GCC does not play

[jamz]

Hi all, my 8 month old GCC, acquired about 3-4 weeks ago, really doesn't play much. We've bought and made a bunch of toys for him, because he needs something to do in his cage when we are not playing with him.

The only thing he's gotten REALLY interested in is yarn, looped into his cage. He absolutely loves it and will play with it for hours on end, but we figured it would be a little dangerous as a toy. We found out some days later when he got a piece of spun yarn wrapped tight around a toe, it was quite a bit of careful surgery getting it off without getting it tighter and tighter.

He is mildly amused with is mirror, but it does not amuse him the saw string does. All of his toys that have string he also is not interested in.

Any suggestions?

 

[QuackQuack]

Keep trying a variety of toys. There are many different ones on the market. He is still pretty new and will probably open up some more, but it is possible he is not as into play as other birds like him. My bird won't touch a toy or play LOL some people have the same kind of bird and say it is so playful, but my boy is a little old man!

 

[Atwee921]

My new GCC doesn't play much either. But, TAKE OUT THE MIRROR. Birds can get addicted to their mirrors and when the bird doesn't sqwuak back to them, they can get like insane.

 

[kentstar]

I have a sun conure that thinks that he should play with anything BUT his toys! He'll bite on and play with his comfy perch, the wooden perches, cage bars, anything but his toys. Ugh lol And he is 7 years old!

I agree to take out the mirror! If nothing else, he will get attached to the bird in the mirror and you'll play hell trying to get him to interact with you. He will also fiercly defend that "bird" in the mirror.
I do have a budgie that uses a mirror, but it doesn't seem to trouble him to also play with me and my hubby. But, bigger parrots probably not a great idea.

 

[jamz]

Sadly, he is kind of surrounded by mirrors- A really big one on the wall opposite his cage, and just about every room in the house has a mirror. He interacts just fine, is very attached to me and the rest of the family. I'll try taking it out though.

 

[Atwee921]

My breeder says mirrors are so bad them if she goes in a room with a mirror she turns her birds heads the other way.

 

[Bobioden]

Just try all different types of toys. You will find the kinds he likes. Maxx loves to shread and he loves leather, and anything with bells. He also loves a disco ball I put in the cage as a decoration and didn't think he would get into it. He LOVES it, plays with it all the time.

One of his favorites:

Try foraging toys, Maxx loves to work for treats. I started with a simple one, and moved on to a harder one.

Frist one I started with, he just had to lift the lid to get the treat.

The triple treat cup was harder, each cup gets heavier as he weight of the upper on is added. The disco ball is in this pic.

The box in the top pic was his latest foraging toys, within seconds he was tearing into it.

Good luck, just keep trying different ones.

 

[kerry]

Did you keep those new toys on the outside of the cage & let your bird see you handle them several times a day for days at a time before you put them all in his cage?
He may be freaked out by all that new colorful stuff. My parrots get freaked out by new toys & I have to lay them outside their cage for days & then handle & manipulate the toys near the parrot where they can see me doing it for several days, etc., & making any changes very slowly. I recently brought a baby swing into the living room where my parrots are & 1 of them took off flying across the room via 1 wall cuz of being freaked out by the new somewhat large (relatively) unidentified object in the room. My birds have taken quite a while to begin playing after I initially brought them into my home. Give it time. You may also want to try adding them very slowly, 1 at a time over a period of days.

 

[Pinkstiletto66]

Tell me more about the mirror issue? Thank you.

 

[mrob]

Hi pink stellito,
i think the mirror issue has to do with the bird being able to recognise the image in the mirror as a bird but not being able to recognise it as themselves,
so they become attached to the imaginary mate in the mirror which is actually their reflection
this can lead to stress - ie, the reflection is not adequate as a true mate and doesnt interact properly etc
the bird become attached to a phantom mate that doesnt actaully exist
it is better for them to interact with their environment and owner/family than the reflection

 

[Amber]

In addition to what mrob said, the reflection can also be perceived as a rival and a threat to the bird's territory, especially in sexually dimorphic species (Ie, ekkies) where the hen and **** birds are different enough for the real bird to perceive his reflection as of the same sex, and therefore maybe a threat. We had a burkes parrot as a kid that would attack his reflection in any and every mirror he was near. My aunt has a male budgie that is in love with his mirrow and spends his days 'preening' it and regurtating food to it, it's rather sad and the poor bird gets frustrated when the mirror doesn't respond as he expects.

Some birds learn and figure out that the mirror is their reflection, but they are not born with that knowledge. Nor are people for that matter! A person that has never seen their reflection before will not recognise themselves. We also have to either be taught, or learn ourselves what a mirror is. I have a large mirror in my bedroom that Alex likes to play with sometimes. It's not an obsession, and he rarely does it, but sometimes he likes to fly over and check it out. One day I caught him preening in front of it, back to the mirror looking over his shoulder as if to see what he was doing. I'd like to think he'd figured out that the 'other bird' was just his reflection, but I doubt it and I think it was just coincidence that he happened to be preening there. Maybe in the future he will get it though!

Is your GCC tame and handled by the family? I think he's just a little lonely and lost and the mirror is a comfort as it is 'another bird'... Personally, I would remove it, and try to let him know you are his companion and friend instead.

 

[Remy]

They make bird safe yarn that comes off in little tufts. Puck loves to groom it.

Does your bird play with anything else around? Bottle caps or anything?

 

[jamz]

Not really, no. He'll pick up things for a couple of seconds, but not be very interested.

The mirror is gone though

 

[goalerjones]

...for what it's worth, I had a Jenday for 6 years and it was only towards the end of his life did he finally "get" the whole toy thing. He was about 7 when this happend (he escaped and inadvertantly poisoned himself ) and so he was about 7 when he passed away. I actually had to demonstrate for him what to do with the wood plank toy I got for him. Once I showed him how to bite on it he destroyed the thing over a period of weeks.