Many types stones or rocks are tumbled and smoothed by the ocean over centuries or even longer.  They are full of minerals, including calcium carbonate—often used as a dietary supplement.

Parrots can scrape off some of the minerals by beaking the shells or stones.  As long as they cannot break off pieces of them (could cause crop blockage or damage to internal organs), the shells and stones are safe for birds. 

Parrots can also sharpen or clean their beaks on the shells or stones.  This can help prevent overgrowth of the beak and help them remove the scaly layers of keratin that form their beaks.

Parrots are inquisitive creatures and enjoy a variety of textures to explore with their beaks.  These shells and stones provide such variety.

Each of these stones were collected by us.  They were boiled for hours and washed to remove any bacteria or other contaminants.  They are an all natural product, attached to our PVC or wood perches.

The holes are a result of the stones hardening around dead marine life which eventually erode away, or from live marine creatures that actually bore holes into rock.  We took advantage of these natural holes to attach the stones to the perches.

You know the power of your pet bird’s beak!  You don’t want the parrot to be able to break off a piece of the shell or stone!  The larger the bird, the larger the stone you should choose.

It depends on both where in the cage you plan to put the perch (or how much time the parrot will be standing on the perch), and the size of your bird.  The ideal perch size for any parrot is said to have a diameter which allows the toes to wrap 3/4 of the way around the perch.

At the same time, parrots need a variety of perch diameters available to them for good foot health.  The diameter of the perch impacts the pressure points on the foot.  If you ever see red patches on the bottoms of your parrot’s feet, you have a perch problem!  Worst case scenario is “bumblefoot”, which will require, at minimum, veterinary treatment.

If you plan to place the perch near the top of the cage, the parrot is apt to choose to sleep on it, so the perch should have the ideal diameter for your parrot’s feet.  If you choose a hanging perch for outside of the cage, and the parrot will only be on the perch for a few hours a day, you can use a non-ideal diameter.