Foraging and Homemade Toy Ideas

[MiaCarter]

Our new cockatiel Abby has settled in and her effect on our other cockatiel Hunter has been WONDERFUL.
Hunter would sit in one spot all day for the most part, napping, singing and watching TV.

Now, he's up and active ALL DAY LONG like a normal bird!
Abby is big on exploring and finding adventures, and Hunter follows her. So he's explored parts of the bird room that he never explored before. The challenge is supplying the adventures!

I've found myself challenged trying to keep them occupied, as they're not as toy-oriented as most other larger birds.
This appears to be due to Hunter, who is frightened of toys. I think it may be the bright colors? All of my homemade toys that he enjoys tend to be less colorful.
Abby arrived and she LOVED toys and was eager to play with them for hours on end -- mostly the hemp rope with wood chewies, rope toys and pinata-shredding-type toys.
There's no interest in mirrors, bells, swings and cognitive toys (e.g. put the basketball in the hoop).

But now she's bonded with Hunter and she doesn't enjoy the toys as much because Hunter can't enjoy it with her. She's super eager to play with a new toy when I put it out (I rotate every few days) and Hunter will let her play with the toy for a minute or two before he gets bored and wanders off and it clearly distresses her as she'll keep popping her head up, looking for him and within about 30-60 sec, she'll leave the toy and go to Hunter.
So their favorite activities are ones that they enjoy together.

Now, I'm tasked with finding activities and toys that don't LOOK like toys, as those are the ones Hunter prefers. So I'm just seeking new ideas!

One of their favorite activities is "foraging" -- that is, picking up the bits that get flung out of the cages and onto the table/desk top. (If only I could get them to forage the floor for me! LOL I need me some button quail! AKA, the tiny vacuum cleaners of the bird world!)
I offered them a foraging bin with hay and leaves, with treats buried in there, but it didn't seem to bring the same delight as actual foraging.

Abby also loves plucking the leaves off the fake foliage. I've hot glued them back on and she's left them alone for the most part (which is actually a good thing, as it took a LONG time to glue them back on, so re-gluing them on every few days isn't an option. And at $10+ per strand, it's a pricey toy.)
I'm still looking for a toy that mimics this, as this is their favorite activity, far and away.
The closest I could think of was a feather duster, thinking they might enjoy plucking the feathers. No dice.

I'm going to see if I can find some real bird-safe foliage that they could mangle. Perhaps something with bark, as I know Hunter loves peeling bark.

They also love my cardboard flowers.


They also love boxes. Sounds stupid, I know.
Just a little shoe box tipped on its side with a few peek-a-boo holes/hand-holds for climbing. They love chewing on the cardboard, climbing on the box and running around inside. (I got this idea after I saw how obsessed they were with the little hooded bath that I had stowed on top of one of the cages.)

They're both very mouthy/chewey, so anything that lets them chew or pluck would likely be satisfying.

Any ideas for homemade toys or recommendations some obscure store-bought toy that I haven't discovered?

Any given toy only holds its appeal for 2, maybe 3 days tops, and it's not considered new and cool again for at least 7-10 days, so I'm quickly running out of ideas!

[steve]

Hi

I have just purchased 4 young Cockatiels and set them up in their own cage with breeding boxes, perches etc. As all my cages are outside mess is not really an issue so I can give them a variety of natural branches and leaves such as dry palm to keep them busy. The bottom of the cages are wire mesh so all food thrown around falls through which attracts a wide variety of wild birds, I notice that my Lovebirds, Budgies and Ringnecks spend a lot of time talking/chirping at the wild birds. They also have the option of sitting in the rain (when it does rain) to get a shower, my Ringnecks and Lovebirds enjoy this and when they are satisfied they take cover.

I am always looking for ways to keep them busy with a variety of different foods and natural weeds from the garden and I can see that they enjoy it.

Regards
Steve

[Sheather]

Gracie isn't huge on toys he can't tear apart. Mirrors, bells, and anything at all you might buy a a petshop, even the ropey hangey ones with all those chewable bits of wood and wicker are ignored completely. What he does love are

1. Wicker easter baskets. Every night before bed, he spends some time dismantling his, snip-by-snip.

2. Wicker floral wreaths. These are sold as a base to weave fake foliage or holiday decor into to make your own wreath and are made of some sort of pale tan, flexible, very chewable wooden vines which Gracie loves to snap apart piece by piece.

3. Newspapers. If anything keeps Gracie entertained, it's to fill his cage with newspapers of all sorts - crumbled, flat, folded, and to hide sunflower seeds all around. Even without the seeds though, he will literally spend hours every day tearing and chewing his newspapers until the cage is nothing but a pile of tiny white confetti. He never seems to tire and enjoys this more than anything else I think.

4. Natural branches. Gracie looooves to de-bark bushes cut from our maple and hibiscus trees and if you can get branches with leaves, that's going to be even better (I can't yet, winter..)

5. Plastic grocery bags filled with shredded paper. He'll dive in and nap in them and spend a good hour at times wrestling around inside and fighting with the bag. He loves the sound it makes.

6. Gracie also loves a nice dark box to play in and destroy, but you've done that already.

7. Running water. Gracie goes crazy when you turn on a faucet trying to catch the stream and bathing in the sink. He doesn't shower as often as he used to, though, I think he prefers the sink. He still likes to sit on the shower curtain rod and watch ME shower (perv!).

Also, if you put some food on the floor, they WILL in time begin to scavenge there. Gracie is always on the floor waddling around and picking up spilled seeds. All of our birds spend a lot of time on the floor, actually. Sometimes when you walk into their room all 30+ of them will take flight, having ALL been picking up dropped seeds on the carpet.

[Colt]

Dylan gave you some great ideas. One thing I've seen my tiels in the past enjoy is getting one of those cheap door rugs (the green plastic one with the daisy) and cutting it into sections. I usually layed in or on something easily cleaned and sprinkled seed through the "grass". Then the tiels could forage through the grass like they would in the wild.

And there was this posted on the forum. I'm sure it could easily be turned into a foraging/shredding toy...

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... t=homemade

[MiaCarter]

Thanks for the ideas!

@Steve - I definitely need to go foraging for some nice branches for them to tear up. I think they're going to love those!

@Sheather - I love the idea for the wicker wreaths and Easter baskets. They'll love that! And I can make the wreaths look cool, hanging them from the ceiling. I could even make my own if I can find some good live, non-dry sticks.

We've also done balled up paper and strips of paper/newspaper/paper towel, but those quickly lost their joy.

I tried water, as my bird room is connected to a large bathroom. Abby seemed interested, but Hunter was absolutely terrified. Poor kid started shivering when I turned on the shower and wanted nothing to do with the sink. Since Hunter couldn't play, it didn't hold much interest for Abby. She'll play for a minute or two and then she'll fly back to Hunter.

@Colt - that's a fab idea with the welcome mat. I bet they'd love that!

[Colt]

Well you'll have to let us know what they like.