Teaching a bird to play with toys.

[Psittaciformes]

So Kiwiberry has become a real velcro bird now and I need to start teaching her to become more independent and learn to play with her toys.
The only time she will play with her toys is if I hold something and she's on me, if she can't reach it from my arm, she won't play.

I've tried showing her how fun the toys can be, she won't give in.
Any suggestions?

Another question, could clicker training be used in this situation?

 

[Jayyj]

I use two tricks. Firstly there's a sweet spot in the cage where she sleeps and will absent mindedly prod at any toy next to her roost branch before bedtime - so new toys usually get a spell there so she gets familiar with them. Secondly she's very motivated by foraging, so toys that she thinks may have treats in their midsts get lots of attention.

Different birds have different ideas of what makes a good toy. Alice has no interest in plastic and is ambivalent about rope, but loves anything with wood and chewable fibres. It takes a while to figure out what their tastes are!

 

[Psittaciformes]

Kiwiberry used to love biting on wooden toys and she used to play with this plastic ball with a bell inside, she'd try to get the ball out, which she successfully managed to do by completely breaking it.
She still plays with the ball a little, not too much, gonna have to go to the pet store tomorrow and see if they finally got them back in stock.

She doesn't care for wood anymore, paper is alright, plastic is okay. She's more into exploring stuff now, so maybe it's just a phase and she'll start playing with toys again soon. I'm just afraid she'll sit on/in her cage when I start school and just do nothing 'till I'm home ...

I'll give that a try, with the toy by the roost branch. Her favourite toy hangs there which she doesn't really seem to care about anymore, I bought a new foraging toy last month who she's barely touched, so I'll switch their spots now

 

[ZephyrFly]

Our pazu loves fabric and bells, does like a good chew on a twin ball. Other than that, and I guess undoing the knots keeping the bell on its string, pazu doesn't care for brewing wood or plastic. Pazu has a swing perch with a fabric tent and a bell on one side and a bit of knotted leather on the other, he's barely touched the leather but is always undoing the bells string.
Oh, wait his other favourite toys are the metal tabs he pulls off my belt (its old and they're just decoration tabs but I don't know what they're made of...) and the ball in my upper earring. He plays with it and has taught me how to take small thing out his beak, surgical steel or not its best I just keep him off that shoulder.
Sorry that turned into a ramble.

 

[Psittaciformes]

Kiwiberry doesn't care much for fabric or string, but speaking of that, she likes buttons. I read a post on here where someone mentioned how they sewed a bunch of buttons onto a shirt, I could do that too.
But then there's still the problem of being independent...

 

[strudel]

She's more into exploring stuff now,

I keep the middles out of the toilet rolls and then put cashews inside and screw up the ends. My girl's a bit lazy for foraging, she just wants to be hand-fed, but when she understands there are cashews in there, she does go in for the exploration.

My galah is the same as Alice, she likes the loofah that she can chew on, and she also has eaten a couple of pumice perches. She likes thinks she can chomp on, although she also attacks her rope thingie with all the wood in it. She does her "routine" on that.

 

[Psittaciformes]

I really want a galah sometime in the future! It's my dream parrot.

What do you screw the ends up with? Or do you just push and twist?

 

[strudel]

I just fold them over, scrunch them up, some I leave the end open so she can hopefully see inside and get the idea that there's more if she just applies herself. Or I stick some in with some shredded paper. Just "stuff", whatever.

 

[Psittaciformes]

Gonna try it
But, how do I actually get her to engage again? I have a video of her jumping onto her favourite toy and hanging upside down with her head going everywhere, that wasn't too long ago, now she just looks at it.
She doesn't seem interested in toys at all anymore, which worries me a bit.

 

[strudel]

I never worried about it. I just put her stuff in her "houses" and left her to do what she likes. If she wants to sit there, that's ok, there's no rule that says you have to play with all the expensive stuff your people have wasted their money on . At first, she never seemed to touch her "stuff", but now she does/has. Some "people" are more playful than others, some are happy to just sit and watch the world go by. It's the same with my dogs, one is into toys, one isn't, one likes bones, one really isn't that interested.

When I first got her the dangly rope/wood thing, I'd twist paper with cashews in it, and stick bits of salad in it, she is quite into food, so stuffing food into things gets her interest. Anything with a cashew in it, she'll be interested in. She's not that interested in stuff that is just stuff and doesn't have yummies in it.

 

[Psittaciformes]

That's true, I never thought about it that way. I'm just scared she'll get bored and unhappy while I'm not home since she's always with me in the apartment.
I'll definitely experiment more with different types of foraging toys, and perhaps shredding toys.
I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it

 

[strudel]

I'm just scared she'll get bored and unhappy while I'm not home since she's always with me in the apartment.

I'm not a "bird person", I don't know that much about birds, but I've picked up a fair bit about training dogs since I've had them for a long time and took them to training. This might not apply the same to birds, so if a "bird person" tells you I'm wrong, listen to them.

To encourage independence, you need to make the "separation times" normal and no big deal. If you ALWAYS have the dog at your side and only put them out when you have guests, or occasionally go out (or whatever) the dog interprets that as being excluded from his "pack" and can go completely mental with anxiety and upset at being "shunned". You need to just teach the dog that he can be out, with you, out alone, in alone, in with you, all the things you want him to be comfortable with.

Instead of always being with you, you could consider making "cage time" part of his day.

We need to supply our pets with their needs - food, company, activity. We don't have to amuse them 24/7. In the great outdoors, they don't have a succession of parrot toys to amuse themselves with. They might just sit on a tree, chat with a friend, pick at some fruit or seed, whatever they do wherever they live.

If he's not stuck in a cage alone all the time, he'll know that his cage time is just part of his day and you'll appear periodically to say "hi", give him some yummies, fetch him out for a game or a cuddle or a look around.

It depends on the bird how much stimulation/company/etc he or she needs. I just supply food, attention, room to move, stuff to look at and pick at, and if they seem healthy and aren't doing anything "crazy" that demonstrates anxiety or upset, I just don't worry about it. Taking them from their natural environment, sticking them in a tiny cage without interaction or anything to do will drive them crazy, but if they get their needs met, they should be ok if they aren't kept amused 24/7.

One thing my birds do LOVE is a hunk of tree from out the back (I have a eucalyptus in the back yard). Have you tried some natural vegetation with your fellow? (don't give eucalyptus to non-australian natives, but there'll be something your guy likes?)

 

[Birdman666]

That's exactly right. They have to learn to self entertain... which is the buzz phrase the bird world uses that means exactly the same thing.

Structured interatction. This is when we eat. This is when we get out time. This is your playing with me time. This is the time you have to be on your own, and find something to do with yourself, other than screaming and plucking...

I introduce them to toys on the lap. Play with it with them, and then when they go back I put it in the cage.

With a too? A box just tossed on the bottom of the cage, with paper to shred, and treats and foot toys hidden inside the paper to discover...

CHEAP AND EASY!

I've been using the old soda 12 pack cartons lately, and just stuffing that with tissue paper, and recycled toy parts, and a few treats. Keeps them entertained for several hours.

 

[Psittaciformes]

So I seem to be on the right track then. When I'm doing chores in a different room, I let Kiwiberry be in the room now, she's too distracting otherwise, always wanting to join in.
She does a couple calls once or twice, I answer and she stays quiet.

I've noticed she likes foot toys she can destroy. Paper, pen caps, straws.

I haven't tried vegetation yet, I've been kinda short on money, but I've been planning a trip to the gardening store in a couple weeks where they have loads of plants. Big, medium and small ones.
I'm gonna print out some lists of safe and unsafe plants to take with me.