Pixie won't play :(

[tinti]

Ok, so Pixie has been with me for about 3 weeeks now, but he still won't play. He has a swing that came with the cage, and I bought a toy, I think its wooden but I don't know, and it has a bell and a few of those maybe-wooden pieces, and some ropes on the bottom. And I've put a couple of empty toilet rollers and some folded carton pieces in his cage, and a cap of a soda bottle tha's been cleaned off, and he doesnt tuch it. He plays a bit with the thing I bought him but mostly chewing on the ropes. He trusts me and steps up and he's beginning to be really tame, and he's settled down here. How can I help him? He's pretty bored, I think. I've gotten a couple of branches from my abours plum trees, but he chews on them for a very short time and then he goes tired of them. I've tried to change his toys, but nothing helps. Any advice?

[GlassOnion]

Unfortunately, the only advice I can give you is to offer MORE, DIFFERENT types of toys that are easy for your Budgie to play with. Many pet store toys are crap and too hard for the Budgie beak, I get my supples online. You might want to show him how to rip apart things and play with various objects as well.

[evaleen]

my budgie was the same when i had first brought it home.

what i did was this,
i bobbed my head (vertically) up and down over and over again,humming a nursery rhyme, while i settled down in front of it and started tearing it into pieces.
(the head bobbing lets it know that u are excited. they do the same too when they'r excited or interested)
shred shred shred.i used to give it crumpled newspaper in the morning, and i used to take it out from its cage and shred it. (so that it knows that the paper given to it could b used as such)
then place the paper beside the cage, but not inside. (budgies are curious by nature, so this builds up interest and curiosity).(i returned the paper into the cage the next morning)

this continued for 3days, and on the 4th day, he startd shredding it too!
i used to sit bside him and get myself another paper and shred along with him. (this helps bonding and its more fun for them). i did this for 2days.

after this, when eer i bring any new toys, i do the same thing.
put it in its cage in the morning, take it out and play with it infront of him,
dont put the toy bak into the cage. put it right bside the cage,or in plain sight.
then give it to him again the next morning.

this worked for eery budgie i have. i hope it works for u too!
good luck!

[liz]

Evaleen you are good. Very good advice. It is like teaching a baby how to play with a toy.

Most critters that are well fed and healthy will play automatically. But once in a while you get one that needs taught.

[tinti]

Thank you, I'll definetly try this! Sounds fair too that you'll need to teach them to play sometimes.

[laducockatiel]

Yep, I had the same problem with Ladu when I got him so I taught him. Now, he is really destructive when it comes to toys, it's funny watching him rip up stuff

[chadsnyder]

I don't know if it's so much that you have to teach them to play as much as show them that it's interesting and safe. If they see you texting they are going to be curious about it and probably won't have problems investigating.

[grange]

My 'boy' is also not interested in ANY toys or sticks I put, except the swings. Thats the only things he does...
And the 'girl' - she is very curious, she wants to try everything, every single little branch, new toys, etc.. they have different corners with different toys, but so far no changes

[tinti]

Thank you guys! Pixie has been shredding a bit of paper lately, after I started playing with him. Not too much but more than before. And he likes the toy I got him from the pet store now too, he klimb up on it and rings the little bell and biting on the pieces. And sometimes I think he nudges it just to hear the bell sound, lol. I put up a mirror toy I got with the cage, but I took it dow yesterday because he would just sit there staring into the mirror. Should I put it up again? I don't want him to see his miror-self as a partner or get demeanor problems because of it. He was really sad when I took it down, staring everywhere to see where the mirror was and making sad sounds even though it had only been 2 and a half day since I put it up there. Even now I can se him sometimes sitting on the perch next to where the mirror was and wondering where it went. My concience hurts.

[Naurthon]

I don't know how feasible it would be with your budgie, but when I need to get new toys for my boys, I actually take them to the store and walk them along the wall where all the toys are hung, and let them pick out the one they want. This is especially helpful for Dante, since he tends to be shy of new things. Some things interest them. Some things don't. If I let them choose, I don't have to guess.