I built a PVC play gym over the weekend using 1/2 inch PVC pipe. I was excited about finally having a playstand for Fred, So of course I went and got him right away and put him on it. He sat there for about 30 seconds before flying back to his cage. I thought it must be the bare PVC he doesn't like. I had some Sisal twine lying around from making other toys, so I covered a few of the perches with it. It seems like he liked it even less. So I went and picked up some vet tape and covered a few other perches with it...still a no-go.

I guess what I am asking is if there is anything I could do to make him more comfortable with it. Has anyone else had any problems getting their bird(s) used to a playgym? I hate to stress him out, but I put a lot of work into this thing.

place it near his cage for a few days and make a big deal of it and the toys on it.. his natural curiosity will get to him and he'll explore it while he's out i bet.. just takes time for these lil green chickens!

quakers don't like change very much.....He will get use to it in time but don't force it on him. I would also put it by his cage and then when he is ready, he will get on it.

Thank yo...I'll try putting it close to his cage and playing with it myself.

Joey would not use his PVC gym until I made a sleepy tent and put it on there then he dove in LOL

Can I ask what you made the tent out of? Fred hated all the huts/tents at the pet store, so I kinda "made" one out of a 6" PVC drain pipe elbow...he loves it. But it would probably be too big to fit on his gym comfortably.

I also know his biggest vice is seed. I think I'll put a dish of seed on the gym and see what he thinks of that.

I bought Kiwi, my quaker a Jolly Ball. He would have absolutely NOTHING to do with it! I recently bought him adding machine tape on a holder and he will have nothing to do with it. All hand-me-downs go to Gidget, my little green cheek conure. She loves everything!

Well...the seed bribery is starting to work. We attached a dish of seed to his playstand and put it next to his cage. We left his cage door open and made sure he knew the seed was there. It wasn't long before he was trying to find a way to get to the seed. So far, he has just scrambled across the play gym as fast as he could and stood perched on the dish to eat. Hopefully soon he won't need bribery to realize that it's not a bad thing lol.

awww glad your making some progress! I'd even attach some of his fav toys on the stand and play with them yourself and make a big deal of it.. his curiosity will win over soon enough! Great Steps in the right direction!

It's official...he loves his play stand now...I think once he figured out that it's not a big monster wanting to eat him, he actually liked it. In fact, now we have a hard time getting him to go back to his cage for bed time lol. Thanks for everyone's input.