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Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:00 pm
by PythonzEve
Hey all, I did a search for "foraging" but it didn't really come up with much so I figured I'd make a new thread. I'm wanting to know what kind of foraging opportunities you give or make for your bird(s)? I'm always looking for new mental stimulation, so this would be a great thread for people to follow and add to, creating multiple foraging opportunities for our Fids!

I try to create a lot of opportunities to forage, from as simple as putting some interesting food in a bowl, to hiding and mixing things and using toys and tools to do so. Here are some pictures of a few, though not all of the foraging stuff I've done so far :) Hope it helps spark some ideas!

Here's Sukha over an orange foraging toy I got in the bird section of a pet store. Simply shove things in that fit, hang and enjoy! Nuts, treats, shredded paper and other chewables fit well.
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Let's see if you look at the bottom left corner of the cage you'll see some wheat grass, and in the whiffle balls are a few things like nuts and any treat I could fit in there that wouldn't easily fall out. I also like to periodically mix peanut butter with honey and add pellet, seeds and other small treats then stir. After that I take a spoon and mash it into hiding places like in little sea shells, in the nooks of perches here and there on toys and so such.
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Here's Sukha on a playstand I made with a foraging toy that I made out of miscellaneous things like pony beads, plastic shot glasses, plastic lids and some chewable things like apple wood and whatnot. I put a milk lid over the shot glass so he has to move stuff around to get to the treats. I also have another milk cap lower down that is inverted to hold treats, but has apple wood blocking so he has to move those around as well.
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Here's a swing I made form a jump rope and cholla wood, with a few other toys to play with and forage in. I put things in the cholla wood that would fit, and mashed peanutbutter treat mix (explained above) in the caps on the string.
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Sukha LOVES this one, there's all kinds of shiny and colorful stuff, but foraging-wise there are rawhide discs hung there and I like to put other treats in the whiffle ball such as dried fruit, grapes, nuts, raisins, large pellets and what have you.
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Here's a shreddable foraging toy made out of several coffee filters with cheerios, crackers and other cereals and things that either have holes or where holes can easily be made in between each filter.
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Here is Sukha demonstrating the hanging technique of this next foraging toy. I found it as a dog toy in a pet store (boucy toy that has woven interlocking chew-safe rubber), but I hung it on some bird-safe rope and crumpled nuggets and pellets into pieces of paper and shoved them in there. He has to chew through the paper to get to the goodies :wink: Of course I put some treats on the outside to peak his interest.
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Here is one of many whiffle balls I got from the dollar store. They tend to fall apart with all the dropping and throwing Sukha likes to do, but that's OK, cuz I just tie them back together! In this one are things like walnuts, almonds, seeds and pellets crumpled inside some shreddable paper :P In the background is his purple bath house that I sometimes throw fruit into so he has to go bobbing for grapes or whatnot.
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Here is Sukha chowing down on some grapes still on the vine that I hung from the top of the cage. In the bottom left corner you will see a whisk which I like to cram treats into, and to the lower right of Sukha you will see another toy with sea shells on it. NOTE: small sea shells make AWESOME hiding places for treats, especially the peanut butter mix (explained earlier)!
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I also have store-bought foragers like these
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Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 5:32 am
by ellieelectrons
Hi PythonzEve

You've got some great ideas there! Very inspiring! I am definitely going to try some of those! Thank you.

I don't have any pics handy but some things that I do include:
- mixing their pellets with kitty litter (the type of kitty litter made from recycled paper, not the crystalline, bad-chemical stuff)
- wrapping their fruit and veg in newspaper and placing it in their baffle cage (see http://www.onlinepetcart.com.au/bird-to ... t-toy.html to find out what a baffle cage is)
- wrapping little treats in newspaper and tieing them to their play perches when they are out of the cage on their gym. I use jute string.
- I use a foraging sphere - I usually wrap a treat in newspaper and put it in here (See http://www.birdtoys.com/product-p/pt00611.htm)
- I put sunflower seeds in the small Kong toy (similar to your orange kong toy) and I put a jiffy pot over the top of it so they have to chew through it to get in there (see http://www.novoselenterprises.com/infor ... fypots.asp)
- I also have a mazey munch that they love (http://www.myparrotshop.com/hanging-toy ... d_768.html)

I also have the creative foraging system (see http://www.myparrotshop.com/foraging-to ... d_427.html) but I don't tend to use it. Because they can't see the treat, they don't tend to show much interest... it takes them weeks to break it down... which is too long if you're keeping food in it.

I hope that gives you some ideas... because I am really, really impressed by all that you do... you do a great job! Far better than anything I do!

Ellie.

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:12 am
by Blueberrybird
These are all wonderful ideas! Thanks! I too have been creating my own foraging toys. The whiffle balls are always great! I save any small boxi find that I can stuff and hang, they are cheap and keep him busy and happy. I found some reloadable stainless Steele skewers in the guinea pig section of pet store, these work great for veggies and fruits. Thanks for any new ideas!!

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 3:43 pm
by ringneck
Fantastic post Jessica! Love the setup! :wink:

Best Wishes,

IMRAN-C

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:55 am
by PythonzEve
Ellieelectrons - I mix his pellets with shredded paper sometimes, same idea but still a good one! As far as the newspaper I thought the ink was bad for them and should only be used on the bottom of the cage where they can't get to it? I think packing paper might work well though! The baffle ball is cool, I just got one of the wild bird suet feeders that is a lot like that one (only a few bucks too!) :wink: The Mazey Munch and Foraging Spheres look cool, I'll have to pick those up, but you get extra kudos for the Jiffy Pots! I love using (safe) things that are intended as something else and those ARE great, versatile shreddables! :D

Blueberrybird - I found the skewers you're talking about a few months ago as well and have one from the small animals section and one from the bird section with a bell at the bottom, love them!

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:48 pm
by ellieelectrons
My avian vet recommended wrapping fruit & veg in newspaper. I don't use anything that's glossy though. When I asked him about the dye he didn't think it would hurt them. on a slightly related note, when I phoned the company to check on the safety of the kitty litter, they said it was made from newsprint and a vegetable dye is used on the paper.

You gave me quite a few great ideas thative run with. My husband thought we had someone else's groceries when he saw I had coffee filters & cheerios!

Unfortunately though fractured my right arm yesterday & this will limit what I can do for them over the next 4-6 weeks.

Ellie.

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:36 am
by PythonzEve
:) That is ALL great to hear Ellie, it makes me happy knowing you guys get to have more fun!

I personally won't use newspaper as I have packing and "painter's" paper (Walmart in the DIY painting section, it is made from recycled paper, is brown/tan and is completely biodegradable with no inks or dyes. Cheap, like $6 for a huge roll of it) plus we don't get the newspaper delivered so have no newspapers lying around :P

:lol: I would have LOVED to see your husband's face/reaction when you came home ROFL!!! Also honeycomb cereal works great for stringing up, as well as unseasoned unflavored popcorn of course, and other things but I don't want to babble TOO much.

Sorry about your arm! Perhaps you can see it as an opportunity to work on becoming one of those super-cool ambidextrous people! Or just give your hubby the evil eye until he helps you! :wink: Hope you can heal quickly, how'd you do it of I may ask?

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:53 am
by ellieelectrons
PythonzEve wrote::) Sorry about your arm! Perhaps you can see it as an opportunity to work on becoming one of those super-cool ambidextrous people! Or just give your hubby the evil eye until he helps you! :wink: Hope you can heal quickly, how'd you do it of I may ask?
Thanks. I was on a morning walk & decided to shuffle to the left so some faster walkers could overtake. The driveway was slippery due to earlier rain & I slipped over. I fractured my arm & have a huge nasty bruise on my thigh.

Ironically I had planned to walk on the beach that morning but decided to walk locally to save travel time. There was no time saving that day!

Ellie.

Re: Foraging Opportunities

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:25 am
by PythonzEve
Ouch! >.<