# How to Keep Peeko Engaged Outside of His Cage?



## l_ship96 (Apr 11, 2021)

Hello again,

So since his treatment Peeko has been doing wonderful, no further issues at all with his health. Such a huge relief.

I just have some questions and want some ideas about how I can further make his out of cage time exciting and games you play with your birds to actively engage with them? I work some long days - usually two a week, sometimes a third or half day at the hospital now but most days of the week I am home. This is only temporary as I am on an apprenticeship until I find a job with a more suitable schedule. While I am always sitting around his cage and play areas, he comes over when I talk to him, we sing and "dance" to songs together, and he absolutely loves "peek-a-boo" and will try to find me if I "hide" my face behind one of his play stands or something. I also recall train him and do other tricks with him. I do offer him foraging and he adores his toys. I started sitting nearer to his cage/playstand to make it more accessible for him to come to me and since his cage is his comfortable space, I worked around that.

While he has bonded with me more, I do feel he has become a bit too comfortable in his cage. He loves to talk to his toys, all day long. He will come over and play or listen to me talk for a short time but he always flies back to his cage. Which is okay, but I feel like he is spending more time playing with his toys in his cage and won't engage with outside activities for long.

What sort of games do you play with your birds that make being outside of the cage more exciting than inside? He is quite a skittish bird still but has improved a lot. He's petrified of things like empty toilet rolls, boxes etc that aren't his usual toys, and will only tolerate a flat cardboard tray to forage in at the moment. Can I have some suggestions? Thank you 😊


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm so glad Peeko is still doing well!

To be honest with you, it's not really necessary for him to spend a lot of time out of his cage if he doesn't want to. My girl Mallorn, over the years, has been a real homebody, preferring to come out once or twice a day and fly around for a few minutes and then likes to go back in and play with her toys, even if I leave her door open for a long period of time. 

It can't be because she's freaked out by the environment outside her cage because she's lived in our house her whole life and has gotten used to the sights, sounds, etc. She just likes her stuff 🤣 She did used to be quite a skittish budgie when I first got her, so even though that's not the case now I think she just enjoys the safety and peace of her cage.

So the most important thing for him is giving him the option to come out, even if he doesn't feel like it, which you're already doing.

I play with her similarly and she enjoys it! An additional thing you can try with Peeko if you want is clicker training or recall training; a lot of birds find that really fun because they get to learn new things. There are a few links on the forums about it:









Clicker Training for Companion Birds


In February 2016 I was invited to give a talk to a group of serious bird breeders about clicker training. In the audience were people with 600+ budgies so for me to come out and talk about my 1 budgie was always going to be interesting. I wanted to share with you all the talk that I did, so...




www.talkbudgies.com












Basics of Clicker Training


Clicker Training Your Budgie WHEN TO TRAIN You need to train when your bird is most motivated for the reward. If food is your reward, then this will typically be during their natural foraging times - morning and evening. An easy way to use this natural timing is to train before they get to...




www.talkbudgies.com












Using Positive Reinforcement in Training


The joys of having something intelligent in your life! Let's look at a situation where your bird wants to get into the refrigerator when you open it. Bird has seen you take food out of the big white box with the light in it. Bird is not silly. Bird knows that the big white box is where the...




www.talkbudgies.com





Best wishes for Peeko


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Star has given you great advice! 
My budgies come out to fly around for a bit, sometimes they play by throwing the balls off the top of their cages or throwing the beads out of the bead box, but in general, they spend most of their time either on top of their cages or inside them even though they have an entire room of their very own. *


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## l_ship96 (Apr 11, 2021)

Thank you both, I just feel bad him being in his cage so much! But he does come out to say hello and flies over to his rope perch on the other side of the room to play for a while. His cage is just his happy place but the door is always open when I'm home 😊


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*As long as you are giving him the option to come out whenever you are at home, you have given him the choice. That is what is important!*


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