How to entertain my bird when he is out with me.

Hi. So Lenny is basically out with me all day 10-11 hours a day. He is on me all the time, but I was wondering if he gets bored. I have a playstand for him and he has like 50 toys, but he never uses them. He is always just running around on me or on my shoulder. Is there anything I can buy/do for him so he can be entertained while he is out of the cage because I worry he is getting bored just being on me all the time.

I think if you don't mind him being on you then it's fine. If he continues to choose to be on you then by definition he isn't board especially since he has a choice and he still chooses you. When my 2 conures are on my I like to wear plastic bird safe necklaces with little bird toys are peices of left over toys hanging on it. I also make some necklaces with shoe strings and time little toy parts on them. They LOVE it.

Sunnyclover said:

I think if you don't mind him being on you then it's fine. If he continues to choose to be on you then by definition he isn't board especially since he has a choice and he still chooses you. When my 2 conures are on my I like to wear plastic bird safe necklaces with little bird toys are peices of left over toys hanging on it. I also make some necklaces with shoe strings and time little toy parts on them. They LOVE it.

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I mean I love him being on me but I mean I sometimes I want a break for a few minutes, is there anything I can get for him?

Well you have a play stand but if he flies it will be hard to get him to stay there. If you want him to be more independent you might have to start giving him some "in cage" time with you in the same room to get him used to it. I had to do that with one of mine and now he independently plays for up to an hour in his cage or play stand and doesn't scream at all.

Sunnyclover said:

Well you have a play stand but if he flies it will be hard to get him to stay there. If you want him to be more independent you might have to start giving him some "in cage" time with you in the same room to get him used to it. I had to do that with one of mine and now he independently plays for up to an hour in his cage or play stand and doesn't scream at all.

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How long should that be for?

Like a hour maybe 2 times a day at 1st like one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Sunnyclover said:

Like a hour maybe 2 times a day at 1st like one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

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I'll try that out, thank you. Do you guys have any other suggestions also?

Sounds like your bird is living THE LIFE!
I got the Rb when I was in college, so he spent a lot of time on me. Then I graduated and had to go to work! That was hard on him. Now I'm retired and all's well again. *IF* you anticipate future changes, for whatever reason, I'd aim to increase cage time very gradually so that it is't too much of a shock.
I think you're doing a lot of things RIGHT!
Lucky Lenny...

My Nike is the same way, I get her out by 9 or 10am and she's out till bedtime and now that she's flighted that means she is on one of us almost all day.

When we have things to do that require us to go in/out of the house or we just want a break she stays in her cage. She complains a little but then settles in. I'm trying to get her more cage time because it's quite apparent she's getting spoiled.

As a matter of fact, I just put her in her cage and I'm going out, alone, for an ice cream!

Sa;lty gets like 3 hrs a day of awake cage time. He gets breakfast round 10AM when he wakes up. and he stays ther til around 1 playing with his foot toys and eating. They we open the door and he is free to do what he wants. Geri will give him lunch and maybe a schpritz if its hot out. He plays on his hanging play chain or the hanging toys there. We have a sea grass basket he love to chew apart. I get home a 6 and he gets an hous plus of in you face time with me either on my shoulder o back of our couch. Dinne is at 7;30 andhe eats for most of that. Training is at 8;45 which is up to 30 minutes now. Thats when I teachhim new tricks and do his favorite old ones. Bed time is 10PM.

bill_e said:

My Nike is the same way, I get her out by 9 or 10am and she's out till bedtime and now that she's flighted that means she is on one of us almost all day.

When we have things to do that require us to go in/out of the house or we just want a break she stays in her cage. She complains a little but then settles in. I'm trying to get her more cage time because it's quite apparent she's getting spoiled.

As a matter of fact, I just put her in her cage and I'm going out, alone, for an ice cream!

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Bad Dad, going for ice cream without the baby

Agree...didn't you see that I went for ice cream WITH my baby on the POTM thread lol. Jk!

Sunnyclover said:

Agree...didn't you see that I went for ice cream WITH my baby on the POTM thread lol. Jk!

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Yes I did! And it looked like a VERY good time was had by all.

Hmmmm now that the weather has improved in Seattle, Bumble and I might have to walk up to McD’s for a cone [emoji509]


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You should! Take a pic and we can go head to head on the POTM contest. ��

Sunnyclover said:

You should! Take a pic and we can go head to head on the POTM contest. ��

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Now I’m gonna for sure LOL


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Howdy y'all, left for a bit, found myself back here, so here it goes.

Our bird Mango is a velcro bird. Mostly with my husband which was becoming a huge issue because husband couldn't get anything done. Mango won't just stay on your shoulder, he wants to be doing whatever you're doing. It goes from flattering to REALLY annoying pretty quick. And to be honest, it was ticking me off a bit because I'm the one that puts all the effort in to the bird, and he seemed to bond to my husband.

Well what seemed to be a bond really turned out to be a total lack of boundaries on the part of my husband and lack of confidence/independence on the part of the bird. I'm 95% sure Mango just knows he can get whatever he wants if he's annoying enough to my husband, where I can actually communicate for some reason. Here's what I did personally to establish boundaries and encourage Mango to think for himself. Note: bird has to be able to fly for these to work.

1) Husband had to go on a business trip so for the last 2 weeks there has been nobody here to spoil and ruin progress. (See I said I'd evict the husband... sort of )

2) Give your bird plenty of places to perch other than you. I have a bird perch in almost every room in my house that I spend time in. Give him toys there, sometimes spend time near the perch with him so its "shared" and a positive thing. That becomes a safe spot in the room.

3) Don't let him land on you if you don't want him there. Mango will fly to me and if I'm busy I can hold up a hand to block him and he will turn around and fly back to a perch. After trying 2-3 times he gets the hint and entertains himself. Cheer for that, they can tell they did something good. If he does sneak up on you, put him on your hand and gently send him in to flight towards his perch. Cheer a lot for this too. (If this scares or offends your bird, don't do it. Mine happens to enjoy it, thinks its a game.)

4) Stop solving all of your bird's problems. Slowly but surely encourage him to be a bit independent. I don't pick Mango up when I leave a room anymore. I started by inviting him to fly to my shoulder as I leave the room - tapping my shoulder as I walk out, he flew to it cause he didn't want to be left, then I cheer for him. I don't even do that anymore. Sometimes he'll come to my shoulder as I leave, sometimes he flies right past me to one of his perches because he knows where I'm going. If he lost sight of me he'll call for me, I answer, and he flies around to find me, or decides he'd rather go to his cage.

5) Talk to your bird a lot when he's on his perch. Then he's getting your attention but doesn't have to be right on you.

These are just a few things, but the bottom line is to encourage the bird to be less dependent. This has made Mango a MUCH more awesome bird to have in the house. He has the tools to solve his own problems and doesn't have to be on me all the time. He's learned that I'm out there and he can find me if he needs to. He still wants to be on me a lot, which is normal, but there's a different "tone" to it now. Its a choice, not a need, and there's no real drama when you say no.

I swear to the heavens above if my husband comes back on Friday from his trip and ruins it by spoiling him again... :18: