Doesn't want to play with toys

bluebirdlady

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Feb 10, 2020
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Hi Everyone! I have a 16 year old blue quaker nicknamed Syd. I am thankful to have grown up with him since he was about 3 or 4 months old (can't remember). As he has gotten older he doesn't want to play with toys. He sits all day on his perch and sleeps while fluffed up. I took him to the avian vet and did bloodwork, exam, fecal stain, the works. After many $$$ later, all the tests came back negative. I am thankful to have a healthy little bird.

I have been watching a lot of youtube videos of Birdtricks, and they say that birds should be playing with their toys and being active. I am not sure how to get this little one engaged with toys. I want to enrich his life but I am not sure what to do. I try to trick train with him at least twice a day to give him some activity. He is flighted so we work on recall flights (indoors only) and simple tricks like waving or stepping up.

Can anyone offer any advice on how to enrich his life and get him to start playing with toys? A few months ago I bought some woven toys made of dried grass and stuffed them with sunflower seeds (only gets these during trick training) his favorite treat. He will pick out the seeds but won't destroy the toy. Once the seeds are gone he doesn't seem interested in playing with the toy.

Sorry this post is so long. It's my first time making a thread so I wanted to be thorough.
 

wrench13

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UGet a bunch of popsicle sticks and leave them in his cage , like 4 dozen of them.Bet you he will play with them and build a fort. Quakers are know for their ability to build fortress like nests.
 
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chris-md

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Great advice above!

I love birdtricks but on rare occasions they...miss the mark, and this is one of those. Not every bird wants to shred toys. Try getting most eclectus males to shred anything wood...

The key is to TEACH them to play. They may not know HOW to play with toys. I started my ekkie by teaching basic foraging: putting a bit in the middle of a toilet paper cardboard roll where he can see it. Then graduated to folding one edge of the roll, which is a bit more challenging. Then folding booth sides so the nut was completely enclosed.

Take shreddable toys and out treats in then, that’ll get beaks into those toys.

Basically, take ANY toy and find a way to sneak treats in/on it to get them interacting.

Also try to introduce toys first outside the cage before sticking this foreign object I tot he cage. Depending on the bird, that can be a good way to make sure the toy never gets touched.
 

Noahs_Birds

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Little sticks and pieces of grasses, he'll have a great time making a nest fort, like my Quaker Scomo does, he spends all day making his big fort and munching down on the bottlebrush and Eucalyptus nuts, WHO NEEDS TOYS!!!

Thanks
Noah Till
 

Laurasea

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Do a redo of cage, if the cage isn't that large think about upgrade. Try to maximize cage use, put a lot of short perches staggered around the cage to encourage hopping from one to the next. Hang easy to shred to stuff right at face level in favorite spot to sit. Cut a brown paper bag into a hula skirt type fringe and have it across a perch do he he had to duck to go under. Consider placing the cage in a new spot.

Offer lots of veggies in a wide shallow dish like a glass brownie dish, casserole dish.

Make sure he is getting several hours out of the cage. Set up a few areas outside of the cage to hang out at.

When weather permits , roll his cage outside, and sit with him. Being outside is so good for mood and health.

Try using a different treat, like safflower seeds, or popcorn ( pop it first! ) give treats just for touches toys too.

You can float seeds in plastic bottle caps in a shallow water.

Use bird safe leather or other material to tie a bunch of knots, they like untiein them, or use to hang a bunch of beads. Use old paperback books for shredding.

When parrots are shut down, you gotta work at getting them more envolved in life. My rescue Quaker Penny was very shut down lumps on a perch when I got her. I still work on getting her to move around more, and we've made lots of progress. I gave treats for touching toys, I hang toys in ways that kindo of annoy her lol, it has worked she picks at stuff, plays with beads. Sg has learned to fly, that helps a bunch as she is gei better and like to fly to few places now.
 

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