The Cage: a forage only zone

I was cleaning Parker's cage last night when an idea struck me: what if I make Parker work for +50% of his food, allowing him to mimic natural behavior more often?

Heres the gist: Parker has mastered maybe 3 types of foraging toys: cups on a chain, what i'm calling das boot, and skewers. As I was cleaning and rearranging his cage, I realized that these foraging toys together can hold several days worth of food, such that I don't even have to fuss with morning feedings!

I also got some oversized toys for him in hopes he eventually finds fun in climbing all over them (without any help, they just become decorations rather than toys for his stimulation). I can place stuff on them for him to find.

If I do this, I need ideas of the kinds of food I can use. He clearly won't be able to eat all of it in one day, and I refuse to do daily cleanings, so it can't be anything wet or anything that will spoil in under a day. The best candidates are nuts and seeds, but clearly subsiding on these is essentially an ekkie death sentence. I have his fruit to nuts mix, but I think I've figured out he doesn't like the texture of the dried fruit. Can't even get him to eat raisins. So this mix is essentially nuts to him.

Here are some of the things I'm considering:
uncooked oats (a favorite of his)
assorted uncooked whole grain pastas (another favorite)
uncooked grains (mainly spelt and quinoa)
hemp seeds
nuts
seeds
whole grain crackers
whole grain bread - I assume a little stale bread doesn't necessarily bother them?
flax seeds
Pellets

Anyone have good ideas as to what can be included in this list?

I hide plain original Cheerios too. I also have these little stacking cups from the baby section that I hide things in and place all around his cage. its a great idea to keep them busy and working!

Kiwi does get breakfast, but after its removed, he doesn't have a food dish again until dinner. What he eats during the day is strictly what he can forage. I've been doing this for years and he seems to really enjoy it. There have even been days he'll check the foraging toys before eating his breakfast (hoping to pig out on the more fatty stuff in the foraging toys than his healthy fruit in the dish no doubt lol). I use a (small amount) of seed, nuts and dried fruit for him to forage, since amazons do need some seed and nuts in their diet. But since Parker can't have seeds or nuts, what you have planned out sounds good! And don't forget about no-sugar-added dried fruit too. Personally though, I would fill the foraging toys with just enough each morning he'll eat all/most of it during the day and refill them every morning. While we all have times we might leave dried food in the cage for more than a day, I'm just not at all fond of the concept of leaving any kind of food sitting around too long in a parrots cage.

I know you said he doesn't like dried fruit, but have you tried dried mango strips? They have a much different texture than the chunks of pineapple and chips of banana. I take them and weave them into toys and ribbon them onto a skewer between other foods.

Your post is also reminding me of something I saw at the parrot store and considered buying for Dexter. It's a ring made up of whole in-the-shell walnuts that they can work to get the meat from. The nuts are whole and uncracked, but for the small holes the wire passes through. I didn't buy it because I didn't know if it would be great and last a long time, of if Dexter would figure out how to get into the nuts really quickly and gobble them all down in a giant walnut pig out session. I'm going to have my husband drill a couple of whole walnuts for me to put on a skewer to see how long it takes Dexter the Destroyer to get inside them.

Lafeber Nutriberries would compliment foraging treats and you wouldnt have to do loose seed this way either.

It's a gamble that Parker likes them but these ones are suitable for him and contain some fruits eg
Lafeber NutriBerries Sunny Orchard contains only nutritious, natural ingredients including apricots, raisins and cranberries, rolled into berry shaped pieces and coated with vitamins and minerals.
Be nice to know what you think

details as listed
Cereals, Fruit, Oils & Fats. Minerals and Trace Elements. Contains EC permitted Antioxidants, Colourants and Preservatives.
Analysis
Protein 12.5%
Oil & Fats 8%
Fibre 5%
Ash 5.33%
Vitamin A 8360iu/kg
Vitamin D3 1754iu/kg
Vitamin E alpha tocopherol 59.3iu/kg
Feeding Directions
Small Parrots (Senegals, Caiques etc) 10 berries per day
Medium Parrots (African Greys, Amazons) 15 berries per day
Large Parrots (Macaws, large Cockatoos) 20 berries per day,
These are average amounts and will vary for each individual bird. Monitor your bird`s weight and adjust the amounts accordingly.

Thanks for the ideas!

Dexmom, I have tried dried mangoes. I've been feeling over all the dried fruit in his mix and I'm realizing it's all too tough for him. He has always preferred softer foods.

Plumsmum, I give Parker nutriberries frequently. Glad you brought it up, I forgot about them. Thanks a bunch!

April, I so wish I had that option, that's really ideal. But I'm up at 6:30c and out for work by 8. He goes to bed at 11 so getting him up to eat that early is not feasible. He should still be sleeping. Right now I sneak down just before I leave at 8 to to put his food in his cage and wake him up. But this means the bowl is in the cage all day.

Peppo, GREAT idea, thanks!

I did a post yesterday about Calcium and in that it said soaked figs were a good source. Figs never entered my head before, so would he like those on a skewer perhaps?

Although I think your idea is brilliant, I wonder with your list of foods if Parker will get enough nutrientss. I use a forager putting in plain popcorn, a few nuts, raisins, cinnamon sticks and a few dry foods that come in a prepared dry food package from (Bountiful Harvest), but it's not really for nutrients but for foraging. I would say I put NO more than a tablespoon of these treats in his forager. I still need to give him fresh fruits, veggies, grains, etc....or he will not get the nutrients he needs.

I think it's amazing you don't have to clean your cage daily....share your secret! Oliver's cage gets a quick once-over in the morning and a deeper cleaning each night and a monthly thorough cleaning where everything goes in the dishwasher.

Hey, Chris. I love that you're trying to include more foraging activities in Parker's day. (And since when has he gotten so good with foraging?!? Been holding out on us? Last I heard, you were still working with tp rolls! Lol!)

Personally though, I share Lisa's concerns and my idea of what constitutes the best balance of foraging activity and most complete nutrition more closely resembles her and April's foraging models than what you're proposing. Especially given that your guy is an ekkie.

I just think your planned 50% ratio of food found in cups vs food found via foraging is too high for a largely fresh diet oriented bird. Or rather, too high if no one can be home with him throughout the day so that fresh food could be used in the foraging toys.

Like April, I feed my guy 2 main meals per day. This takes care of his main nutrition. But it also leaves enough room during the day for foraging activities that would keep the edge off, so to speak. So my ratio would be somewhere closer to 5-10 or, at MOST, 15% of his food acquired via foraging activity. And 15% only due to Plumsmum's idea of nutriberries as part of the ingredients list. (And thanks for the breakdown of nutriberry ingredients, Plumsmum. I think you've piqued my interest enough to try using some for Maya and Jolly's foraging activities.)

It's not that your idea is a bad one, Chris. In fact, it shows a lot of consideration for your guy's foraging needs. I just don't think it feasible, at the ratio you're currently considering, for a parrot on a mostly fresh foods diet. I think the balance of his complete nutrition would suffer for your good intentions. Know what I mean?

Oh, and Plumsmum? You mentioned figs as a good source of calcium. Which is 100% accurate. But given the fatty nature of figs, I personally hesitate to feed them in any quantities even approaching significant in a bird that isn't both fully flighted and doing a lot of flight drills on a daily basis.

Birds do eat figs in the wild, but given the amount of flying they do it's hardly a threat to their trim physiques. They need higher energy foods like that to fuel their high level of activity. In most cases of pet birds, that level of activity just isn't happening. It's for that very reason that Jolly (who flies constantly around my house) is allowed a greater amount of fatty foods like nuts, seeds and figs than Maya (who hardly ever takes flight).

Anansi said:

Hey, Chris. I love that you're trying to include more foraging activities in Parker's day. (And since when has he gotten so good with foraging?!? Been holding out on us? Last I heard, you were still working with tp rolls! Lol!)

Personally though, I share Lisa's concerns and my idea of what constitutes the best balance of foraging activity and most complete nutrition more closely resembles her and April's foraging models than what you're proposing. Especially given that your guy is an ekkie.

I just think your planned 50% ratio of food found in cups vs food found via foraging is too high for a largely fresh diet oriented bird. Or rather, too high if no one can be home with him throughout the day so that fresh food could be used in the foraging toys.

Like April, I feed my guy 2 main meals per day. This takes care of his main nutrition. But it also leaves enough room during the day for foraging activities that would keep the edge off, so to speak. So my ratio would be somewhere closer to 5-10 or, at MOST, 15% of his food acquired via foraging activity. And 15% only due to Plumsmum's idea of nutriberries as part of the ingredients list. (And thanks for the breakdown of nutriberry ingredients, Plumsmum. I think you've piqued my interest enough to try using some for Maya and Jolly's foraging activities.)

It's not that your idea is a bad one, Chris. In fact, it shows a lot of consideration for your guy's foraging needs. I just don't think it feasible, at the ratio you're currently considering, for a parrot on a mostly fresh foods diet. I think the balance of his complete nutrition would suffer for your good intentions. Know what I mean?

Oh, and Plumsmum? You mentioned figs as a good source of calcium. Which is 100% accurate. But given the fatty nature of figs, I personally hesitate to feed them in any quantities even approaching significant in a bird that isn't both fully flighted and doing a lot of flight drills on a daily basis.

Birds do eat figs in the wild, but given the amount of flying they do it's hardly a threat to their trim physiques. They need higher energy foods like that to fuel their high level of activity. In most cases of pet birds, that level of activity just isn't happening. It's for that very reason that Jolly (who flies constantly around my house) is allowed a greater amount of fatty foods like nuts, seeds and figs than Maya (who hardly ever takes flight).

Click to expand...

You're welcome re Nutriberries, pleased to help.

I didn't know about figs until yesterday, I didn't know they are fatty also ta very much. But saying that as a foraging food I assumed it would be in minuscule pieces. Hope this works for Parker in terms of recreational activity, something to pique his interest in the day. If I did this for Plum he'd go round all the goodies and forget the about the rest totally.

I completely hear and understand your concerns, Lisa and Stephen. It is something I need to contemplate, and why I'm posting here as a review of possibilities and widen the range of possible foods used.

What you may be missing here is that his second meal is always out of cage upstairs with us (his cage is in the basement); at that point he gets fresh fruit and veg at will. Plus he's out all day on weekends, so that would be 2 meals of complete fruit/veg, plus assorted additives (nutriberries, avi-cakes, bits of healthy treats that we might be eating at the time).

I do encourage you to look at the nutrient content of what has been listed so far and reconsider your thoughts; high in whole grains - fiber and 10% DV iron (human measurements yes, but thats still substantial). Plus the addition of pellets here and there, and nutriberries, I think its a little more rounded than you think, for approximately half the diet. I also need to add dried peppers to this list, which I have in spades right now that he loves (vitamin A and C). Plus you have oats (vitamin B, magnesium, phosphorus), super foods in flax and chia (high in omega acids), and hemp seeds (potassium). All of this is stuff he LOVES to pig out on.

If I were to go through with this, I do need to work him over to pellets for a time before I start this so that he can learn to eat those and not just toss them. Start moist covered in coconut oil for all meals and slowly back off the moisture until he's eating dry pellets. Then they can be mixed into everything else and put into foragers.

Lots to contemplate, were I to actually go through with this!

Plumsmum, aside from what Stephen told you (which is absolutely true!), there are 2 problems: 1) Parker HATES figs, I've tried a few times to get him to eat them, and he throws them as far as he can, and 2) they are too wet and sugary, i'd be worried about spoilage while I'm out of the house. Keep the recommendations coming though, please!

I can also leave sprouts available in his food bowl. He more or less likes these and will eat them, but he does go for other stuff first and sort of picks out what he likes. Usually the spelt and chickpeas

Just adding kale chips to this list. Still debating but using this thread as a sort of diary of options.

I've started cooking my own "pellets" and I've purchased a dehydrator for kale, sweet potato and carrot chips.

Maybe cooking some stuff for your Parker might work for you.
My personal recipe:
All organic
1 giant yam, cooked with peeled
1 small butternut squash, cooked with peeled
2 red peppers, cooked peeled with some seeds
1 jalapeno, finely chopped all seeds
1 chili pepper, finely chopped all seeds
1 bunch of kale, with stems removed finely chopped
1 bunch of mustard greens, with stems removed finely chopped
2 radishes with greens, finely chopped
2 carrots with green,s finely chopped
1 kiwi, peeled finely chopped
half an apple, peeled finely chopped
1 cucumer, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of sprouted quino
1 tablespoon of brown rice flour
1 tablespoon of coconut flour
2 tablespoons of crushed goldenfeast goldn' obles
1 tablespoon of crushed harrison's lifetime
1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
1 tablespood of gogie berries, finely chopped
5 raspberries, mahed
5 blackberries, mashed
pinch of hemp seeds
pinch of flax seeds
1/4 of an egg

mush them all together, blend it all into a thick sticky mess. spread on a pizza stone as thin as you can make it and cook in the oven on your lowest setting for several hours. take it out and use a pizza slicer to make tiny tiny squares. put back in oven on low heat for several hours. take it out again and break up the squares and put back in oven until they're crunchy. takes about 8 hours.

Be prepared to make the biggest mess you've ever made, dirty up every single dish you have, change your clothes twice and to drop a lot of F bombs.

But Uglow LOVES them. My goal was to mix these with his fresh food to get him to eat his fresh stuff more frequently rather than just pick at it. It's starting to work but it's a slow process.

ANYWAY, they have a longer shelf life than fresh foods and are easy to use in wrapped paper style foraging toys.

Cooked then dehydrated beans are another good foraging food that I use that won't sour.