Here are a few great ideas I found for my Jenday Conure. If you have a great tip, leave a comment and I will post it here!
Tip #1-Playtime Outside The Cage: He loves to play outside his cage, I purchased a cat cubby and put a dish towel on the bottom. I put a few of his yucca chips, a ladder, his a few toys. He loves this, he plays for hours and loves to nap under the towel. Then I put him back in his large cage and he will eat and drink. Since he is in his large cage during the day while I work, this is a treat for him to play outside his cage. When he has had enough of his cubby, he will call out and sit at the edge of the couch to go back in his regular cage. This is part of his daily routine in the morning and in the evening.
Tip#2– I have a table top cage that he loves to sit in the window and he feels like he is outside. On nice days, open the window with screen down and place the cage on a table or solid surface and shut the cage door. He loves it, he has his toys and perches and will play in there for a while making him feel like he is outside. I started this routine with him repeating (you want to go outside?)… now when I asked him that he knows I am getting that cage and he gets to play outside.
Tip #3– It is important that you spend some quality time with your bird. My Jenday Conure loves one on one time to play, talk to him and lots of attention. Since they are very curious and cautious, take your time introducing new things to them. If he sees I will play with something new, he will observe first and then on his own time investigate. I brought home a parrot statue (very real looking), he ran away from it. I continued to just hold the statue on my lap and let him observe. Gradually, he sat on my shoulder and I would tell him it was his new toy. Then I placed it at the end of the sofa and left the room. I watched him approach the statue and mumble at it. I will take him a few times to warm up to his new toy.
Tip #1-Playtime Inside The Cage: My Jenday Conure loves to play inside his cage. I purchased the large sleeping bed and hanging nesting sack. I place his yucca chips inside the hanging nesting sack and he chews them up. This is great for their beak conditioning and keeps him busy. When they are all shredded, I remove the pieces and the next day he gets new ones. He learned to sleep in his bed, I place a washcloth folded in half in his bed and every night he jumps in there and goes to sleep, too cute! When I introduce new things to him, it may take several times before accepts them and sometimes he won’t, he simply doesn’t like it so I take it away.
His cage is a Kings Cage, 72″ high by 34×34. This size gives him plenty room throughout the day to play and exercise, this is very important they are not bored while we are at work. He has his ropes to get around, and mirrors on several locations inside the cage. Lot of toys, he loves bells and the hanging boxes that he can chew. Every few months, I will slightly re arrange his toys if I see he is not playing with them or simply purchase something new.
Tip #2– It is important that your bird can entertain themselves inside the cage and not solely rely on you for their complete entertainment. When I am home, I leave his cage door open so he can climb outside the cage and play on top too. His wings are clipped so he can only fly down not through the house. Their time inside the cage needs to be a variety of things, eating, playing, preening, sleeping, etc. So monitor their activity and their routines and you will learn what they like and dislike. If you purchase a new toy and he doesn’t bother with it, remove it and try something else. Take note of what he enjoys and buy similar items, not everything on the shelves will be a hit with your bird.
