Toys get dirty pretty quickly and will need to go through some kind of cleaning routine.


Quick & easy cleaning

If the toy is plastic or stainless steel then it’s just a matter of putting it in the dishwasher (for those of you who have one) with all your cutlery and plates.

A bunch of other stuff is also fine to go through the dishwasher but may best be reserved for a no-soap cycle if they’re slightly fiddly with hard to get to nooks and crannies or the materials are quite absorbent (cotton or wood for example) resulting in a chance that the detergent might get in but not get rinsed off. What you’re willing to put through this kind of cycle is up to you. Remember that items like wood can take several days to dry properly.

The not so quick & easy cleaning

More delicate toys will need to be cleaned by hand, with a damp cloth over the surfaces, rather than by soaking. Or, if you only provide these toys in food free areas (thus reducing the amount of food-muck transferred to it by your bird’s feet and beak), there’s always a chance it’ll be destroyed before cleaning becomes an issue!

Mineral perches and the like are best washed by hand with a scrubbing brush and just a little water, so that the only thing eroding them is your bird’s beak!

Disinfecting toys

If you want to disinfect the toys, you can use normal household bleach, diluted to about a 1-30 ratio in water (remember that there’s no point disinfecting if you haven’t cleaned it first). Things that go through a detergent-cycle in your dishwasher effectively receive a disinfecting from the detergent’s ingredients. Remember to let anything you have disinfected thoroughly dry before allowing your bird to chew.

Drying toys

Drying toys in the sun is always good, as the sun helps to kill bacteria seeking out the moist nooks and crannies. This is particularly relevant to wood items which can remain damp for days providing the perfect breeding ground for nasties. It is also possible to use the oven (usually with the oven door left open) to dry certain items, but as you can surely imagine you must be careful not to melt or burn the toy and not to cause the house to burn down. Microwaving is definately not recommended.

Other useful information

As with many things an old toothbrush can be very handy for cleaning some types of parrot toys, as well as bottle brushes and sandpaper (very useful for poo stains on wood).

Many wood and paper toys have been dyed and you may wish to do a spot check on the colour running before wetting with water. All My Parrot toys have been dyed with food-safe vegetable dye which are water soluble. It is perfectly fine to give these items a good clean but do expect some colour changes. If you wish to avoid too much colour running, try using a damp cloth instead.

Detergents are fine to use on bird products just make sure you rinse with water and leave to dry thoroughly.

Aside from food-muck being transferred to toys by beak and feet, invariably bird droppings will find their way onto them as well. We suggest reserving those occasional special spots in cages and on play stands where toys seem to avoid most of this sort of thing for the toys that are harder to clean.