Foraging ideas for smaller species!

[KawaiiTori]

So I have discovered that coming up with foraging opportunities for smaller species (such as my GCC) can be a little difficult. Most of the commercially available foraging toys are designed with larger birds in mind and while most of them are still functional for the littles they don’t generally function as expected due to the size of the operator. So, I thought it would be nice if I started a thread where we can share foraging ideas for our smaller fids...Anything that you have purchased or made that works for these little guys! (Pictures and, if it is something you bought, a link to where you can find it on the webs are really helpful!)

So, I’ll start off with a few things I made tonight:

This one is just a shot sized Solo cup hanging from some leather. I saw parrots pulling up hanging treats on a documentary video a while back. I’m not sure how successful this one will be but I’ll try to keep you posted .

So, once Tori figures out that she can open the little compartments on the pill organizer to get treats, I’m going to only put treats in the compartment that corresponds with the day of the week. I’ll let you know if she starts anticipating which compartment she needs to open!

I’m rather proud of upcycling this free dog waste bag holder into a foraging toy! I think this might possibly be the easiest foraging toy I’ve ever made, LOL...just stuff and hang!

 

[KawaiiTori]

I made this one out of a golf whiffle ball and a bunch of straws cut into spirals. Tori LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEESSS this thing! I load it up with bits of food and some pieces of balsa wood and she goes NUTS for it

 

[KawaiiTori]

This is another favorite...I just scatter some pellets and maybe half a crushed up Nutriberry and mix it all up. Tori will spend hours digging the good stuff out of the “junk”! (P.S. this is an old picture...there’s a ton more “junk” up there these days!)

 

[RemiBird]

Awesome ideas!! I only wish mine were not so scared of new toys...

 

[Laurasea]

I've used the pill box it's a good one. The dollar store sells little plastic drawers that are easy for small birds to pull open.

I love your ideas and post! I keep checking to see if there ideas I want to try. I really like the dog bag holder! That's perfect! I hate them for holding my dog waste bags, but as a parrot toy perfect!!!!! I'm going to the dollar store to grab one for each cage

 

[KawaiiTori]

Awesome ideas!! I only wish mine were not so scared of new toys...

I am soooooo lucky! Tori is rarely hesitant to inspect new things. The few things she is at all iffy about all I have to do is show her that it dispenses food and she dives right in!

 

[wrench13]

Great idea for a thread, and examples too. We often take a few pine nuts and roll them into a long 'joint', and thread it thru the bars in Salty cage. He loves them.

 

[KawaiiTori]

Great idea for a thread, and examples too. We often take a few pine nuts and roll them into a long 'joint', and thread it thru the bars in Salty cage. He loves them.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I was was just trying to come up with something to stick through the links of her plastic chain...this might work!

 

[KawaiiTori]

Quick update:

The dangling cup that I thought would be the last thing she figured out was the FIRST thing she figured out, LOL! She even figured out how to wrap it around the rope perch so she didn’t have to hold on to it the whole time...I mean, I know parrots are smart, but sometimes their ingenuity just blows me away!

 

[KawaiiTori]

Here’s another one I made today...I’m hoping she’ll push it around so the food will fall out of the two holes in the bottom...

 

[Inger]

I made this one out of a golf whiffle ball and a bunch of straws cut into spirals. Tori LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEESSS this thing! I load it up with bits of food and some pieces of balsa wood and she goes NUTS for it

How do you cut the straws? Or did you buy them that way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Laurasea]

I need you on staff as behavioral enrichments specialist!!!!
Pay, unlimited birdie kisses
Benefits, you get to work with birds!
Hours, flexible
Vacations, who need vacation you will be working with birds!

 

[KawaiiTori]

I made this one out of a golf whiffle ball and a bunch of straws cut into spirals. Tori LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEESSS this thing! I load it up with bits of food and some pieces of balsa wood and she goes NUTS for it

How do you cut the straws? Or did you buy them that way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use this tool:

You can use an old-school pencil sharpener to achieve the same thing but I find that the tool works better.

 

[KawaiiTori]

I need you on staff as behavioral enrichments specialist!!!!
Pay, unlimited birdie kisses
Benefits, you get to work with birds!
Hours, flexible
Vacations, who need vacation you will be working with birds!

So far I’ve managed to keep Tori entertained (knock on wood)!