Birds at home?? Alone?? Bored??

[cockatiel92]

i notice that when im home petrie is very active and playful and wants to be with me. But for the past week iv had a camera out of curiosity to know what petrie and my brothers budgie lady do when were not home. well the answer is simple nothing. he just sits in his favorite area in his cage and stays there, but will move to eatt and drink and play wiht 1 toy accationally. but other than that thats all he does until we get home. he seems pretty bored. is this normal for cockatiels if not how can i fix this. and do any one elses birds do this as well.

[Ashling]

From the mess and destruction is Ash's cage when I get home, she does a lot of playing, ripping, eating and throwing (also I know she yells a bit because I've heard her as I was walking home from school). My cockatiels, to the best of my knowledge, sit, whistle a bit, eat and drink. You can try making food toys for petrie, or buy those seed bells- my tiels go crazy for them. Oh and grass seeds are a favourite of my tiels- keeps them occupied for hours if there's enough.

[ndeben]

While I am gone, I have the TV playing cartoons, and have lots of shredding toys and forgaging toys, and by the looks of it, they play all day, with naps of course.

[Jannabellsmom]

My tiel is usually the same when I am out. Often she will not even eat but waits until she sees me home to hop to her food dish where she proceeds to eat like a a maniac. Sometimes she worries me! I do seem to notice more evidence of shredding activity if I leave on the Bird Tracks cd. I was thinking of buying the citrus boats from Beak-ry (sorry if I got the name a bit wrong) , does anyone have any experience with them and tiels? Also, where do I get grass seeds that are health approved for fids? I think mine would like that.

[cockatiel92]

yea i was wondering that too. do you just cut them off the grass when it seeds. if i give my petrie printer paper or cardboard he shreds it but also eats it. is that normal.

[svolk]

I work for 8.5 hours + commute time so this is what I do for my birds during those hours that I'm not home:

I have a radio on a timer, it goes on in the mornings, off for a couple hours in the afternoon because I know they nap during the day, then comes on again in late afternoon til I get home. I notice that they're more active when they have the music to sing to (the budgies get to singing and that perks my tiel up and she gets more active too).

Changing up and rearranging toys is done often, nearly every week. My tiel loves to chew and shred so I'm always trying to come up with toys that she can destroy and work on. I also try to incorporate foraging toys with food treats for them to work out - hiding treats around the cage can keep them busy while you're away.