Good quail toys/entertainment?

[koturnix]

I moved my quails out of their brooder and into a large dog crate today. Gave them a box to hide in and the whole entire group went to sleep in there...

What are some good quail toys? Do they like fake plastic plants? Any suggestions for their setup?

 

[Hot Pepper Man]

They do like fake plants and things like evergreen boughs that they can run around and hide in for cover. It makes them feel safer.

I am also curious what sort of toys they might like. Parrots love things they can manipulate but I have no idea about game birds. I never tried giving my old pair of buttons anything to play with but their sand bath.

 

[mdees88]

I tied a rubber snake to my quails foot with fishing line.... it was great entertainment

J/k...

you can but a sandbox in there for them to dust bathe in. Not sure about toys...

 

[Fishkeeper]

Give them a sandbox to dustbathe in, and a heap of straw to burrow/scratch in. They'll also like having branches and plants to hide under. New foods are also good.

If you can prevent any other animals from getting into the room (no matter how calm the other animals are- predator saliva, i.e. from cats and dogs, contains bacteria that cause lethal infections), letting them out sometimes to run around and explore would be good enrichment.

You should add some kind of padding to the inside of the cage roof. If they're startled and fly upward without enough room to slow down, which they don't have there, they can hurt their little heads against the ceiling.

 

[Happy Novogens]

This thread got my curiosity up. So I decided to add a couple wicker ball thingies to my button's cage. I've since seen my buttons toss it about. And twice now I've found one of those balls inside the sand bath. You can see that it would take some doing to get that ball in the one opening of the blue sand bath.
So maybe, yes, they do like to play.

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

Hmmmm..... Now you got me thinking how I can liven it up for my quail....

 

[Happy Novogens]

My buttons continue to drag those balls around and put them in the blue sand bath. Last night I found one in there and took it out. This morning I found both balls in there (along with an egg)!
I find it so funny!

 

[HappySetHayes]

I know the thing my birds love the most is a big pile of fresh dirt from the garden crawling with wee bugs and other goodies for them to rifle through. That and dust baths. They will spend ages enjoying a bit of dirt or dust.

They don't seem to pay much attention to anything else I try and give them, like plants (but I do try and make them eat their greens...)

 

[Happy Novogens]

What kind of birds do you have?

 

[allygibbs73]

I put a small plastic cat toy with a bell in with mine and they rolled it around some.