teaching Woody how to play

[woodster22]

I don't think my green cheek knows how to play with his toys, occasionally he will reach out and bite at them but that is the extent of his interest. I work 8 hours a day, and I fear he just stands around and doesn't know what to do with himself. I don't think he screams and is noisy when we are gone because I've noticed that if he thinks I have left then he is as quiet as a mouse in the other room. I want to introduce him to some foraging toys to provide him with some exercise during the day. What are your favorite foraging toys for your conure? He also will still not allow me to touch him, but he loves to sit on my shoulder and preen my hair. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have!

 

[ZoeS]

Mine had no clue about foraging toys either. I got them some and they just didn't get it.

I started by balling up newspaper and putting that and some beads in their food dish, so they had to remove them to get to the food. I would also tuck their favourite treats (sunflower seeds) into nooks and crannies of toys where they could see them.

Then I moved to making my own foraging toys out of finch nests, paper coin tubes, newspaper pouches, paper finger traps etc. I was able to - at least at first - make the seeds and treats visible to the birds. They eventually got the idea to keep digging for more food. They also got good at digging in *carefully* to get the seeds without them falling to the ground.

I recently got them this: Foraging Wheel Foraging Toy | Foraging Toys for Birds from DrsFosterSmith.com And they figured it out super fast! So proud of them. Now I have to figure out how to make it harder for them to get at the food.

Once they "get" it, they are much more likely to chew and explore.

 

[LaurenB]

Hello,

I have been working through the same issue with my green cheek. She is 6 years old and her previous owners never gave her any toys, so she didn't know what to do with them.

Two things that have worked well for me and Tiki:

1. Make a bird necklace. I noticed Tiki would always nibble at my jewelry when on my shoulder. I made a necklace out of hemp, plastic beads, chewable wood pieces, and a bell. This introduced her to chewing on wood.

2. Tiki LOVES rice cakes. I use salt-free multigrain rice cakes (I think Quaker makes these but I'm sure there are other brands. I used this to my advantage making my own toys.

I started with a piece of organic hemp string and strung small pieces of the rice cake on it and hung it in her cage. She destroyed it in one day. Most of the rice cake falls to the bottom of the cage so it's not as if she's consuming that much.

After she got used to this, I started to add something to the toy, slowly, each time I made her one. For example, I alternated bead, rice cake, bead. Then I added small pieces of paper: bead, rice cake, paper, etc. She would shred the rice cake and the paper! Then I began to add wooden pieces from existing toys that I dismantled. She began to chew those up too!

I still make all of her toys because she seems overwhelmed by store bought toys.

Some of the items I use in her toys are:
Rice cakes
Wood pieces
Paper
Thin cardboard
Yogurt bird treats (O shaped)
Cheerios
Peanuts in the shell
Beads
Cupcake wrappers

The shreddable bird kabob pieces of wood. (The whole toy scared her but I took it apart and string one wood piece on per day.

She LOVES the toys I make her. Recently she started chewing on a store bought toy

Good luck. Just go slow and be patient. Food is in excellent motivator for toys!