Hi, can I ask for a bit of advice please, at the weekend I changed all of Bijou's toys in his cage for some new one's I'd bought, he only plays with one of them, and the last couple of days he's been sqwarking a lot when he's in his cage, he's never done this before and I was wondering if it's because he doesn't like his new toys and is getting bored, he's fine when he's out of the cage, should I put his old toys back, or is this just a stage he's going through, if it helps I think he's about 1 year old-ish, I just don't want my baby to be upset. Thank you

Edit to add, he's also started to hang on the side of his cage and flap his wings like mad, again something he hasn't done since I first got him.

Have you ever changed things up in his cage before? If you havn't he is probably protesting and I wouldnt tihnk it'll last for long.. give him time to adjust and be sure to make it a regular routine to give him new toys and toys set up in different ways... I dont think its that hes bored because everything is "new" again... I am definitely leaning towards your qp being a tad upset that you moved "his" things around..how dare you! lol

I would leave some of his familiar toys in his cage as well and just put them in different spots.. he may be a tad overwhelemd over having everything new? and make a big fuss of the new toys to let him see what FUN the new items are Good Luck!

Hi Christine,

I think Andrea's not too far off the mark about not changing all the toys at once. Ideally you should rotate the toys regularly so that Bijou never gets the chance to get too bored with them, but change one at a time.

Greys are notoriously averse to change, so a trick I use to get my lot to accept new toys is to make a big fuss of playing with the toys myself, piquing their interest. QPs aren't as bad as Greys in that respect, so it should be a lot easier.

As for the mad flapping of the wings, that's just excess energy. How much out-of-cage time does Bijou get? Bear in mind that QPs are long-tailed parrots, and therefore great fliers, so they need lots and lots of exercise. Short tailed parrots, such as Greys, are more climbers than fliers.

Hope that helps. Nice to see another Brit on the board, btw.

Thank you

I try to change his toys regularly, but up untill this time they have always been colourful ones, with a bell on, but this time they're wooden climbing ones, and only one has a bell on, the one he plays with , maybe that's the problem, maybe I should give him of his favourites back again and see how it goes he is also very wary of anything new, whether it be new toys or just a cup on the work top, he always looks at them as if they are about to attack him

He's out of the cage for a couple of hours in the morning, most of the afternoon, probably 4 hours, then in the evening about another 2-4, depending on when he appears to get tired, then I put him back in his cage, and usually he starts to settle for the night, he does have a really good fly about as well, and is usually on the go most of the time, apart from cuddles time

The excess energy may be because he's getting up later and going to bed earlier, as the mornings and evening are getting darker and he's getting more sleep, and usually he's wide awake and playing when I get up, but not lately, he's the last one up now

Why do I always end up with over energitic pets, I also have a Border Collie, who's always on the go mind you i wouldn't have either of them any other way

Ooh, CaptainQuark, I thought I was the only Brit here I'm in soggy Kent

I had to laugh at this because my quaker, Mr. Kiwi is the same way. He hates changes of ANY kind and he has for over 8 years. I usually put a toy close by his cage so he sees it. I put it a little closer each day. Then when I decide it has been there long enough, I put it in the cage. Kiwi still sqawks even tho he has seen it for days. But he soon gets over it. He will then try to stay as far away as he possibly can from that toy, then finally, it is kind of "ok, I'll try it out" LOL

There are one or two others, but we are sadly in the minority here. These Yanks and Canucks get everywhere...

.... and you love MOST of us, don't ya Quarkie??

Such a presumptuous Yanqui!

Hey!! I said MOST!!

I gave Bijou one of his favourite toys back this afternoon when I first let him out, big mistake, as he was so pleased to see it back he stayed in his cage, he started off by cuddling up to it and rubbing his head and neck all over it, then got angry with it and gave it a good telling off then played with it noisily for a good hour, and then and only then he decided that he could come out of the cage, which was about 10 minutes before I had to put him away he still has some of his new ones in his cage, but the others are now going to be put with his out of cage toys and see how we go from there and he hasn't sqwarked since, at the moment he has one foot wrapped around it, with it pulled into him and resting his head on it and seems to be fast asleep maybe he needs a comfy toy, awwwwww bless