The Coollapet Chewie Swing is a wooden swing bar hung from two columns of natural palm, loofah and untreated wood, for small birds and for owners who would rather avoid dyed toys.

Key Features

• Built mostly from natural, undyed materials - palm, loofah, rattan and bare wood.
• Loofah is soft enough for a budgerigar or a cockatiel to make progress on, which is where most small birds give up on hardwood.
• Flat bar rather than a round dowel, so the bird can stand comfortably while it chews.
• Hangs from two clips so it swings rather than spins.
• Small size for budgerigars, cockatiels, lovebirds and small conures.

Available in: Also in a medium size with dyed wood and rattan chews.

Good To Know

• A swing needs clearance. Hang it where the bird can sit upright on the bar without its head touching the cage top, and where it will not knock into a bowl as it swings.
• 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.
• Match the toy to the bird. Hardware built for a macaw will trap a budgie's foot, and a toy built for a budgie is destroyed in minutes by a large parrot, leaving pieces small enough to swallow.
• Check the toy over every few days. Retire it once parts are chewed through, frayed or splintered - worn toys are where beaks and toes get caught.
• 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.