Lesson 8: Toys, Enrichment & Training 

🎉 Welcome to Lesson 8!

Budgies aren’t just cute — they’re incredibly smart, curious, and energetic. Without proper enrichment, they can get bored, stressed, or even depressed. This lesson is all about keeping your budgie mentally stimulated and physically active, with toys, games, and fun training ideas you can start today.

✅ What You’ll Learn:

• Why enrichment is so important

• The best types of budgie-safe toys

• How to rotate toys to prevent boredom

• Beginner training tricks

• Fun ways to play and bond with your budgie

🧠 Why Budgies Need Enrichment

Budgies are natural explorers! In the wild, they spend hours foraging, flying, and socializing. Caged life can be mentally dull without enough stimulation.

Without enrichment, budgies may:

• Pluck their feathers

• Scream excessively

• Bite out of frustration

• Become depressed or lethargic

😞 Boredom is a real welfare issue. But the good news? It’s easy to prevent with just a little effort and variety!

🧸 Types of Toys Your Budgie Will Love

✅ Must-Haves:

• Swings – balance & fun

• Ladders – climbing keeps feet strong

• Foraging Toys – hide millet or treats inside

• Chew Toys – paper, balsa wood, bird-safe cardboard

• Bells & Beads – budgies love sound and color

✅ DIY Toy Ideas:

• Shredded paper in a toilet roll

• Popsicle sticks woven through cage bars

• Fresh herbs tied with sisal string

• Ice cube tray with veggies in the sections

🎨 Get creative — budgies love novelty!

🔁 Toy Rotation is Key

Budgies get bored of the same toys fast!

• Rotate toys every 3–5 days

• Only keep 3–4 toys in the cage at once

• Watch which toys they love (and which they ignore)

• Move toys to new locations inside the cage

🧩 Think of it like re-decorating their room every week!

🧠 Beginner Tricks to Teach Your Budgie

Training = bonding + enrichment! Start small.

Try These First:

• Step Up (reviewed in Lesson 7)

• Target Training – teach them to touch a stick

• Spin in a Circle – use millet to guide their body

• Come When Called – reward them for flying to you

• Touch a Bell – tap it for a treat

Tips:

• Keep sessions short (5–10 mins)

• Use millet as a reward

• Always end on a positive note

• Never force or punish — training should be fun!

🎯 More Daily Enrichment Ideas

• ✅ Let them explore on a safe play gym

• ✅ Open the cage for supervised out-of-cage time

• ✅ Give them a mirror (but only short-term!)

• ✅ Try music, nature sounds, or gentle whistling

• ✅ Teach your budgie new words or sounds — they’re great mimics!

📋 Quick Enrichment Checklist:

• At least 3 different toys in the cage

• Toys rotated weekly

• Daily playtime with new experiences

• Simple training sessions started

• Out-of-cage time whenever safe and possible

• You’re having fun too!

🎉 Amazing job — you’re doing all the right things!

Your budgie’s life should be full of fun, challenge, and connection. The more you enrich their world, the more confident, social, and joyful they’ll become.

Next up: we’ll learn how to monitor your budgie’s health, spot illness early, and make sure they stay feeling great 🩺💚