Hmm, my boys don't seem as playful?

[elysianblight]

I've noticed over the course of this past month or two that Cypress and Citrine don't seem as playful as they used to be.. 

Is this normal for growing up in the budgie world? 

Now, they've never been *hugely* playful. They don't like to make noise or ring bells in general. They never took the opportunity to forage a lot or shred anything except bark. They are very gentle chewers and never damage their toys. 

But they used to climb around more. Now they seem to just move from branch to branch and ignore their ladders, swings, etc. They rarely climb on the bars lately. 
They used to sometimes play with balls on top of their cage - now they just sit on the cage or walk around on it. 
They used to try to climb the cords around my computer, now they just sit on their playstand. 

They are not lethargic. They fly from perch to perch. They still quietly chatter all day. They still get worked up and swoop the living room buzzing my head sometimes.  They still eat, drink, and gently chew on stuff all the time. 
But they just don't seem to *play* lately. 

They have their cage, a perch on my mirror, a playstand on a bookcase, and a playstand by my computer. 
They also have a bunch of toys that get switched out regularly. 

Is it possible they have too many options and just have no need to entertain themselves as much? 
Are they actually*too well behaved* ?? 

The only thing that could possibly have changed in their diet is that they seem to be bored with their chop, so I need to mix up something new. Still the same pellets and they get birdie bread and seeds to supplement. 

[Deleted]

I don't know about the playfulness, but I'm curious about your chop mix. Trying to decide whether to try making chop with mine and the pros and cons of chop vs just pinning up pieces of fresh veg.

[elysianblight]

Sept 30, 2020 22:52:25 GMT @sillycat84 said:

I don't know about the playfulness, but I'm curious about your chop mix. Trying to decide whether to try making chop with mine and the pros and cons of chop vs just pinning up pieces of fresh veg.

They like fresh veggies better, but its harder for me to keep them readily on hand. 

I'm not a pro at chop yet - so far I just take random veggies, shred them or run them through the food processer, mix in some seed and grains, and then freeze it.  This just gives them something like they to nibble on in between the times when I can get fresh veggies in there.  

My first batch was just brocolli, carrots, and peppers.. they loved it except the peppers  
This batch had sweet potatoes and collard greens in it too.. they are not as enthused. This batch also came out mushier so that could be part of it. 

[Morgan]

I personally find pinning up pieces of fresh veg easier than shredding a bunch, and I don’t have to worry about it going bad as quickly because the larger pieces stay fresh a bit longer. But my buds also never really liked the veg chopped up as much as they liked the hung veg, so I just defaulted to that. It works fine for me since they’re eating it, so I don’t see any point in changing things up. I do chop larger pieces of veg for my Linnie but probably too big to attract the buds - they sometimes hop over to see what she’s eating but I haven’t witnessed them really go for it. I hang some of their veg from a ring on the bottom of two of their toys too, and watching them play with the clipped or hung veg is also more entertaining for me than watching them eat out of a bowl.

Some possible pros to making chop is perhaps being able to add in different veg they might not otherwise try right away as an individual piece. When mixed in with seed or egg or other veg they do like they might eat a little accidentally and maybe develop a taste for it - like I did to get mine to eat their pellets and fresh egg by mixing some seed in.

[Deleted]

I think I prefer individual pieces too. I know someone near here who uses chop for her birds because it makes it harder for them to pick and choose only their favourite veggies. Pretty sure they could pick out what they want though unless it's essentially a mash.

[tweetiepiesmom]

elysianblight I was just recently sitting in on a webinar on foraging for all types of parrots. The avian vet presenting described your birds! She called them "perch potatoes". According to her the way to get them more active is to make/teach them to forage for their food. Of course budgies are scared of new things by nature so you'll have to start slowly. She suggested the first step is to take a piece of paper and put it on the top of their food so they'll have to dig through it for the food. That just scared both my guys. Take their normal food and move it around so they'll have to hunt for it. Put it in toys made for foraging. I'm looking to see where the webinar is posted and if I find it, I'll post a link. Here's a link to general information. It sounds to me like you just need to get your budgies engaged in doing stuff. Yes, I know - easier said than done. More experienced members may have some practical tips (which we can all use) to help.

[elysianblight]

That's a good point, maybe I have let them get too complacent.

Their food used to be on the cage floor but I found they eat better when I put it on a platform, so I started doing that. Maybe that's too easy.

I've tried getting them more into foraging by hiding yummy snacks in a little cardboard or under shredded paper, but they just ignored it.

Maybe instead of snacks I'll try putting their actual food in a foraging tray with other stuff.

I need to buy more veggies this weekend too, been a little slack on the fresh green stuff.. although they got fresh homegrown corn the other day and didnt even touch it.

I also haven't significantly rearranged the cage in about a month. I switch out toys and smaller perches every week, but it's probably time to switch up the big perches.

I guess if they're being lazy they got it from me

[elysianblight]

Yup, I guess they were getting bored with the cage layout.

I usually switch out a couple of toys every week, and do a major rearrangement/switching of perches every other week. But the last layout was working so well for motility I didn't want to mess with it much.. it was basically the same for a little over a month when I started noticing them being less engaging with their toys.
And their play gyms never change, just switch positions once in awhile, so not much variety there either.

Soo we did a huge remodel this weekend. There was one tree-like perch they barely liked to use in the cage, but I moved it on top and they are all over it. Not sure why I didn't think of that before.
Their still not being *super* engaged with the toys, but I did see Citrine nudge around a ball which he hasn't done in a long time.

And they are being louder - though I'm not sure what they means lol

Sad thing is now they haven't chosen to leave their cage/cage top in over 24 hours. I miss them coming over to me!


Side note, after debating so long over it, I did decide to leave their cage in their "bedroom" while I am working this week. Eventually I will probably have to go back to the office so even though it hurts a lot not to be able to see them across the room.. I need to know they will be okay without me for multiple hours.
They seem to handle it fine, unlike me.
But I can go in there and play with them and read to them in the morning before work and during lunch. And I'm definitely wheeling them back out for the weekends.
That might make their play gyms seem more novel to them again (since they never choose to fly out of the bedroom on their own, they wont be using them during the week).

And with the new cage layout I put a swing back up.. even though they never use their swings.. I put it right across from a sturdy rod perch and I'm using some target training to try to get Cypress to jump on it, to work on his balance.  After a ton of gearing up he finally jumped on it yesterday, but almost fell and immediately jumped off. Hopefully I can get him to keep trying, and maybe this will help his confidence and general clumsiness. 

[tweetiepiesmom]

Good news elysianblight! Hmmm, maybe I'm due to change things up drastically in my guys cage instead of just moving around 3 or 4 things?

[elysianblight]

I'm watching them in their baby camera and they are hopping all over the place now
Thats more like what I'm use to!

I'm not sure but it might have help today that I moved their food back to the cage floor. For a few months now its been on a platform, and when its on the platform they seem to eat alot *more* .. but they dont have to move around as much to get it, or go down at all.

I'm torn between knowing they get enough food and knowing they get enough mental stimulation.
When its on the platform they tend to sit and eat for longer stretches. On the floor they hop down, eat a few bites, and hop back up. I'm guessing that means they don't feel as safe but I know its also important for their brains that they actually search/forage for their food a little bit.

[Hezz]

If you wanted to give them more foraging for their food, you can use the kitty litter that is the rolled up little pieces of paper (fresh obviously, not used ) and mix their seed through with this in a plate on the floor of the cage. They will have to go looking for their seed rather than it being the only thing in the dish.

[elysianblight]

Good idea!!
I have offered them a foraging plate on multiple occasions, but it was supplemental - I always left their main food bowl plain "just in case".
So they pretty much never touched the foraging area lol.
Paper kitty litter would fit very nicely in their main bowl.