my parrot doesnt like his toys :(

[coral]

Hi i have a rehomed blue headed pionus whos 4. at his old home he had the same old toys in his cage his whole life and never played with them. i have made him some toys (all safe) and bought him some. i even made a hanging play gym (i can take it down when im not home so he doesnt get hurt) and hes only played with one toy for a little bit (its theses straws that are cut up in a swirly design and he only chews on them for a little while). he really likes to chew on my shirts but thats about it.

Any suggestions?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

maybe make some toys with some of your old shirts and add some others things to it, this might grab his attention in the other things as well

i had to try lots of different toys to get Joeys interested but now he is curious about everything

[coral]

thats a great idea! what kind of things did you use for joey?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

i started with making a swing out of sticks and beads... he was very scared of it at first but after a while he would sit on ít but that was it. then i made a toy with smaller pieces of wood and then he started to get interested in chewing so i also made him some rope perches. i also tried out different kinds of fabric and leather but he wasnt very interested in that.

i also visit lots of second hand stores to look for baby toys, he loooooves that cos they come in all different colours and sizes. a good clean and ready for use. or sometimes you can take them apart and combine them with more conventional things like wood and leather. that way you can easily find out what kind of stuff he likes for no money at all.

ill try to take some pictures of his toys, the ones i made my self and post them here.

[coral]

Those are some really good ideas! I don't think Marty would like a swing though because he has one from his previous owner and completely avoids it. i just feel bad because when im at school hes probably bored and doesn't chew on anything

I'd love to see some of your toys! I think i could probably get some ideas for some toys for Marty.

Do you think i could make a toy with treats on it to get him to starts playing with it? (i tried a foraging box and he didnt look twice at it til i pulled the grass out so he could get the treats then he chewed up the box a little lol) he also likes chewing on my note book for school lol

[Amerz]

You should try him with different types of toys - things that make noise (rattles are Kiku's favorite), things that spin, things that have moving parts, rawhide for chewing maybe. My general rule of thumb is that if I would find it interesting at least for a short time, she will too. This means I avoid buying those premade toys that are just wooden balls on wire, or otherwise not-very-interesting premade toys. Plus it's fun to make them yourself Some toys that I've made for Kiku:

Get those little wiffle balls (I bought a six pack from the dollar store) and find some beads that you can force inside (make sure they can't come out). Then hang them in the cage. Kiku likes to shake these and spends time trying to get the beads out (of course, she can't). These are also good to stuff with other things (treats or shredded paper) and you can thread beaded leather through them. Can also be used as foot toys.

Uncooked pasta noodles in different shapes and sizes strung on leather or some other safe material are fun for chewing.

I got a half cocounut shell and hung it in her cage and filled it with interesting acrylic toys and beads (all safe). She likes to forage and throw them around.