investigating it for something new.
The only problems are that they’re aren’t indestructible, which is a challenge with any parrot. The problem is that it can’t create a health issue if your pet ingests it. The other issue we have is that the colors will bleed and even stain your bird. While they’re safe, the dyes make this product less desirable.
Buyer’s Guide
Parakeets are world travelers, found all over tropical regions on the globe. While there are 115 species of this delightful bird, the one you’ll see in pet stores is the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). They are part of the Parrot or Psittacidae family, which explains their resemblance to other related birds, such as cockatiels and lovebirds.
When discussing toys for your parakeet, it helps to start with the bird’s native habitat and behavior. While your pet-store bird is far removed from his home in Australia, some traits are hardwired. They can give you valuable insights into what conditions your pet needs. If you were to see the parakeet in the wild, you’d notice that:
Our takeaway messages from these observations are that a toy that does a lot of things is going to be a hit.
- Your pets may or may not play nice with it.
- Puzzles are an excellent way to engage your parakeet.
Conclusion
After going through our reviews, the Planet Pleasures Pineapple Foraging Bird Toy took top honors for the best parakeet toy. It scores high marks as a climbing toy. However, it also stimulates his instinctive behavior because it encourages your pet to forage like he would in the wild. We love products that are geared this way.
The JW Pet Activitoy Birdie Disco Ball Toy capitalizes on a simple concept and makes a toy that will engage your pet in a fun way. Parakeets have a hierarchy within a colony that is always in flux. This product builds on these instincts. Your budgie will fight it out with the “intruder” he sees in the reflective surfaces. It scores many points for how entertaining it is to watch your bird got at it.
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Featured Image Credit: kurhan, Shutterstock
