Every bird is different in personality. Some parrots love to play with a new
bird toy right away while some parrots can be very picky about which bird toy
they will play with. There are even some birds that are literally terrified of bird toys
and will not play with bird toys at all.
Parrots are a lot like humans in the way they are very perceptive with anything
new being introduced in their environment. Imagine if you had delivered to
your doorstep an odd shaped and colored box. Not only was this box weird
looking and had colors you never seen before, it was also making a ticking
sound. You probably would take a step back and say "What the hell is inside
that weird shaped and colored box and why the hell is it ticking". Would you
call the Police or the Bomb Squad? Would you be able to sleep that night?
Birds are the same way. They are very perceptive of their surroundings and
anything new in their environment is a scary deal until they know that the item
will not hurt them.
I remember an instance with our Umbrella Cockatoo,
Marshmellow. We
purchased a new kitchen mat that had a black and white cow on it. The first
time we brought Marshmellow into the kitchen after we purchased the new
mat, she started to squawk and flapping her wings in desperation to get away.
When we finally brought her to another room, she was still breathing heavy and
you could tell she was visibly shaken. It was months, if not a year before she
was OK with the new kitchen mat. Maybe she was attacked by a black and
white cow in a previous life...who knows but we learned a lesson with
Marshmellow and realized that we have to introduce new things to her especially in our home environment slowly.
Introduce a new bird toy slowly to the feathered friend's environment. At first, place the
bird toy 10 feet from his or her cage for a couple of days. This way your feathered friend can keep an
eye on it for a couple of days until he/she gets used to it. After a couple of days,
place the bird toy outside the cage towards the bottom of the cage and see
how your parrot reacts. If your bird does not seem terrified, place the bird toy
inside their cage next. Also, try playing with the bird toy in front of your bird.
They will then see that it is not harmful to them. Have you ever noticed that
parrots love to play with things we use in everyday life? With this being the
case, play with the bird toy like it is your toy and watch your parrot wanting that toy
even more.