How do you play?

[Chris&Akilah]

I was just wondering what you all do to just play with your birds. I don't mean training, or providing toys. Just games to play with your bird. I have the habit of playing with Akilah like one would a kitten, getting her to wrestle and chase toys...but I get the feeling this might not be wise with a parrot. It gets her quite wound up and nippy. I also like to let her use my hands and fingers like a gym, swinging around and hanging from a finger by her beak...is that ok or should I be discouraging all "mouthing"?

[sidech]

I can't really play with mine yet. He doesn't get him, and wants to bite when I try.

[rebeccaturpeinen]

i have some toys that i have in my hand and wave in front of him and dangle it and touch his beak and stuff so he has to chase it a bit. then he bites it and stuff and tries to run off with it, tries to take it from me. thats how we play... we do that in between training or when he just simply isnt interested in training

[Red Moppet]

I've been wondering the same thing so I'm glad you started this topic!

I kind of let my bird show me what he wants to do... he seems to like to toss things off the table, so I might throw the things back up to him, and he likes to wrestle with kleenex so I'll sometimes dangle it in front of him or cover him up in it. Also, a game he loves (and I'm not so fond of) is to land in my hair, have me shoo him away, land on my knee, sing and dance, and repeat! Not really sure if I'm playing this right nor not, but he doesn't tire of this "game"! LOL. If I have energy I try to get him to play hide and seek. OK, I hide and call him and see if he finds me! Sometimes I feel a little odd sitting on the floor of my closet, calling to my bird....

And otherwise I'll do what Rebecca does, dangle toys in front of him, touch his beak with them and get him to chase it or bite it.

[TheNzJessie]

we wrestle, well my hand and Jango wrestle. i think hes to cocky for his size lol

[Dave]

We play with them individually, as they all seem to have their favorite activities.
Some just like to sit on my chest and be hand fed, then the go to sleep under my chin. Or ride around while I do stuff around the house.
The goffin like to destroy cardboard, wood, and climb up and down a plastic chain, or sit on us and try to feed or be fed by us.
but usually, we let them all out together, put several food and water bowls out, and toys. Then they all posture for top bird, and goof off with each other. With the exception of 1 male parakeet and the goffin - sex unknown, they all get along or tolerate each other. We have to keep the two apart or they will fight.
their toys are, sheets of paper, barrettes, small balls with bells in them, shiny dice, wooden clothes pins, unsalted peanuts, yuccu stalks, an old towel, and then of course what ever I have in my hand.
They love to pop all the keys off my laptop. It must be some sort of bird directive.

[Chris&Akilah]

ugh yeah Akilah won't leave my poor keyboard alone. She already ruined the one on the laptop, so I got another one with big keys she can't get a grip on. So she just jumps up and down on them instead. I believe she thinks I am petting the keyboard instead of her and she is very jealous of it. I have to put her away when I need to get a lot of typing done, and she gets VERY upset about it. Like right now, she is just sitting in her cage screaming and flapping because I had to put her back just to finish this post!
I hope it's just a phase and she'll get over it eventually and let me type in peace...

[zazanomore]

I always play "soccer" with the budgies. I throw those colored balls at them, and they will kick them, and pick them up and flick them.

As for Einstein, he's rather be cuddled then played with.

[Chris&Akilah]

Akilah is scared of rolling things . I've got a few balls on her table to get her used to them, she just avoids them. Her favourites seem to be stainless steel and plastic/rubber toys, does that seem weird for a senegal? Her wood toys remain unchewed. She loves this little toy car that came from a 'kinder egg', she just holds it in her beak and spins the wheels with her tongue .

[snakesentwined]

hehe, redmoppet: I think *all* parrots love the 'chuck it on the floor!' game

Isis' favourite game is to march along our mantle-piece - attacking her toys and hurling them onto the floor; she then stares over the edge and calls for us to pick them up so she can do it again!

Her other favorite game is 'bollemakiesie' ('somersault' - my partner is South African!). She sits on a hand-held perch until we say 'bollemakiesie!!' - then she flips herself over to hang upside by her feet, flapping and squawking, until she rights herself again - bobbing and eye-flashing and ready to do it again

We also have a bowl of toys for Isis, which we put on our coffee table when she's out - filled with wooden blocks and vine balls, rolls of white paper, nuts (still in the shell), old pen tops - even a bird-clicker that she never got on with...! She likes to sit on the rim of the bowl and 'forage' for her own selections - then strut about on the table with them in her beak, showing off...

Her other games include hanging upside down off the light fittings (whilst we climb onto the coffee table to try and get her down - although we did put cable-protectors over all the wires, just in case) and trying to shred the curtain tops or deconstruct the TV...

She also loves to play 'what are you doing?!?' - which means her trying to walk over or steal whatever it is that you are currently paying attention to (TV remote, mobile phone, iPod, birthday card...).

We've not got into a game of fetch yet - but she is *very* interested in watching us play it with our Siamese and his catnip mouse...