3 Essentials Tools for a Parrot Owner

I'm not talking about the brands (so clearly displayed in my quick pic), I'm talking about the general tools.

Though, saying that, I have bought the bosch drill twice (one for home and one for the factory) and the cyclone pruning saw twice (because my son somehow dismantled my first and lost the all essential yellow knob that connects the blade to the handle), and the Fiskars secateurs (ye gods I had to look up the spelling for that one!), though a relatively new replacement for my old pair of unknown brand are totally floating my boat at the moment. So I guess I am happy to recommend them, from personal use, as beautifullly serviceable budget friendly examples of their kind.

But I digress.

These tools are really super duper handy to have if you own a parrot. And that includes apartment dwellers too.

And let me tell you why.

Small Cordless Drill/Screw Driver

You can turn anything into a toy part with a drill. Found a self-help book on your bookshelf that you're now embarrassed about? Drill a hole through it and hang or bolt it in your bird's cage. Give that book a second (and probably more productive) life as a shred toy!

You can add a hole to a perch to put a bolt, screw, kabob or other object of your choice into. You want a coop cup there? Drill the right size hole and you can screw one in. You want to be able to hang a toy from that spot - drill a small hole, add a screw eye and voila your perch has become a play station.

How about making up that cage you just bought. OMG don't screw all those bolts in by hand! You have a little cordless screw driver you can use! 

If those possibilities don't tickle your fancy then think about how serving up the fruit and veg on your stainless steel kabob (which we recommend as a far more awsome way to serve your fruit and veges if you're not doing it already) will be made super easy when you pre-drill holes in the food. And I'm not just talking about the obvious stuff like corn on the cob or pumpkin - I've used the drill for single grapes to great satisfaction.

If you have the dosh to spare, I recommend a cheap cordless drill JUST for your fruit and veg. That way you can just whip it out, drill some veg, spin the bit under the tap for a second and then put it back in the draw. It's fruit, you don't need anything powerful. $40 max spend.

Secateurs & Pruning Saw

I keep these in a little bag in my car. My garden is sorely lacking in the goods for a parrot's perching and foraging. But, my goodness, the streets I drive through are always throwing possibilities at me. At minimum once a week I drive by a fallen branch (or a low hanging branch) or a neighbour pruning a bottle brush in their front yard. I'll swerve the car to the curb, grab my little bag to get me some of that goodness quick smart!

The secateurs deals with any foliage I want to collect (or remove and leave behind), and the pruning saw cuts that lovely 4" eucalyptus branch quickly and easily. I used to use a hand saw (though I didn't keep THAT in the car), but they're really not that good at cutting through fresh branches, not compared to pruning saws which have just the right kind of teeth to deal with living wood.

With these tools you are able to furnish your bird's cage with natural perching options, and awsome natrual chew toys in the form of leaves, seeds and pods. And then refresh it all a week later if you want!

Other optionals to keep handy with the seceteurs and pruning saw are some garden gloves, a tape measure (it's amazing how hard it can be to judge the length of a branch in situ) and a big ikea type bag to put the collected stuff in (if you don't want seeds and leaves decorating your car interior).