Foraging diet

[Matt Alyk]

In my research, it seems like the best way to keep a parrot entertained (during a typical work or school day) would be foraging toys. If I were hiding nuts and seeds in say, a macaws cage/room how much could I hide to keep them entertained during school but without disrupting their diet? Because I know seeds and nuts can be quite fatty and not very good for them.

[liz]

I have mine on a stricked low protein diet. I give then a single pistachio each before breakfast. Sort of like an appetizer. They eat on flat surfaces so they can go back for the crumbs.
They get vegies and fruit for breakfast and picking all day.

Pistachios, cashews, almonds and walnuts are the healthy ones. If you can get chestnuts, they are really the leanest. Because they are so big you can half them for foraging.

You can use nuts for foraging but then reduce the fat in his meals. You may also find that things like radishes, grapes and carrot chunks work almost as good for foraging. Anything that will hold it's moisture will work.

I leave the fruit and vegie plate when I give their seed supper. They usually go back and eat more veg after the seed.

[Pajarita]

Well, in all honesty, I seriously doubt that foraging toys would keep a bird occupied for very long plus the problem with leaving a bird alone is not so much what he is or not doing but the fact that he IS alone which causes them chronic stress (there is a study done on this). People leave the TV on (I don't approve of this), the radio (I do this), put the cage in front of a window, etc ... there was even a guy that had made a little car his macaw could drive and ride but this is all done more for our benefit than the bird's.

Having said that, Liz is correct. You don't need to use only nuts in the foraging toys, you could use other stuff like naturally dried and unsulfured fruit (like raisins, figs, etc), slices of corn on the cob, chiles (they LOVE hot peppers!), veggies that are firm (like carrots, sugar snaps, green beans, etc) and even birdy cookies that are made with healthy stuff like whole grains.

[Matt Alyk]

Well, in all honesty, I seriously doubt that foraging toys would keep a bird occupied for very long plus the problem with leaving a bird alone is not so much what he is or not doing but the fact that he IS alone which causes them chronic stress (there is a study done on this). People leave the TV on (I don't approve of this), the radio (I do this), put the cage in front of a window, etc ... there was even a guy that had made a little car his macaw could drive and ride but this is all done more for our benefit than the bird's.

Having said that, Liz is correct. You don't need to use only nuts in the foraging toys, you could use other stuff like naturally dried and unsulfured fruit (like raisins, figs, etc), slices of corn on the cob, chiles (they LOVE hot peppers!), veggies that are firm (like carrots, sugar snaps, green beans, etc) and even birdy cookies that are made with healthy stuff like whole grains.

I have mine on a stricked low protein diet. I give then a single pistachio each before breakfast. Sort of like an appetizer. They eat on flat surfaces so they can go back for the crumbs.
They get vegies and fruit for breakfast and picking all day.

Pistachios, cashews, almonds and walnuts are the healthy ones. If you can get chestnuts, they are really the leanest. Because they are so big you can half them for foraging.

You can use nuts for foraging but then reduce the fat in his meals. You may also find that things like radishes, grapes and carrot chunks work almost as good for foraging. Anything that will hold it's moisture will work.

I leave the fruit and vegie plate when I give their seed supper. They usually go back and eat more veg after the seed.

So foraging toys don't help as much as I thought they would...
Thank you for the tips. I was very surprised at the mention of hot peppers!

[Pajarita]

So foraging toys don't help as much as I thought they would...
Thank you for the tips. I was very surprised at the mention of hot peppers!

And you are going to be even more surprised when you see how much he will like them and the super duper high degree of 'hotness' they can not only stand but actually like!