How To Keep Birds Busy - In Cage Toys & Foraging

Environment is toys
I try to merge the cage environment with toys by keeping everything rather tactile. Different textures can spark interest and stimulate play or chewing (two important parroty things to do.) Some things in my cages are 'staple' and will last and last, other things are expected to be destroyed over a long period of time and others destroyed and replaced frequently. I usually stock the same toys over and over, if they've destroyed it once they'll do it again. Like they say "A toy destroyed is a toy enjoyed!"

To follow are some of my birds favourites...

I'd be keen to know what toys your birds enjoy!?!?

Staple items:

• On the back wall of each cage I have a net for climbing attached with thick quicklinks. This has a couple of perches poking out so there's little stop off destinations. I usually have hanging toys dangling at the edge of the perches so there's something to investigate or destroy once situated on a perch. Climbing this net and getting a feel for the rope in their beak can encourage them to chew.
  
  
• A hanging hol-ee roller which has a bell inside it, sometimes I put a bit of millet spray inside to encourage a bit of a forage.
  
  
• Rope boing. My guys love these! They tend to sleep on them quite often. The movement means the birds get to exercise their balance and use their muscles while just hanging out.
  
  
• Stainless steel tube bell. (With no access to the dingling bit - safer)
  

Replaced occasionally :

• A seagrass mat with foraging cups hanging from it. I hand feed a couple of treats so my guys get all excited and are watching my hand expecting me to give them another treat, but then I show them me putting the treats into the foraging cups. Sometimes they go for them straight away, other times they don't fish them out until later. The cups have little plastic discs covering their tops which can be chewed or tugged out the way (as they are threaded on string).
  
  
• I have a perch with a spinning end, the perch can be stripped (should your bird be inclined - only one of mine strips the outer part of the perch) and the blocks can be spun or chewed.
  
  
• Wooden ring swing. Great for beaking around and nibbling on.
  NOTE: I REMOVE THE ROPE FROM THIS TOY TO AVOID TANGLED TOES!
  
  
• Cholla cactus perch, they can nibble at it, you can poke treats in the holes. Be sure to put this in a location where it is fairly high up or away from food and water bowls as they trap unpleasantness if you get my drift.
  
  
• Seagrass activity wall with various things to beak at and chew.
  
  
• Plastic geometric shape chain. These individual links can be opened and closed, so I usually attach something to the end, either a pinata toy or the ball that comes with the seagrass foraging wall.
  

Replaced more frequently

• Paper shredding toy which unveils blocks to chew once all the paper has been removed.
  
• Pinata style toy.
  
• Woven pineapple, seems to take my guys ages to completely destroy these. You can poke treats into the weave to be foraged out.
  
• Heart foraging box. You can stuff goodies in here and it will take them ages to chew their way through! I usually shove a couple of banana chips in there.
  
• Box foraging swing. Not much of a swing for larger birds (It's too small). I just hang one on the side of the cage (quite low down so it's accessible from the cage floor to avoid falls) and hide treats in the little box doors. Lots of shredding fun.
  

I like making stuff. Refillable toy skewers and toy boxes are my favorites. I use dinosaur figurines, paper plates, napkins, paper cups, paper straws, tissue paper, cardboard, egg crates, rattles, rubber ducks, wood pieces, puzzle pieces, plastic pieces, foam, Daisy’s, mats, other shredders, and stuff.

Destruction from this morning in the cockatoo cage.

What a wonderful thread, and well thought out. Thank you! Very well done

Wow riddick07! Those are some mighty fine toys! You're making me want to play with them Thank you so much for sharing, very inspiring stuff!!! I'm sorry, but I can't possibly show those to my flock - they'll expect them all from me immediately! You've definitely raised the bar in this ekkie household. Looks like I'm going to be very busy in the coming weeks...

Thanks chris_md! I just thought it'd be nice to share with everyone what toys I've had ekkie approval from and the theory behind their use. I figured it might help someone else with some strategy in their own cages, while also offering a place for people to share what toys they've had success with. There's so many toys available out there, and it can be difficult deciding what to buy / make. I'm already inspired by the goodies riddick07 has shared
Let's hope a few more folk join in and share...

Guys... Brilliant brilliant thread...
Absolutely love this.
Violet - special thanks for starting this
Riddick - you make me jealous dude... But picking up a lot of inspiration from there... so Thank you...


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Food Foraging
One of the main points to food foraging is to keep the birds mentally stimulated while getting them to 'work' for their food. Just having a bowl of food with easy or all day access can make for a boring meal - leaving lots of time free for squawking, plucking and mischief.
By providing options to extend the time it takes to eat, birds get a workout while having to problem solve and this means their days are more similar to that of their wild relatives. Food foraging is great in general, but if you have a job, I'd definitely recommend you provide your fid(s) with some foraging options if you don't already. It can keep those beaks and brains busy until you come home.

Recently I found a woven basket food foraging toy on sale (now out of stock).
It comprises of two woven baskets threaded onto a central wire so that they fiit together like a kind of like two coconut halves. I started using it to put the seeds in to stretch out the scoffing!



The boys both loved their's, and so did Bella, it's just that she tore hers to shreds way too fast! So this made me start looking for a coconut alternative.
I found this colourful coconut forager



LOVE them! They are great! They have some fun shredding goodness within already, but have little holes in the top so you can poke goodies in (treats/pellets). The two halves also come apart slightly. This toy should be able to be used many times without needing to be replaced & will hold up to Bellas beak! Once the original 'shredding goodness' within has been removed, I can easily refill with shredded paper and the fun starts again! There are a few blocks attached which could also be replaced once chewed.

Here's Gerrys first attempt to forage from the new colourful coconut forager

[ame="https://youtu.be/0I8spgaV2lo"]Male Vosmaeri Eclectus Parrot (Gerry) colourful coconut forager (first attempt) - YouTube[/ame]

I also found these
Nesting nuts foragers
They are great for filling with treats, small foot toys and shredded paper! NOTE: IF YOU DO NOT TRUST THE SOFT ROPE USED IN THIS PRODUCT, YOU COULD ALWAYS REPLACE IT WITH UNTREATED SISAL INSTEAD.



I hang foraging toys from the cage ceiling so the birds have to climb to get the goodies inside.

NOTE: If your bird is not a confident climber or hasn't got a good grip and you worry they could fall while foraging - alternatively you can hang the foraging toy from the side of the cage, low down, so that they can be accessed from the cage floor - but hang them so the birdy still has to stretch up and work a little!

A good starter foraging opportunity I saw was very simply a bit of paper over the food bowl tucked into the housing holding the bowl, making the birdy chew through the paper to get the food. Simple cheap and fun for a parrot newb to foraging

LordTriggs said:

A good starter foraging opportunity I saw was very simply a bit of paper over the food bowl tucked into the housing holding the bowl, making the birdy chew through the paper to get the food. Simple cheap and fun for a parrot newb to foraging

Click to expand...

That's a very simple and effective way to start the foraging fun!
Though in my case, Bellas beak would make very light work of paper...
which makes me wonder if I could do something similar with card instead...

quite possibly. One I did was put some treats in an egg carton. Cut the hinge of the carton and left the lid loose on top. Move the lid, find some treats.

Of course fruit kabobs and just hiding little treats in among normal toys are good too. To interest Rio in his new toys I would split open a raisin (his favourite) and use the gooey juices to stick it to a toy, instantly he would become interested

Watching my fids on the webcam while at work, I can see that they usually prefer bowl-meals (especially the GCC). But when they see a treat inserted into a foraging toy, they'll usually work at it for a bit. I'm wondering how safe it would be to remove the food-bin alone (not water) before work, leaving food only in foraging toys? It's probably not a good thing to do to a bird that is quite used to accessible food.

Mochi and Mango mostly sleep and fluff when we're not home, but they could certainly put their beaks and brains to work as Violet recommends