Getting Bird to Play with Toys

Hello parrot people,

Sorry, its me again haha.

This time, I am wondering how to get my bird to play with his toys more. I have an array of different toys trying to find the right kind, I have ones to tear, ones to chew, ones with food in them but it seems like he doesnt know what to do with them. He likes the tearing ones, but he doesnt do much.

A little background on him... I bought him at a bird store after he was dropped off by his previous owners. I believe he was, in a way, bird abused. He is afraid of water (I wonder if he was sprayed for punishment) he is afraid of training sticks (I am thinking his cage was his with a stick to get him to stop screaming), and he is the loudest pionus I have met (I am wondering if its because when he screamed, his owners screamed back). It seems that they didnt do much to stimulate him either.

So I guess my question is, how do you teach a bird to play?

Thanks again to everyone who helps!

How do you teach a bird to play?
Hi again
Perhaps when he was with his former owner, he was threatened and scared with some of the toys.
When I introduce a new toy to my AG Mishka, just over 2 years old now, I follow the procedure below, works every time.

Sit with the bird on your lap, and you play with a certain toy.
Kiss the toy, hug and kiss it. He will notice you are happy playing with it.
Everyone will think you have gone crazy but who cares.....
Take your time, doing it routinely every day.
Leave the toy on your lap, he will hopefully become curious and investigate.
It might take a while, sure you will have success.
keep us posted
Good luck

Bird toys that are sold at pet stores are notoriously bad. They sure look interesting, but they are not for birds, they are for bird owners!

Bird toys are things like pens, paper towel rolls, computer keyboards, key chains.

The only pet-store-bought toys that Auggie has ever played with were those cheap cat toys (usually in a bin 99cents each).

One of Beemer's favorite toys is his newspaper swing that I make for him. He loves paper!!!! Anything he can destroy and kill he wants. I have a old tissue box that I put a paper towel in and it's funny to watch him get inside and destroy the towel. That box is moving everywhere.lol Of course he's small so he can do stuff like that.

Thanks everyone for you input! I will definitely try some "bird friendly" toys, and definitely try the steps you gave me Antionette

Claude One more thing you can try as you introduce a new toy as Antionette suggested is to start to give it to him after you have played with it and then take it back and play with again. Kind of like a tease. The more you can do with the toy or other item by yourself the more he will be interested in it. If a parrot is not supposed to have it you can bet that will be the first thing they want. My girl just discovered an emmory board when I was filing my nails and she tore it up! Have fun with your bird - that is the most important thing.