# How do I keep her entertained?



## cyhiraeth (Jul 14, 2012)

We got Beatrix a week ago and she's wonderful and snuggly.  She spends a lot of time napping on my shoulder with her head hidden under my hair, snuggled against my neck, or preening herself while perched on me, or letting me give her head scratches.

Sometimes, though, usually in the evenings, she does get active, and I'm not sure how to keep her entertained at those times. If we're sitting at the computer desk, she wanders around and beaks everything (mouse, keyboard, phone, etc.), and then I just keep an eye on her to make sure she's not getting into trouble, but if I'm on the couch, she just wanders along the back of it like she's looking for something to do. When she does this, I've tried giving her different kinds of toys (toys that make noise, chew toys, preening toys, small toys she can pick up, etc.), but she ignores them. (For what it's worth, she ignores all the toys in her cage, too. She'll climb up to a perch to sleep once she realizes she's been put to bed, but if I'm home and she's in her cage, she just climbs down to the bottom of the cage and paces back and forth until I come get her.)

Is there something I can do to try to keep her entertained when she's out, or does she sound okay? I know bored birds can start exhibiting stereotypic behavior, so I just want to make sure she's getting enough intellectual stimulation.


----------



## anthrogirl80 (Jun 2, 2012)

My last cockatiel, Jack, was exactly the same. He had one preferred toy in his cage that he used for...uh...mating behaviours. But he was never interested in much else. He also hated his perch/playgym. Much preferring me.

The one thing I did find he loved when out though, was toilet roll inserts. And paper. Especially sheets of paper that I was drawing on. Also pens. I would give him a sheet of paper and a capped pen to chew on and he'd go nuts. Sometimes he'd need to see that I was interested in these items first. It was all about doing what I was doing.

My current 'tiel, Kevin, loves toys. And ladders. He goes from the top of his cage to the bottom and back again using all of his ladders and beaking every toy along the way. He also loves treats. 

I also just found out that he LOVES the ipad. He used to love chewing my ipad cases, but I put a pretend pond on the ipad and he really perks up whenever I play that app for him. He loves to see the fish appear and today he even put a foot on the screen and scared them off. I think he scared himself too! I'll be watching to see if he twigs and repeats this behaviour in an attempt to play and entertain himself.


----------



## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

Hello It's not toys he wants...It's to interact with you.
Try a game or two like the one below....B.J.

HIDE & SEEK 

A simple bit of play enjoyed by all birds once they learn it.
You will need a few plastic bottle tops. 
The trick is for you to hide a tiny piece of a favourite treat under one 
of the tops & encourage your bird to look for it. 
Your bird will enjoy knocking over the top to find the treat. 
When your pet is happy to knock over the one top for his treat, Add
another couple of tops but don't let him see which you hide it under. 
After a few days most birds will knock over as many tops as it takes, 
to get to a favourite treat. 
Remember the smaller the treat, the longer the game will last...B.J.


----------

