I've had skip for 8 days now and he won't play with any of his toys

 

He has a bell, olympic rings, spinners some gumnuts a little soccer ball and aswing, he aso wont use his bath.

 

his cage is large so its not crowded. He isnt ill I took him to the vet yesterday

 

he seems happy, loves to climb all over his cage plays with food and skwaks at me so he can come out (he is onn my finger now so am typing one handed!)

 

any tips on how to get my baby boy (10 weeks) yo play and maybe bathe ?

Some budgies will never play. I would think that yours will, as he is quite active. Leave it for a while and see, if he still doesn't play, then try pinning some treats, like millet or his favourite vegie to them.

Bathing - you can pop some lettuce or celery leaves in the bottom of a shallow bath of water, that sometimes tempts them in, or hang some wet leaves in the cage, and they will often roll in that. Isn't long after that that they learn to bathe. But, it is early days yet, budgies have one purpose in life - to teach us patience

If he plays with food, he's definitely playing. What types of food does he play with and how does he play with them? Maybe we can think of some toys that he can play with in similar ways.

 

It's really important for budgies to play so we shouldn't really dismiss it as something not all budgies do. I'm not saying that all budgies have to play, but they do need (and enjoy) the mental stimulation. I can't imagine what a budgie that doesn't play would do with its life other than sit, preen, eat, poop, and sleep. Play is a natural behavior that we have to encourage when our bird doesn't seem to have a handle on it. Like everything else budgie-related, we have to persist until we stumble upon what works.

 

But as was mentioned, it often takes time. And sometimes you have to find just the right toy to trigger that playful spark in your budgie. I have a cockatiel who finally loves to play after discovering just one very unique toy a friend sent me. He's been really into playing with all his toys ever since and he is a much happier bird because of it! He even screams less lately and that in itself is a miracle but also a sure-fire sign to me that he's getting happier.

If he plays with food, he's definitely playing. What types of food does he play with and how does he play with them? Maybe we can think of some toys that he can play with in similar ways.

 

It's really important for budgies to play so we shouldn't really dismiss it as something not all budgies do. I'm not saying that all budgies have to play, but they do need (and enjoy) the mental stimulation. I can't imagine what a budgie that doesn't play would do with its life other than sit, preen, eat, poop, and sleep. Play is a natural behavior that we have to encourage when our bird doesn't seem to have a handle on it. Like everything else budgie-related, we have to persist until we stumble upon what works.

 

But as was mentioned, it often takes time. And sometimes you have to find just the right toy to trigger that playful spark in your budgie. I have a cockatiel who finally loves to play after discovering just one very unique toy a friend sent me. He's been really into playing with all his toys ever since and he is a much happier bird because of it! He even screams less lately and that in itself is a miracle but also a sure-fire sign to me that he's getting happier.

 

 

Hmm well I think he throws his seed around a bit and he likes to tip the cup over, this morning he was sitting on my newspaper and had a bit of a nibble but other than that he doesn't play. I tried shoing him his toys by jingling htebell etc.

 

He will sit on the top of his swing and climb up and down his ladders. I can't use eg to temp him coz i havnt had any success in getting him to eat any! he will eat the dried fruit in his seed but I have so far tired broccoli,capsicum, lettuce and celery and carrot and he hasnt touched them!

Time and patience pays dividends. I once had a little budgie who didn't want to know me for ages. It took about a year before he came round and then all of a sudden we became friends.

my budgie lucky is a posh ol' chap. he doesnt play with the toys that he is meant to. but he will however sit on the swing i have with bells on it and his favourite game is unhooking the seed pots and spilling the contents everywhere. each to their own.

 

neither of mine like baths either, the only way that they will take a bath voluntarily is if i offer them wheatgrass that has been misted with water. i grow my own using a product called 'le grass cafe'. its also really healthy for them to eat.

My first post!

 

We've had two budgies (Charlie is gone now, we got Fred about a year ago), and at first neither of them liked bathing, and they both absolutely hated being sprayed. But I managed to get them both to start bathing by getting one of those baths with the mirror down the bottom. After getting curious about that "thing" they could see at the bottom, they eventually fell in several times over, then eventually started to enjoy getting in for their own sake. Mind you, I had to get rid of the bath for Fred, because he took to tipping the bath over upside down so he could climb on it. He's now got just a normal bath without a mirror, which he uses occasionally, but he doesn't seem to like it as much.

 

As for toys, well...*cough*. I think that maybe Fred just likes being loud, because his favourite toys are balls with bells in them, but they also have little gaps so he can pick them up with his beak and throw them, which he enjoys because he loves anything noisy. And anything that he can throw so that it makes a big crashing sound. He also enjoys playing soccer with a table tennis ball and cups as goals (I'm quite sure he gloats when he gets a goal, and he definitely sulks when my sister or I do ). And pretty much anything he's not supposed to play with (like the peg basket. He crawls in and throws all the pegs out, then yells until we put them back so he can start again...). Or maybe since Skip seems to enjoy your company so much, he wants you to join in and play too for a while. Fred seems to enjoy his toys more when someone is playing with him, whereas Charlie wouldn't share unless he was throwing something AT you.

 

I think a lot just depends on the budgie's personality. Maybe Skip hasn't found the "right" toy yet, or maybe he thinks that bird toys are beneath him and he should be able to use "human things" . But he does seem to be playing (in a sense), so just give him time and try to figure out what it is that he likes to do best.

My first post!

 

We've had two budgies (Charlie is gone now, we got Fred about a year ago), and at first neither of them liked bathing, and they both absolutely hated being sprayed. But I managed to get them both to start bathing by getting one of those baths with the mirror down the bottom. After getting curious about that "thing" they could see at the bottom, they eventually fell in several times over, then eventually started to enjoy getting in for their own sake. Mind you, I had to get rid of the bath for Fred, because he took to tipping the bath over upside down so he could climb on it. He's now got just a normal bath without a mirror, which he uses occasionally, but he doesn't seem to like it as much.

 

As for toys, well...*cough*. I think that maybe Fred just likes being loud, because his favourite toys are balls with bells in them, but they also have little gaps so he can pick them up with his beak and throw them, which he enjoys because he loves anything noisy. And anything that he can throw so that it makes a big crashing sound. He also enjoys playing soccer with a table tennis ball and cups as goals (I'm quite sure he gloats when he gets a goal, and he definitely sulks when my sister or I do ). And pretty much anything he's not supposed to play with (like the peg basket. He crawls in and throws all the pegs out, then yells until we put them back so he can start again...). Or maybe since Skip seems to enjoy your company so much, he wants you to join in and play too for a while. Fred seems to enjoy his toys more when someone is playing with him, whereas Charlie wouldn't share unless he was throwing something AT you.

 

I think a lot just depends on the budgie's personality. Maybe Skip hasn't found the "right" toy yet, or maybe he thinks that bird toys are beneath him and he should be able to use "human things" . But he does seem to be playing (in a sense), so just give him time and try to figure out what it is that he likes to do best.

 

 

Thanks that advice all seems very helpful, skip has a bath with a mirror in the bottom but he never gets in it!, I think he drank from it once! (Laughing out loud).

I will throw in my 2 cents worth . Pretty is neither a bather or a player (Laughing out loud). I found 1 little thing that he might like to play with and that is a piece of yarn hanging down in the middle of his cage by his perch. He will grab it with one foot and preen it with another, he JUST started doing this. Granted we have had him for 6 months now. Pretty is an observer he is now just recently getting more vocal but it is very laid back when compared to most budgies. So don't fret, it is just his personality .

Hi Red-Cherry,

 

I own 8 budgies and only half of them are 'players,' meaning that they enjoy messing aroud with bells, hoops, and similiar toys. I have found that the other half of my budgies are 'chewers.' They will rarely touch toys, yet they will spend half their day destroying various types of chew toys. Perhaps your budgie will end up being a chewer.

 

Start out with standard chew toys like wood kabobs or brightly colored woven hemp chew toys and then add more variety. Some of the chew toys have bells attached to them and other more interesting things for them to discover. I have found that after a while of chewing on them they will then get more adventerous and start playing with the bells on them and getting really acrobatic on them as well. Also, my budgies tend to ignore toys that are to obvious or right in front of them. However, anything that is attached to the outside of the cage and have parts of it poking inside the cage...they will always go after first. They also enjoy things that hang from the roof of the cage like twist ties and strings. Another toy my chewers love, is a simple large feather hanging from the roof of the cage. All of these things most pet stores carry.

 

Your budgie is pretty young and it may take him a little while to be more playful. Give him time with the new toys too. My budgies will rarely touch a new toy for a week or two after I put it in the cage. I guess they like to feel like they 'discovered' it our something.

 

Good luck! Let us know if you find anything he likes!

Just htought i'd add my bit too. I got a 4 year old budgie given to me about a month ago and then bought another 1 year old (roughly) a few weeks back and neither one of them woudl play for ages and jsut today i noticed Pepsi ( the oldest) started to explore his bell. He goes up and down his ladders etc but showed no interest in anything else. Where as Monty woudl try and strangle himself in his ladder but didnt play with any of his normal toys.

 

Neither one has taken a bath yet altho only offered on 2-3 occasions as its winter here but in summer i will try misting them and see if they like it.

 

I say give it time... mine are both now starting to like me and its taken a while but is well worth the wait.

 

Good luck

I've had mine since late January and it had taken some time to figure out what toys they might like. Though, I was fortunate because I made educated guesses on what they might like. Anyway, whiffle balls are great to start, you can use twist ties and tie it on the side of the cage. Mine loved banging on that thing and chewing the tie off. At this moment, their ball is on the floor of the cage.

Plastic swings are also fun for them! They love it! They can do acrobatics on it and swing back and forth, or you can swing them gently and talk to him. I found mine love that till they wanted to swing themselves.

Hanging toys are also good to let them explore and a mirror is good in that it makes him curious of, "What is that in there?" mine loved that too.

 

With fruits and veggies you have to be persistent. Bathing...I sprayed mine first, till they started bathing in their drinking water. To me, that is a sign they want a bath. So, I have a plastic bird bath and a small plastic container they can bathe in. They both love that. Budgies let you know what they prefer, so it's always worth trying to see what yours like.

how is Skip doing?

Hi I know this in old post, sorry. I have noticed with my Petey he only plays with the toys he helped make( more like he bugged me while I made them) But store bought toys he doesn't even if i pretend to be really interested in them.