how to encourage playing with toys- young gcc

[ashlie]

I have a 3 month old green cheek, and "he" is a joy to have, he has stolen my heart very quickly, and is so intelligent. He seems to prefer just playing with us(me, my husband, and son). And I don't see him playing with toys often. When I let him out(I'm a new owner, so I don't have a playgym yet, getting one soon) I put a towel down, and place lots of different toys around him. All the while playing with him, petting him, and showing him what to do with the toys. He will mouth the toys a little, but soon loses interest, and resumes to running around, playing with us. When he does play with, or touch a toy, I praise him, tell him what a good boy, see toys are fun! And try to get him to play with the toy to show him what fun he could have. But, again, he quickly loses interest in the toy, and gets back to playing with us, doing little somersaults on the towel, lying on his back, chewing his feet, silly things...is he just more interesteed in us then the toys? Also, he doesn't seem to interested in treats(strange, I know!) So when I offer him treats, he will take a couple quick nibbles, then drop it and forget about it. I want to encourage him to be able to entertain himself, when I have to put him back in his cage. He gets lots of time outside his cage(maybe 4+ hours, throughout the day...every 2-3 hours, I let him out for at least 30 mins.) I can't give him full house access, due to my dog having to be in a different room everytime I let him out. Now he doesn't scream, or anything, he can be a bit nippy, while playing and he is overstimulated, in which case, I take him to a different room, for a change of scenery, and that seems to help. I guess my question is basically, how do I encourage him to show more interest in toys? He responds to praise and scratches more than treats(as I explained above). And he's a great little guy, I just want to do everything I can to make sure he can entertain himself, and enjoy his life with us!

 

[MonicaMc]

You may want to try getting a variety of toys and seeing what kind of toys he takes to most. Destructible toys? Shiny toys? Foraging toys? Toys with beads? Toys with leather? etc

Also, try a variety of treats, too! Nuts, dried fruits, millet, safflower/sunflower seeds, etc.

 

[ashlie]

I was just curious if this was just a quirk, but I think he probably still learning, he is still young. He likes to climb, and I've been trying to give him all types of different objects. The one thing he loves the most, is fabric. Clothes, towels, blankets, anything like that, I made him a little tent in his cage, and he really seems to enjoy that. He's getting better using his feet to hold things, and ill just have to keep exposing him to different things. Oh also, he is trying to talk, he said prettybird, and hi yesterday for the first time, and I thought maybe he is trying to accomplish one "milestone" at a time. Much like children do. But thanks, ill keep trying!

 

[legal_eagle]

What you describe sounds pretty normal for my 14 year old GCC. I tend to think that GCC's are generally speaking not big fans of toys, probably because they're so darn social! My GCC uses her toys to get my attention, and she loves to shred wood, such as popsicle sticks. It's also not surprising to me that your bird might not go crazy for treats, as mine doesn't either. If I give her a peanut she will usually crack it open and each half, letting the other part drop (to be found later, of course). As long as your bird is happy and enjoying your family, I would consider the toy and treat things mere icing on the cake.

 

[Peeko]

Peeko likes destructible toys, and toys with bells. He also likes jax (under supervision) and those plastic easter eggs (under supervision) and especially the cat balls with bells inside (again, under supervision). But with that said, if the toy is not in the exact "right" place, he isn't interested in playing with it. If I move his favorite toy to a different place in his cage, it might as well not exist. Likewise, toys that never seemed to exist before become very entertaining once I find their "right" place. Its kind of funny, I think so anyway

 

[goalerjones]

My Jenday could not figure out on his own what to do with toys. I finally had to "demo" them for him, actually biting down on the wood chew toy in front of him so he would figure it out.