Never plays with toys.

[happycat]

I'm not sure what to do, because Kirby NEVER plays with toys. Its not a new thing, he's never since he was a baby played with toys. I have bought him countless toys just for him to be a.)scared of it, b.)have absolutely no interest in it or c.)play with it for about a minute just to never look at it again.

His cage is pretty sad because he has no toys in it. He has about 7 toys but if he's just going to poop on them then theres really no point in putting them in. I usually just give him coffee filters or bottle caps, which he has about the same interest in as the fancy expensive toys, which is mild interest for up to 5 minutes.

I've given him all kinds of toys. From destructive hanging toys to baby toys to jingly balls.
Is there any way to get him interested in toys? I hate seeing him pacing with boredom when there are 5 toys in his cage.

 

[Sterling1113]

Play with them infront of him, show him how much fun it is! Put treats in them, you can put a nut or seed in a coffee filter and twist it up. If you make toys, have him out with you while you do it, he'll be interested in what you're doing. My conures HAVE to be messing with anything I'm messing with.

 

[happycat]

Play with them infront of him, show him how much fun it is! Put treats in them, you can put a nut or seed in a coffee filter and twist it up. If you make toys, have him out with you while you do it, he'll be interested in what you're doing. My conures HAVE to be messing with anything I'm messing with.

I've tried that. Honestly, he doesn't care what I'm doing, he is too busy with his own stuff! The food is the best thing that gets him to play with it for a bit, I do it with the coffee filters, but I think it would help better if I got him real treats because I usually just hide his pellet berries in it. His pellet berries are kind of like a treat in themselves however, too fatty! (Trying to get him to eat some less fattening pellets like harrisons but having trouble because he doesn't eat it What a picky parrot! xD)

 

[RavensGryf]

I don't know a lot about Kakariki's, but maybe someone else who is can answer this... I wonder if they're a lot like Bourke's or some of the smaller grass parakeets who don't play like parrots?

My mom's spoiled Bourke's has a ton of toys, but he never plays. Bourke's are pretty un-parrot-like. They hop instead of climb, they don't hold things in their feet, they don't play with toys, kind of like a canary lol. Actually even some softbills play with toys, so maybe some Bourke's parakeets do to an extent.
Not to go on about Bourke's, but my point is, are Kakariki's maybe the same way?

 

[strudel]

My girl isn't much into toys, but she has toys in there and she does interact with them sometimes. I thought she was the same and never played with them, but when she "attacks" her mobile rope thingy, she makes this special noise which drew my attention and found her flapping and yelling and carrying on.

Maybe he does play with them sometimes, especially when you are not about to see?

 

[Peepers]

I have an African gray who is afraid of all toys but one. His cage also looks pathetic, the toy is big but he just gets so scared when I put new ones in. So Im in the same boat as you.

 

[happycat]

I wonder what I can do to entertain him because I'm very busy lately and can't take him out as much.

Maybe kakarikis don't play as much. Good point Ravensgryf!

 

[strudel]

Does he like foraging? You could make him a foraging box.

 

[Kiwibird]

A foraging box (as suggested by Strudel) would be a great idea, and perhaps get him one of those little mirrors. You'd have to see how he reacted to a mirror, but many birds find them good company

 

[strudel]

Just thinking about this one a bit more. My girl suddenly gets interested when there are nuts involved. She has "played" with all of her food-containing devices. I wrapped up her nuts in paper and put them in amongst the ropes of her hanging "thingies" and she was always interested in foraging boxes once she understood that there'd be some nuts in there. Maybe that helped get her to now "attacking" them and doing gymnastics on them? So, back to your initial question as to any way to get him interested, try food, if he's food-motivated..... If he likes them, stick some leafy greens in his "stuff" so he has to interact with the toys to eat the yummies.

 

[RainbowRose]

My Kakariki is the same way, oh my gosh I've bought him every kind of toy you can imagine. He will go over to the hanging ones and maybe poke it once or twice and then that's it. As for the ones on the bottom of the cage, he poops on them more than he plays with them. I constantly have to clean them. The only thing I had semi luck with was a foraging box. I saw the idea online so I tried it out. He generally goes in it if there are seeds in it, and then he will kind of play around a little, but other than that he's not really the toy playing type of bird.



That's his forage box. More interest than his other toys, but still semi plays with it haha. I'm constantly looking for new ideas. If you figure out any, definitely share! Try the forage box though. I'm going to try putting treats inside toys too, maybe it'll spark some interest! Lol