Parrots and Foraging

[pchela]

I went to a small seminar with Dr. Scott Echols on Sunday and after listening to him speak and seeing his research and data, I have to say that I am absolutely convinced that we should all do away with traditional bowl feeding and create only foraging options for our parrots. It stimulates their minds and keeps them from boredom. It has so many benefits and is a natural behavior. Many parrots in Dr. Echols studies stopped plucking and other negative behaviors when switched (slowly) from bowl feeding to foraging. He has a dvd on the subject which I plan on buying soon. I'm hoping it will have lots of foraging ideas. If anybody has it already, any tips?

http://www.amazon.com/CAPTIVE-FORAGING- ... B000NPKEIK

[Michael]

I believe trick training (doesn't have to be tricks but any positive reinforcement behavioral training) can substitute to a great extent in place of foraging. They still need chances to chew toys and hang around and things like that. But between toys for chewing and tricks for stimulating the mind, I think that covers most of what foraging does. By the way, a large component of foraging that is missing with any cage based foraging system is flight. I suppose the best way to create captive foraging options is to hang food filled toys all around the room or house for the bird to fly to, but who's gonna completely sacrifice their house like that...

[pchela]

I agree that flight is a big part of foraging. I have a large tree stand in the living room and a portable one. I think I can hide food in the cage area and on the two trees and hopefully that will be enough. I know I can never duplicate what they have in the wild, but it's a start I guess. I actually tried hiding bits of food on the larger stand an in Pippins cage today and he really went crazy! I thought I would have to teach him how to forage but his instincts kicked right in. He was really excited. He showed way more enthusiasm for the food than he ever has when it's in his bowl. I'm going to try it out with the Caique tomorrow. I wonder if you wrapped up a nut in a coffee filter and twisted the top and then tucked it away in Kilis cage if she would enjoy that. I'm just curious if it's just my Sennie who immediately caught on or if all parrots are going to forage right away. Anybody else wanna give it a try? Have our own little experiment?

[Michael]

See the problem is that the only foods I serve Kili in the cage are pellets and veggies. Neither one of these is convenient for hiding and would make a real mess.

I did for a month pour Kilis pellets into a hanging coconut toy shaped like a bowl but that really was not major challenge at all.

A new thing I've been doing lately is feeding Kili all her dinners wearing her harness on top of the cage rather than in it. It made a little bit of a challenge at first to balance the harness, step over, and eat. Now she got the hang of it and has gotten hours of practice wearing the harness while making it a positively reinforcing experience

[PRD]

I agree that foraging is an enrichment of their daily life.
I have a Java tree in my house, in the cages i have small Java wood perches. They have small holes in them which i use to hide treats in them like corn and other small stuff. My birds like 'foraging' like this, but i have to do it in the evening when they are asleep cause they wont give me a chance to do this during the day. I only hide small treats, no pellets, veggie/fruit.
There are also toys where u put snacks in and the bird has to find out how to get the treat out. I bought 1 for my birds to see what they would think about it but the 1 i got was too large in my opinion for them. Its a good way though to keep your birds busy in their cages when they are home alone.

[pchela]

I agree that fresh foods are not good to hide! What a mess and they will go bad if not found. I'm thinking about hiding nuts and seeds and the stuff they really like and offering the fresh foods in a bowl. That way they have to forage for their favorite stuff but I know that they are getting the fresh stuff for sure. I wonder if pellets will be eaten better if I hide them...

I've also been wrapping nuts etc in coffee filters and the birds love that. Another idea I'm going to try is filling a food bowl with largeish pebbles (big enough to not be ingested) and then mixing in a seed mix so they have to kind of push the pebbles around to get to the food.

[oknuma]

I am a huge believer in the natural benefits of foraging.

Fruit spears for fresh fruit and veges, fresh sprouts in a paper bag twisted at the top and hung in the cage, pellets in a foraging box ( purchased or home made) all add a new level to the enrichment of a birds day to day life. There are so many foraging options that imagination really is the only limitation to it.

[Michael]

A nut is about the training treats allowance I am normally working on a daily basis. This usually means choosing between training and foraging. Otherwise I'd have to feed her even less pellets/veggies to allow for more foraging nuts. It really doesn't seem to work for me. I think the flight/tricks are a pretty good substitute for foraging (if not better as it allows bonding time). However, for people who spend less time with their parrots, I think it's definitely better than bowl feeding when possible.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Although Scooter's food is pretty much cage-bound, I've been trying to vary the presentation so there is a foraging aspect. With the fresh foods, I can hide his favorites under the leafy greens and I vary the specific content every day. I also have a "kabob" I put up several times a week, and sometimes I hide some of the components inside other ones (wrap kale around an apple wedge for example).

I also have tried putting his seed-based diet in a cardboard foraging box and leaving pellets in his dish, but so far I haven't been able to get him to work that hard for them. He will cry all day if his favorite food is all eaten, even though it is in the foraging box right next to the dish! I'm still trying to figure out how to get him more with that particular program. I tried ripping into the box myself, and I'm pretty sure he knows it is in there... but he's not big on ripping things up if they take more effort than paper, which he loves to shred.

Anyway, I'd like more ideas on cage-based foraging solutions.

[oknuma]

Although Scooter's food is pretty much cage-bound, I've been trying to vary the presentation so there is a foraging aspect. With the fresh foods, I can hide his favorites under the leafy greens and I vary the specific content every day. I also have a "kabob" I put up several times a week, and sometimes I hide some of the components inside other ones (wrap kale around an apple wedge for example).

I also have tried putting his seed-based diet in a cardboard foraging box and leaving pellets in his dish, but so far I haven't been able to get him to work that hard for them. He will cry all day if his favorite food is all eaten, even though it is in the foraging box right next to the dish! I'm still trying to figure out how to get him more with that particular program. I tried ripping into the box myself, and I'm pretty sure he knows it is in there... but he's not big on ripping things up if they take more effort than paper, which he loves to shred.

Anyway, I'd like more ideas on cage-based foraging solutions.

if he is a fan of ripping paper have you tried a brown paper bag?
Batman was quite the lazy forager initially and it was the brown paper bag trick that worked best for her. I put 1/4 or less of her daily feed in the bag, twist the top and peg/tie it to the cage/playgym etc. Initially with batman I had to make a rather large hole in the side of the bag so she could see into it without looking. I also had to offer a few days in a row in order for her to be confident to really get her beak in there. Now though she knows that it is full of foot toys and / or food for her to enjoy and will tear it open without needing my help. She has since moved on to taking lids off containers for her foraging as well.