Normal or Lazy Parrots?

[JaydeParrot]

I have two now tame Senegals which I brought as completely un-tame a year ago.

I usually keep them in a storage room with an open cage policy where they are left on their own unless I'm taking them out to work with them.

However, it was their room's turn for 'spring cleaning' so I decidedto move them to the living room, which they seem to be quite happy in. However, I've now spent alot of time with them (their cage is still open most of the time) and notice that they don't do anything...

Unless I take them out of their cage to a different room, the only thing they seem to do is sit on their perches, shout a little, eat some food and then sit on their perches again, their cage is wide open, they know they can fly around if they want to but they don't. They have toys but use them as obsticales rather than anything else. Should they be this lazy, is it completely normal for Senegals to not do anything or are they bored, if so what do I do to stop them from being bored, they won't play with their toys...

[Eric&Rebecca]

Birds can be pretty neurotic. Even a change in room can disturb their normal activities. Perhaps they are just wary of their new surroundings and relocation of the cage.

[JaydeParrot]

I guess, I've just never seem them play with their toys before, is there anyway to show them how to do that, cuz if I was one them of them I think I'd be bored stiff not doing much all day.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Well you can try but it can take a while before they start playing with toys... particularly if they wild to begin with

[Strawfrawg]

Did I read your post correctly, that they are better when in a different room but very sedentary in their bird room? If so, the room may not be stimulating enough for them. I can only speak from my own experience, but both of my birds were/are more active when in a room with things going on, or at least a window in view. You mentioned keeping them in a storage room...if there's no window they have no idea what time of day it is and that may make them a little "flat".

The best way to get a bird to play with a toy is to play with it yourself, and encourage them to explore it with you. That is, until they start taking a general interest in toys. Again, just my experience. Curoisity can require a little cultivation?

[macbrush]

Hiding their favourite treats in toys? That's how I taught my grey, now he's frenetic about anything I hanged in his cage.

[Pajarita]

Well, parrots in the wild don't ever play. They are busy with life, instead. And birds that have a bonded mate or live cage-free hardly ever do, they interact with each other. The thing is that, sometimes, when people say their bird is playing, in actuality, the bird is not. Carrying a little stick in their beak and moving it around like a man might move a cigar around his mouth is not playing, same as when the bird goes round and round and round the inside perimeter of the cage or when they beat the crap out of a toy. Not play. The first two are stereotypies and the last one is plain aggression. Destroying or opening a foraging toy is also not play, they are looking for food. Chewing on wood or cardboard is not play, either. So don't worry about them, as long as they don't show abnormal patterns of behavior, they are fine.

[JaydeParrot]

Did I read your post correctly, that they are better when in a different room but very sedentary in their bird room? If so, the room may not be stimulating enough for them. I can only speak from my own experience, but both of my birds were/are more active when in a room with things going on, or at least a window in view. You mentioned keeping them in a storage room...if there's no window they have no idea what time of day it is and that may make them a little "flat".

The best way to get a bird to play with a toy is to play with it yourself, and encourage them to explore it with you. That is, until they start taking a general interest in toys. Again, just my experience. Curoisity can require a little cultivation?

Lol, you got it backwards, when they were in the storage room they seemed to move about alot more (they had their cage door open 'all' the time because the windows in the storage room were always closed)- when I went in they were usually in a different area of the room.

It's only when they were brought to the living room that they started acting a little flat. It's been good for them though, they're definitely more tame, and they have finally started enjoying their toys. -The mirror seems to be one of their favourites, they peck and occasionally argue with it .