Puzzle and foraging toys and ideas

[lola13]

I had a post on here about my IRN screaming all day from 5:30am till late only stopping to eat,drink nap and poo! Its getting to much and she's starting my macaw screaming early which I not far for the neighbours and me.

So I was told on here to get some foraging toys she has toys already and I got them both the aryclic boxes you can put cardboard boxes in so they have to look for food. My IrN couldn't care less that its there still screams.

So does anyone have any ideas toys you have that your irn loves and is easy for a 11month old.

I'm really out of ideas and she's starting to make my macaw very nervous and angry as he's getting no sleep and being rudly woken up.

Thanks!

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Chloe

I'm just wondering, does Lola get out of her cage and if so, how much out of cage time does she get? What does she do when she's out of the cage? Is she clipped or flighted? A workshop I attended suggested that birds should get between 3 and 4 hours out of the cage every day.

There are four broad areas to look at when it comes to keeping your bird happy:
1. diet and nutrition
2. social relationships
3. physical environment and enrichment
4. guidance and training.
(Source: Pam Clark)

These are the four areas to look to when you are trying to correct any behavioral issues.

With regard to your specific question about foraging, my birds don't seem to like foraging toys where they can't see the food they are trying to get, although they do know now that food comes wrapped in newspaper and also peat pots - but I did have to train them that this was the case. I'd show them me putting their fav treat in a bit of newspaper and I'd only put one layer of newspaper around the treat before giving it to them. Now that they know, I can put more layers of wrapping around the food. My favourite foraging toy is the baffle cage (see http://www.parrotrescuecentre.com/baffl ... mall-empty) because it is so versatile and can hold so much stuff.

I have given you these links before, if you haven't read them, I suggest you do, they're about foraging:
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... 01&p=69400
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =4&t=13466
http://www.parrotenrichment.com/ - this site has some free ebooks to download
I know you wanted information about things you can make rather than toys you can buy, so I suggest you look at the free ebooks. They contain lots of ideas for creating toys generally and some information about foraging toys.

If you give your food to your bird in a coop cup, one thing you can do is add kitty litter to it (the stuff made from recycled paper, not the crystal-based one or anything with chemicals in it).

Wishing you and your birds all the best.

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Ellie has provided you with some great information. There are so many elements involved in keeping a happy bird!
Your question is quite a big one, and all birds have their own preferences of what they like. It takes time for them to learn new foraging techniques.
My favourite coup cup trick is to cover the cup in a layer of newsprint and secure it with sellotape around the cup. Nele uses his beak like a can opener around the paper, it's so cute to watch! Especially when he breaks it open and finds all the food is covered in kitty litter (he does seem to like litter better than pellets though).

Nele also likes little presents wrapped in paper, he drops most of them when he finds them, but he gets so excited about them.

Make the foraging toys really easy to start with. As Lola gets better at solving them you can make them harder.
The first foraging puzzle we gave Nele was a treat wrapped in paper and hung from a short string from a perch. It was so funny watching him figure it out! The string was a little longer than his body, so he had to reel it in with his foot and beak.
Hopefully you and Lola can both enjoy foraging. It sounds like you both need some fun together!

[lola13]

Hi Chloe

I'm just wondering, does Lola get out of her cage and if so, how much out of cage time does she get? What does she do when she's out of the cage? Is she clipped or flighted? A workshop I attended suggested that birds should get between 3 and 4 hours out of the cage every day.

There are four broad areas to look at when it comes to keeping your bird happy:
1. diet and nutrition
2. social relationships
3. physical environment and enrichment
4. guidance and training.
(Source: Pam Clark)

These are the four areas to look to when you are trying to correct any behavioral issues.

With regard to your specific question about foraging, my birds don't seem to like foraging toys where they can't see the food they are trying to get, although they do know now that food comes wrapped in newspaper and also peat pots - but I did have to train them that this was the case. I'd show them me putting their fav treat in a bit of newspaper and I'd only put one layer of newspaper around the treat before giving it to them. Now that they know, I can put more layers of wrapping around the food. My favourite foraging toy is the baffle cage (see http://www.parrotrescuecentre.com/baffl ... mall-empty) because it is so versatile and can hold so much stuff.

I have given you these links before, if you haven't read them, I suggest you do, they're about foraging:
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... 01&p=69400
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =4&t=13466
http://www.parrotenrichment.com/ - this site has some free ebooks to download
I know you wanted information about things you can make rather than toys you can buy, so I suggest you look at the free ebooks. They contain lots of ideas for creating toys generally and some information about foraging toys.

If you give your food to your bird in a coop cup, one thing you can do is add kitty litter to it (the stuff made from recycled paper, not the crystal-based one or anything with chemicals in it).

Wishing you and your birds all the best.

Ellie.

I've tried to have her out just sits there like the doors not even open. In getting her a bigger cage that has 3 openings so I can open all 3 and shell find her way out. But to get her back in I'd have to towel her as she's fully flighted. I don't like my birds to have their wings cut.

Ill have a good read of them and look at them evokes. Just hurts me to know she's unhappy and I've done so much for her.

I'm switching her and my macaw to pellets next week as I got a full week of work and wanted to do it then so I could really watch them. She won't touch fruit or veg only likes apple and grapes. I've tried for a few months fruit and veg everyday twice daily and she won't touch it. I'm buying them both skewers to feed the fruit and veg on and see if that helps. They both copy each other. And I know the screaming she's learnt from my macaw as he's a screamer. (Bad life before I got him)

I sit with her whenever I can and sing to her and I can see she's wanting to but scared I might hurt her.
Thank you for the advice!

[lola13]

Ellie has provided you with some great information. There are so many elements involved in keeping a happy bird!
Your question is quite a big one, and all birds have their own preferences of what they like. It takes time for them to learn new foraging techniques.
My favourite coup cup trick is to cover the cup in a layer of newsprint and secure it with sellotape around the cup. Nele uses his beak like a can opener around the paper, it's so cute to watch! Especially when he breaks it open and finds all the food is covered in kitty litter (he does seem to like litter better than pellets though).

Nele also likes little presents wrapped in paper, he drops most of them when he finds them, but he gets so excited about them.

Make the foraging toys really easy to start with. As Lola gets better at solving them you can make them harder.
The first foraging puzzle we gave Nele was a treat wrapped in paper and hung from a short string from a perch. It was so funny watching him figure it out! The string was a little longer than his body, so he had to reel it in with his foot and beak.
Hopefully you and Lola can both enjoy foraging. It sounds like you both need some fun together!

There is alot to do to keep them happy yes, and ive had parrots my entire life but never intame ones. I've tried wrapping bits of organic rice cake with cayenne pepper in little parcels she just threw them on the floor. Ill try doing what you did with the perch I think she might enjoy it.

[ellieelectrons]

Claire, when you say Sellotape, do you mean masking type (white tape)? I think of Sellotape as being clear tape which I've never heard as being safe for parrots. I could be wrong or maybe we have a cultural difference?

Ellie.

[ellieelectrons]

Chloe,

If your bird is throwing something on the floor, at least it means she is interacting with it. Everyday I put a few pieces of birdy safe wood pieces in a coop cup about three-quarters down the cage. Everyday they've emptied some or all of the wood out of the coop cup and sometimes they've chewed it up, but sometimes not. Regardless, it's been enriching for them and has been a "project" for them to do whilst I was away. So even if your bird isn't eating it, at least she's taken enough interest to put it on the ground.

Best wishes with Lola.

Ellie.

[InTheAir]

Ellie: I don't speak Australian very well, sorry, I'm trying to learn it. Just normal sticky tape stuff that you use in the office. I'm sure vet nurse said it's ok, and I asked several times about it... Hopefully we meant the same stuff.
Nele hasn't dropped dead yet... He even chewed on some that came on his new cotton rope from the parrot rescue centre... and still seems fine...

Chloe: I think Ellie has it in a nutshell, if the bird drops it on the floor she has still bothered to pick it up and drop it.
My boyfriend and I agree that our awesome genius bird could easily be an annoying pain in the backside, so we keep him busy when he is awake and not interacting with us. He loves to make noise, and it's taken a lot of thought and effort from us to modify his noise making to the way we like it.
It was easy for our bird to understand paper wrapping on treats as he 'helped' (read: made it very difficult) to wrap them. Maybe try wrapping a yummy treat and putting it in food dish with other food? We find it helps to not worry about what the bird does with his presents after we give them to him. If he wants to run around his cage dropping everything on the floor, that's fine, he still played with it a little to drop it on the floor. Bird food is cheap, it's not like we are feeding him caviar!

[ellieelectrons]

Claire: you used the right terminology. I didn't know that normal tape was birdy safe. I am surprised.

Ellie.

[Skyes_crew]

I also thought the glue in tape was no good. Ill have to ask my vet again. One thing he did tell me though was not to use newsprint for foraging because the ink gets in their beaks and feet and its carcinogenic. Maybe that's the newsprint here in the states though. Or maybe I'm confusing it with something else you call newsprint? I stick to white paper or white napkins or paper towels.

Chloe, I did something similar to what Claire did to encourage foraging. I hung a stainless steel shaker ball filled with veggies and nuts the first time. It's open so they can see it, but they still have to work to get the food out. I also use toilet paper cardboard rolls and stuff them. It's cheap and easy. You don't have to buy expensive skewers and baffle boxes to start. You can simply use a heavy upholstery thread and string the food up. As a treat thread unsalted unbuttered popcorn up. Visual is key in getting Lola to eat new foods. Let her watch you eat them. As for getting her to come out, ringnecks typically climb up. If you can get her a cage that opens from the top she should start to climb out more. Hope that helps.

[InTheAir]

Hmmm... Maybe I misunderstood the vet nurse about the tape.. I hope it's not too bad for him.
Sky: the organic butcher I go to uses plain unprinted 'newsprint' paper, so I always ask for a couple extra sheets for the parrot. I don't use newspaper that's printed.

[Skyes_crew]

See...glad I asked. Wasn't sure if your newsprint was different from what I was thinking

[InTheAir]

I thought newsprint was American for the paper that newspapers are printed on? That's what my mum calls it and she's from America.
What do u call it?

[Skyes_crew]

When I think of newsprint I think of the Sunday paper lol. Already printed on. its so funny how certain words mean totally different things depending on where you live.

[ellieelectrons]

i do use printed on newsprint but not glossy paper. My avian vet recommended it. My understanding is that in Australia we used vegetable based inks. i do agree that non printed, non bleached paper is probably safest.

regarding tape, at Barbara Heidenreich workshop, she said masking tape was safe, which surprised me.

ellie.

[lola13]

I know her all time favvvve treat is a peanut in a shell so ill try it with that!

[InTheAir]

i do use printed on newsprint but not glossy paper. My avian vet recommended it. My understanding is that in Australia we used vegetable based inks. i do agree that non printed, non bleached paper is probably safest.

regarding tape, at Barbara Heidenreich workshop, she said masking tape was safe, which surprised me.

ellie.

I never use printed paper because I'm worried Nele will get ink stains on him and look manky

Lola: it hope she enjoys it! I love watching Nele solve his foraging toys.
Btw, I don't know if it's the same in the uk but our local fish and chip shop uses the same unprinted paper as the butcher. I don't know where to buy the paper in small quantities, so I just get a couple extra sheets whenever I go to either shop ;p

Sky: local dialects are strange. I use quite a few 'kiwi' words over here and get either incomprehension or severely mocked by the Australians!