Enhancing a Toy



Cardboard enhances complexity of toy.

 Lucy, my scarlet macaw, totally trashes most toys in a matter of hours.  I am a proponent of using skewers to quickly create a challenging toy with wood pieces, sunshine wheels, birdy bagels, and other toy parts.  To increase the play time for Lucy, I wrap each piece with corrugated cardboard.  This seems to lengthen the life of the toy enrichment for three extra days!
 
Another idea is to take any toy and simply insert it into a brown paper bag before hanging it in the cage.  This makes a new toy less scary and makes an old "boring" toy like a new pinata.

Adding something fun to a cage only takes a few minutes if you plan accordingly.  And, it really makes the day for your parrot!

Nyia's Breakfast Basket

Nyia is a wonderful Congo African Grey who is spending some time here this week.  She has a few feather issues so it's my job to keep her busy.  I fill her foraging cages frequently.  She's a busy little girl! 

She didn't eat her breakfast as well as I would have liked when it was presented in a "normal bowl".  So, I saw what she did enjoy which was her foraging cage toy.  I have a few of those! 

I added a second breakfast to her cage.  This time it was installed inside a stainless steel foraging cage and hung up in the corner where she liked to hang out.  The cooked yams, carrots,  and fennel, along with some crisp Fuji apple and banana were interspersed with the small toys inside.  She spent all morning just nibbling away at this!  I think she ate most of it too!  Sometimes you have to think outside the box.

These foraging cages can go right into the dishwasher, voila!  Clean and ready for action.