I started trying to teach Kiko how to forage today. I took a small piece of paper, piled up a little stack of her favourite sunflower seeds in the middle and then folded across one corner so that it kind of half covered the seeds but you could clearly see them. Brat bird spent five minutes dancing around the paper doing her best not to accidentally touch it. *sighs* I moved the seeds with my fingers, played peek-a-boo with the fold in the paper so she could see the seeds, tapped the back to get her attention. FINALLY she leaned forward trying to figure out a way to get her head under the flap of paper without it touching her. She ended up doing this weird Cirque-de-Soleil maneuver with one foot in the air and her head cranked sideways so she could grab a seed without so much as a single feather coming into contact with anything.

..... my quaker is broken. She's worse than my poodle and puddles (and HE'S supposed to be a water dog). She has absolutely no concept of nesting and is terrified of straws, popscicle sticks, and anything leaf-like.

Mind you, right now she's hanging up-side-down from one foot off her her branch trying to figure out how to get to the computer desk.

Any ideas? Anyone? I'll try anything at this point. =) We have a plucking habit to break and we need SKILLS!

Is she afraid of new foods too?? My guy LOVES to dig the peas out of the pod of sugar snap peas. That's his favorite! Try offering one snapped in half so she can see the peas inside. Maybe that will get her curious?

I like the mental picture of the Cirque de Soleil move. My budgie Benjy does that one, too.

However ... maybe your baby just isn't a builder. Clyde definitely isn't. No construction skills AT ALL. Jade, on the other hand, never stops making intricate designs with her shoestrings and rope. She doesn't want paper or sticks but she loves stringy stuff. You might try giving yours some shoestrings. Just thread them over the top bars of the cage in easy reach and see if your bird plays with them.

Neither of mine forage, either. They expect their food to be SERVED. Jade will go to the bottom of her cage to fetch something if she drops it, but not if *I* put something down there.

Your quaker isn't broken...lol...she's just a quaker... Try getting a feather boa, you can get them at places like Michaels or JoAnns fabrics etc. They're usually 6 to 8 feet long and I cut them in 10 to 12 inch lengths, Sometime I make like a pom pom out of them, sometimes I stuff them through other toys, It gives them something else to preen besides themselves. You might try taking a short piece and working it through her favorite toy or on her favorite perch so she has to deal with it. The idea is for her to tear it to shreds etc. It has really helped with side tracking my pluckers.

Don't give up on foraging... try different colors of things, sit around and take a Kleenex or paper towel and play peek a boo with them by running the tissue over the birds back...they may grab it and yank, and that's perfectly fine. They'll figure out that these things aren't going to eat them.

keep trying.

What great advice! Santana flies away at just the sight of a foot toy - he won't have anything to do with them. He is a shredder and put paper towel through the bars of his cage - but can't wait to try the shoestring!

My bird is addicted to sugar snap peas i can get him to do anything if there is one near lol.so thats probably i good idea

I put a pair of sugar snap peas in her pellet bowl - we're still trying to reinforce that they're FOOD - and she moved them out of the way to get to the pellets.

I told you my quaker was broken! *wicked grin*

Looks like she's picking out the fruity pellets I've mixed in with the natural ones. I know the dyes aren't good for her so it looks like I'll be weaning her off of seed and THEN weaning her off of coloured pellets. At this point they have to be better for her than basic cockateil.

Many of us have had birds that wouldn't try new foods unless they saw the owner eating it first. Or at least pretending to eat it. So you might try that...and make a big deal out of how good it is...and then turn and walk away like you aren't willing to share...wait a few minutes and then offer them some and see what happens...


Broken Bird...LOL