GreyNickels
New member
We have made so much progress with Pippi! she plays ALL DAY (as long as we are home, somewhere.. another story for another post on how she won't play when we're gone 
We also have her foraging for 85% of her food! fresh food still goes into a bowl, so that I can make sure it gets cleaned out, and she has a bowl of Harrisons pellets, which she pretty much eats as a last resort, she would much rather forage for the better stuff. But we're trying to get her onto Harrisons or Roudybush - my vets preferred brands.
My biggest challenge right now, is this toy
Birds that work for food are happier and healthier Four Big Drawers Interactive Foraging Treat Holder by Caitec
Four Big Drawers Interactive Foraging Treat Holder by Caitec
It has 4 drawer that she has to open to get the treats out, but it's absolutely no challenge whatsoever. So we cut finger traps into thirds, put a peanut into each finger trap piece, and then put THAT into a paper dixie cup, and squash the cup into a ball.
Little snot was on her third peanut by time I could get to the kitchen and back with the rest of her foraging toys. (((sigh)))
Any ideas on how to make this even MORE challenging?
This toy: Foraging bird toys may help stop or reduce feather destruction in birds FOOD TUMBLER BIRD TOY BY CAITEC
we fill with a mix of shelled almonds, her junky seed mix, and roudybush pellets. The vet doesn't want her completely off of the seed mix, just because she has lost a little bit of weight in the diet transition. But she has this toy mastered too. We mix in the rowdybush, just because it makes the seed last longer. She just tosses the pellets on the floor, but makes the toy last longer. I keep hoping that eventually she'll EAT the pellets, but she still just tosses them. :20:
and then the foraging wheel - Foraging Wheel Foraging Toy | Foraging Toys for Birds from DrsFosterSmith.com
we fill with her nutriberries and Oven Fresh Bites. Again, this is no challenge to her anymore, so we do things like stuff it full of shredded paper, or wrap up shelled almonds in cupcake papers (like a little hard candy, or cough drop) so she has to pull the "candy" out and open the paper to get her almond.
Whenever we have toys that have vine balls, we partially crack almonds, and stuff them inside the vine balls, and I make "to go cups" for when we're really busy. Lots of the finger trap/ dixie cups and shredded paper stuffed into a coffee cup, and tossed on the floor. Or paper egg cartons (we buy them new from the farm supply store) and again, I'll make a little dixie cup concoction to put in each of the 12 holes. This one lasts several days.
I think we've done a pretty good job of making her work for her food, but most of them, she has just mastered, and it doesn't take her long to get all her favorites out of the toys
Miss Smarty Pants
Any ideas on how to step things up, would be GREAT! we've hit a mental roadblock! lol
We also have her foraging for 85% of her food! fresh food still goes into a bowl, so that I can make sure it gets cleaned out, and she has a bowl of Harrisons pellets, which she pretty much eats as a last resort, she would much rather forage for the better stuff. But we're trying to get her onto Harrisons or Roudybush - my vets preferred brands.
My biggest challenge right now, is this toy
Birds that work for food are happier and healthier Four Big Drawers Interactive Foraging Treat Holder by Caitec
Four Big Drawers Interactive Foraging Treat Holder by Caitec
It has 4 drawer that she has to open to get the treats out, but it's absolutely no challenge whatsoever. So we cut finger traps into thirds, put a peanut into each finger trap piece, and then put THAT into a paper dixie cup, and squash the cup into a ball.
Little snot was on her third peanut by time I could get to the kitchen and back with the rest of her foraging toys. (((sigh)))
Any ideas on how to make this even MORE challenging?
This toy: Foraging bird toys may help stop or reduce feather destruction in birds FOOD TUMBLER BIRD TOY BY CAITEC
we fill with a mix of shelled almonds, her junky seed mix, and roudybush pellets. The vet doesn't want her completely off of the seed mix, just because she has lost a little bit of weight in the diet transition. But she has this toy mastered too. We mix in the rowdybush, just because it makes the seed last longer. She just tosses the pellets on the floor, but makes the toy last longer. I keep hoping that eventually she'll EAT the pellets, but she still just tosses them. :20:
and then the foraging wheel - Foraging Wheel Foraging Toy | Foraging Toys for Birds from DrsFosterSmith.com
we fill with her nutriberries and Oven Fresh Bites. Again, this is no challenge to her anymore, so we do things like stuff it full of shredded paper, or wrap up shelled almonds in cupcake papers (like a little hard candy, or cough drop) so she has to pull the "candy" out and open the paper to get her almond.
Whenever we have toys that have vine balls, we partially crack almonds, and stuff them inside the vine balls, and I make "to go cups" for when we're really busy. Lots of the finger trap/ dixie cups and shredded paper stuffed into a coffee cup, and tossed on the floor. Or paper egg cartons (we buy them new from the farm supply store) and again, I'll make a little dixie cup concoction to put in each of the 12 holes. This one lasts several days.
I think we've done a pretty good job of making her work for her food, but most of them, she has just mastered, and it doesn't take her long to get all her favorites out of the toys
Miss Smarty Pants
Any ideas on how to step things up, would be GREAT! we've hit a mental roadblock! lol
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