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George has never showed interest in toys...

theocnoob

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My Senegal, George, who recently turned 9 years old, has never really shown an interest in toys. I've tried pretty much every kind of parrot toy out there. From time to time he'll have a little chew but he never engages with the toys the way most other parrots do. When he's alone he just sits in his cage with a blank stare on his face, eats food, drinks water, and complains that no humans are nearby. He's not a plucker or anything and he doesn't seem to be suffering when he's alone, but he won't play with toys.

He comes from a rather odd little family. His brother is the only "normal" one. His sister is overly-trusting to the point of endangering herself. She'll say "step up" and start walking towards the edge of the table, and a hand better be there for her by the time she gets to the edge or she'll just fall off the table. She won't perch properly on hands. She knows perfectly well how to perch, but she's so trusting it's ridiculous. I wanted to adopt her but my breeder refused and insisted on keeping her because she's so self-endangering.

And that brings me back to George, who's quirk is an aversion to toys. The only in-cage entertainment I've ever gotten him to engage with is cuttle bones and that's hit and miss. I put one in there for him a week ago and he hasn't even looked at it. Sometimes he'll demolish a cuttle bone in 4 days. Usually it gets ignored like everything else.

What can I do to stimulate his mind more? I find myself having to spend the entire day from 7AM to 7PM next to him and talking to him and petting him when I'm home because he won't entertain himself. That's been fine as I've worked from home for the past 9 years that I've had him and he's never alone for more than an hour or two, if that... but I might be getting an IT job where I'd be away from home more, and this guy needs to learn to entertain himself.

Thankfully he loves to watch TV.
 

Clueless

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Have you tried different woods? Mine get bummed when the wood is too hard to easily demolish. It seems if I provide lighter easier woods, they tear through it and then go back to the pine.

Try side mounts too.
 

theocnoob

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Ive got various grades of chewable wood in his cage now.
 

sunnysmom

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Sometimes birds don't know how to play. You can try playing with the toys and letting him watch to see if it catches his interest.
 

Tamzine

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Hi there, i dont know what progress you have made, (Its been a week here)but you can always rely on foraging toys, even if he ignores the toy he will still have to play to get his treat that is wedged into the toy. so it is still something. and yeah play with the toy your self
generally my bird will want to play with things "that arent meant for him" so pretend its is not his so he will see how much fun youre having and decide he wants fun too (while he is out of the cage) then wedge some treats in there easy to hard level and see if he likes it then. :)
 

theocnoob

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Interesting. I will try that. He definitely plays with human things. My cordless phone and my wireless keyboard can attest to that.

We got him a play gym for the kitchen table the other day. He's still afraid of it so I have been playing with it while making happy noises to see if I can convince him to get up on it.

I think he's still upset from his vet visit the other day. He spends literally every waking hour save for maybe 60 minutes hanging out with humans and he has a good time with us. we dance with him and stuff and he follows along. He finds his cage to be mostly a place for sleeping or staying safe on the rare occasion that nobody is home for an hour or two.

I will try playing with his toys and hiding food in them. How do I let him know that the food is in there? AFAIK birds don't have a great sense of smell.
 

Tamzine

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yeah i have to hide my headphones and phone or else he will destroy it haha.

and to let him know food is there usually i'll put the harder to get ones before hand, then place easy grabs while the toy is in the cage, in front of him, so just place it on top of the toy(it depends on the toy and how difficult it will be to see and pry out the treat) . once he gains confidence and gets handsy (beaksy?) on that toy he'll figure out that more treats are available, and you wont show him where you hid the treats for a a hide and seek game hehe. might take a few a days depends on how visible the treats are, and how badly he wants those treats! :)
 

Monica

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Toys can definitely be more fun if you hide treats and food in the toys! ;)
 
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