What activities do you do with your birds?

[Nathan1]

I'm looking to "Spice things up a bit", with a new game, activity or toy to make for my birds. My Quaker is a CONSTANT chewer, he can't sit in one spot without chewing on something. My GCC on the other hand is a little more difficult to entertain, she isn't interested in most toys but she does like bells and also sneaking treats...She once opened a little drawer to get to the bag of nuts without me noticing and another time I forgot to close a 5 gallon bucket which I fill with various treats. I found her inside the bucket, she ripped a whole inside the millet spray bag and she was right in the bag eating millet.

What do you do with your birds? Any suggestions for mine?

Definitely good foraging toys for my GCC, and my Quaker needs some good foot toys he can chew on.

 

[Birdman666]

I'm looking to "Spice things up a bit", with a new game, activity or toy to make for my birds. My Quaker is a CONSTANT chewer, he can't sit in one spot without chewing on something. My GCC on the other hand is a little more difficult to entertain, she isn't interested in most toys but she does like bells and also sneaking treats...She once opened a little drawer to get to the bag of nuts without me noticing and another time I forgot to close a 5 gallon bucket which I fill with various treats. I found her inside the bucket, she ripped a whole inside the millet spray bag and she was right in the bag eating millet.

What do you do with your birds? Any suggestions for mine?

Mine are out and about trained. They also go outside and play in trees on nice days. They get phone books to shred. I hide treats for them in things like boxes of Kleenex.

 

[getwozzy]

I string unwaxed paper cups stacked together with treats in each cup- shreddable foraging toy. Seagrass Matt made into a tunnel stuffed with paper, foot toys, and treats. Or an open brown paper bag stuffed with paper and treats. Or brown paper bag tied shut with treats inside.

 

[Betrisher]

My guys like training. Barney is a lot quicker and more focussed than Madge, but she likes to learn too: just at her own pace.

I got one of those little whiffle balls with a bell inside (NB. Don't leave it in the cage - metal danger from the bell!) Anyway, I'd say 'play ball' and put it right next to Barn. If he touched it with his bill, he got a treat. As time went on, he began pecking at the ball and knocking it along. This got a treat too. I had to put a hula hoop on the table to save myself having to pick up the darned ball every five seconds!

Next, I held my hand out and said 'fetch'. I put my hand right under Barn's beak so that when he dropped the ball, it'd fall into my hand. He got a treat for that, even if it was an accident. No treat for dropping the ball out of my hand. So now, he does 'play ball' and 'fetch'.

Using the same technique as I did for 'fetch', I taught Barn to put ten big plastic beads 'in the bin'. I just handed him the bead and said 'in the bin' while holding it (the bin) under his beak. Treat for dropping it in, no treat for missing. Barney learned all these tricks in less than five minutes. Madge has taken much longer, but she can do them all now too.

When we built our porthole in the kitchen wall, I had to teach the Beaks to 'tunnel' so they could come in and out of the house. That took just one session and the Beaks have been using their tunnel every day with not a single hitch (touch wood). You just hold your treat in the tunnel, say 'tunnel' and wait for the bird to come for the treat. Once he gets the idea, you only need put the treat at the end of the tunnel where he can see it and he'll learn very quickly what 'tunnel' means.

Probably the most important trick you can teach your bird is to fly to you when you call him. If he knows that, then it might help if he ever gets out! You hold your hand close to the bird, but too far away for an ordinary 'step up' and call his name. You wave a treat as an inducement and if your bird's as greedy as mine are, he'll come to your arm for the treat. You simply keep doing this and increase the distance the bird has to come for the treat. I do this exercise at the beginning and the end of every training session with my Beaks. They're very headstrong and only come when there's a treat in view. My hope is that eventually they'll habituate enough to come simply when I call their names.

I'd be interested in learning other tricks to teach my Beaks and would like to know how other owners train. Hopefully, there'll be a lot of replies!

 

[Blueridge]

My quaker loves playing tug-of-war with whatever he's chewing on, which is usually my shirt. He has a blast. And he likes doing tricks. I also put little treats on his playgym and he he has fun climbing all over it to get the treats.

 

[Kalidasa]

Mine loves to attack the clicker and sling it across the room, so I've been using that for flight recall lately...I click, he flies over, then he gets to sling the clicker. He insists on "helping" me with all chores. If its a glum ugly day I take him for a drive (he sits in my shoulder). Warm months I take him on a bike ride everyday in his carrier. One of his favorite things to do is simply perching on my hand and being walked around to explore everything in great detail. Oh, and a new one we started is I gave him an empty Twinkie box and took out either end. That's his favorite toy...just like most kids, you get them all this expensive crap and they just want to play in the boxes

 

[Birdman666]

I swear conures and caiiques make the best trick birds... they really seem to have the temperment for it.

Best trick bird I ever had was my little Dusky conure, and I swear I don't think I ever had to show him a behavior more than twice. He picked it up right away, and his head grew three sizes with every trick he learned! He was kind of a little full of himself...

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Well, right now since he's so young, he eats, sleeps, poops and plays with his toys, and cuddles on the couch while we watch television. He's still learning some flying skills, and even with clipped wings, he does a pretty good job. He leaped off the top of his cage at me when I went into the adjoining room, and flew a good distance. He doesn't like when I go away.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

My fids also love training, I use a clicker and teach Rosie to do cute little tricks. She LOVES it, using that awesome brain of hers!

I've started trick training with Kenji, going a little slower with him since he's pretty hands off lol