Game Ideas

[skunkmonkey]

What types of games do you play with your Indian Ringnecks? I would like to have more activities with my birds that we can do together. The primary game that Rio enjoys sadly I feel sets her up for failure. She loves to play a form of tag where she hides in a little cave, and I play with the beads a few inches to a foot away from the entrance. She then pounces out and tries to tag me before I can move my hand away.
She absolutely loves this activity, it is by far her favorite and it's something I can do with her. The problem is that while she normally tries not to bite, when she gets too excited she inevitably will, and then she feels bad for hurting me. I don't chastise her for that since I know that it's really my fault for setting her up for failure, but still I'd rather set her up for success... and maybe preserve my fingers lol.

 

[Cottonoid]

What a great question! I hope others see this too because I'm curious what all our birds like to play!

My ARN isn't tame yet and I'm just starting to figure out how he likes to play.

Your IRN sounds really cute! I wonder if she would enjoy doing training with you too - target training or trick training.

When you play tag, can you usually tell when she's getting close to being too excited and biting? If it's predictable, you might be able to stop and do a different game or activity together before she gets to that point. Or you could use that moment as a way to teach her not to bite so hard - the first time she tags you harder than you like, simply say something like "gentle" or "no bite" and turn your back to her for a count of three, then turn back around and try again. If she gets too wound up that might not be a good technique though

I wonder if she'd like playing hide and seek with you? My son/his gf's cockatiel likes this a lot - we go into different rooms and then call him, and he has to find us. He also likes playing peek-a-boo and talking through the end of an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll.

 

[wrench13]

Over-stimulated parrots can easily slide into aggression. My 'zon Salty does this if I play fight with him too long, or, when we do trick training, I have a little rolly cylinder with a bell inside it. I will shake it a few times and release it to go scooting across the table, and Salty will run to grab it and return it to me. After a few times, he is ready to pounce on anything moving, including fingers! I give him a minute to calm down and move onto another trick.