How do you make their caged life more interesting when you are at work and they are "home alone"

My guys each get 1 or 2 new/refurbished toys per week, and the toys that are left in for more than one week get rotated to a new position.

We also leave the radio on for them while we're at work, on a reasonable station (nothing too outrageous/hard core for when they nap in the afternoon), and at a reasonable level.

When we're only gone for a couple hours, I put an audio book on for them - Harry Potter because the narrator is fabulous, relaxing, and non-monotone (they are currently listening to the Goblet of Fire ). I replay the same CD a couple times before advancing to the next one, just in case they are picking up the story

Jerry looks out into the backyard from where his cage sits, and we're thinking of hanging a bird feeder so that he can watch the birds out the window.

Great thread Mary! I'm interested to hear everybody's responses!

Ollie has 3-4 toys in her cage at a time, and I rotate them every week or 2. Most of them I make myself, so they have everything like hard wood, balsa wood, hard plastic, soft plastic, nuts, shredders, corn, pieces of leather, sisal, cotton rope, and cardboard puzzle pieces and coasters strung on them. One toy will keep Ollie busy for a looooooong time.

She some foraging toys like the plastic treasure chest, and a little contraption that she has to turn and pull out the drawer to get a treat out. I also weave junk mail through the bars for her to destroy.

Dora the Explorer plays in the background when I'm gone.

I love this thread! I just change toys often and leave the TV on for them to listen to.

I am very lucky as I don't have to work so I am home most days. However when I go out I fill up their toy boxes and foraging toys before I leave. They all have a major amount of toys in their cages to keep them busy as well.

Lots and lots of foraging toys. Each bird has at least 5 hanging toys in their cage, with mutiple perches and an array of foot toys. I make a foraging mix with their base diet so they have to work to get their food- I also have toys in their cage that are foraging. They have to work to get treats, etc. I leave the radio on and each cage is situated so the birds can look out a window.

I make them mostly foraging and enrichment toys. I'll always have one simple chewing toy though. I make them work for their food too. Here's a quickie and a simple trick I'd like to share.

You know those cone, paper cups you use when at a water cooler? I buy those by the hundreds. I drop one nutriberrie or piece of avicake in each, twist the top shut and throw them in a bowl. Everyone loves these. They have to work to bite through the cup to get to the food. They have to keep tearing to keep eating. If it drops to the bottom of the cage, they are usually big enough not to fall through the cage bars. They prefer to eat them from the paper cups than to just eat them straight from the bowl. This is also good for birds who like to waste their food.

This may be too much work for some, but if you want to take the above step even further, put them in their paper cone cups, then put those in a brown, paper, lunch bag. Tie the bag to the top of the cage in a spot that's not convenient for them to get to. Now they have to get to the bag and hopefully tear it in a spot where all the paper cone cups fall out. If not, they pull them out one by one and keep going back for more. I think this best replicates some of their foraging they would do in the wild. Rico loves this. Rocky and Murray love tearing into the paper cups and will gladly go into their cages with no forcing when they see them.

That's a great idea Lara! Now I just have to find those cone cups...Walmart here doesn't even sell any regular paper cups that aren't covered in wax! Where do you buy yours at?

Great Ideas! Love this thread

Mine watch QVC during the day (no cussing,happy people and nothing inappropriate that the little stinkers could repeat). I keep the cover on a small portion of their cages so they can hide from one another. I tear up newspaper and thread it through the bars of the cage. I try to give everyone a new/refurbished toy every week----they get lots of out of the cage time and I dance/sing and act ridiculous w/them when I am home.

keep the ideas coming!!!

Camille, I buy mine at GFS, Gordon Food Service. I know they are a chain but not sure if you have them down there. I thought Samm's Club would carry them but Freddie couldn't find them the other day. Maybe try an office supply store. If you can't find them, let me know and I'll ship you a bunch. They're pretty cheap.