The Coollapet Back-to-Back Play is two coconut halves mounted back to back on a rope core, packed between them with rattan, dyed wood and shredding fibre.

Key Features

• Two shells give two openings, so food can be hidden on both sides and the bird has to work round the toy.
• Coconut shell is dense enough to last a parrot that gets through softer toys in a day.
• Rattan, dyed wood and woven fibre between the shells cover several textures at once.
• Shredding tassel at the base for birds that want to pull something apart.
• Hangs on a rope loop with a clip for standard cage bars.

Good To Know

• Coconut shell is hard. It is a good chew for a bird with a real beak - an amazon, grey, cockatoo or macaw - and more than a budgie or a cockatiel will get through.
• Rope and woven fibre fray. Trim loose strands as they appear and retire the toy once it goes stringy - a thread wrapped round a toe cuts off the blood supply, and a swallowed one can knot in the gut.
• Chain, quick-links and bells are the usual route to zinc and lead poisoning in parrots. Watch for a bird that strips the coating off metal, and if you ever replace the clip, use stainless steel rather than galvanised hardware from a hardware shop.
• Most parrots are wary of anything new. Leave a new toy beside the cage for a day or two, then hang it at the edge of the cage rather than over a favourite perch.
• A bird that stops playing, sits fluffed on the cage floor or goes quiet is showing the first signs of illness - birds hide sickness until they can no longer manage it. That is an urgent avian vet visit, not a wait-and-see.