Post by eblues on Dec 25, 2018 1:25:00 GMT -7
This past Summer our AG started plucking badly. The vet said our 15 year old male was sexually frustrated, and suggested (among other things) we buy or make some foraging toys to help distract him. So I bought a half dozen toys from Amazon. I wanted to share my thoughts on these toys somewhere on the Internet... What I put in them, how convenient and effective I found them to be, and which ones I think are worth the money. so here I am.
I would appreciate any feedback, including experiences with these toys others may have, if there are any suggestions for using different treats effectively, or if there are other foraging toys available that come highly recommended.
While I'm interested to hear what different treats others may be using, I should point out that Jax is *very* finicky and stubborn. He likes his Zupreem Fruitblend for a main diet, will eat all the sunflower seeds or seed mixes I give him, and has started taking Nutri-berries, but that is about it. He might retrieve a peanut he's disposed of on the floor, if that's the only thing available. Other than occasionally picking some shredded cheese from my tacos or having a sip of iced tea, there is no other food he is interested in. He turns is nose up at any and all fresh veggies that we've tried, won't even try a taste of other human foods such as peanut butter, yogurt, cereal, chicken, burgers, fish, etc. I usually offer him some of whatever I'm eating. His reply is almost always the same... "no thanks".
On to the toys,
First the winners:
When I give one of these toys to Jax, he can pretty much empty 90%-100% of the treats, and will typically stay on the job until he's done so.
Super Bird Creations Bottoms Up: This one is pretty good. Took Jax a couple days to figure it out. Provides a 20-30 minute distraction when cups are 3/4 filled with Higgins VitaSeed (a mix heavy on Sunflower seeds). Initially, much of the treat ended up on the floor, as Jax would slam the cups violently about out of frustration. Now that he's more adept with it, that doesn't happen as much. This toy gets a good convenience score. It's easy to fill and hang. Being a hanging toy, it doesn't require being installed in a cage, it can also be used on stand alone perches, jungle gyms, etc. I haven't tried anything other than the Higgins VitaSeed in this one. The cups are on the small side, but you could probably get 3 or 4 Nutri-berries or peanuts in each cup.
Paradise Toys Bird Creative Foraging System Wheel. The Front spins and has a small knob and a couple of smallish holes to access the five treat compartments. The Higgins VitaSeed works well in this one too, and I haven't tried anything else. This one is also good for 20-30 minutes of activity. Jax has tried his best to bust the front completely off, but so far it has held up. The access holes are too tight for Nutri-berries or peanuts, but if you have an especially tenacious bird, they might be able to get them out in pieces (and spend a lot of time doing so). This one is a little less convenient to fill. After removing it from the cage, you have to remove a screw to take off the front and fill the 5 compartments. It attaches to the cage via a large plastic screw-on cap, which goes on and off a lot faster than the typical metal bolt and wing nut arrangement. However, you have to be careful of not over tightening and cracking the plastic.
Niteangel Parrot Creative Foraging Systems, Foraging Wheel. Similar to the one above, but with this one the whole thing spins, and the treats have to be worked passed the obstacles by spinning the wheel round and round. This one attaches to the cage via metal bolt and wing nut. The bolt is on the long side, so it takes a while to get the wing nut tightened down. Also, this ones doesn't come apart, so not as convenient to fill. I use a measuring cup with a spout to pour in the Higgin's Mix, that works fairly well. Can't use treats larger than the access hole. Also no way to clean the insides other than rinsing it out with some water and a good shake, so not good for messy treats.
KINTOR Parrot Creative Foraging Toy Feeder. I was on the fence about this one at first. It took me a while to figure out how to use it effectively. This one is no good for sunflower seed sized treats. They would just pour out the larger holes. The larger holes are just about the right size for Nutri-berries. Normal sized berries are slightly larger than the holes. Smaller berries will pass right through. The image shows peanuts, and it would be good with that treat, but our bird has only a very minor passing interest in peanuts. He'll eat one once in a while, but he's not going to work for them. This box hung on Jax's jungle gym full of peanuts for 3 days, and he never touched it. I next tried Nutri-berries, and we were in business! However, the design of the box is not that well thought out. There are only very small holes around the bottom of the box. Too small for an AG to get his beak into. So if filled with Nutri-berries (or peanuts), the bottom inch or so will never be able to be accessed, which I see as a source of frustration for the bird. To avoid that, I tried layering crinkled news paper in the bottom, which worked somewhat but not great. Next I tried individually wrapping the Nutri-berries in newspaper, leaving twisted ends (looks kinda like a bow tie). I would stick the bow tie ends out the holes. This worked, but wrapping the berries is somewhat time consuming, so this process gets a low score for lack of convenience. Finally, I tried inserting a piece of 1.5" PVC cut to just the right length to cover the bottom end to end. This has worked out great. The PVC keeps the Nutri-berries elevated near the larger holes, and, the curve of the pipe directs the berries in the middle towards the sides as it's emptied. Jax is now able to empty the container every time. I put in 9 or 10 Nutri-berries (it can hold a LOT more), and this provides 10-15 minutes of activity. The top of this toy is secured with two plastic bolts and nuts. You have to undo one side to get the top off. I replaced one of the bolts with a metal spring loaded fastener (like this), and now this is a very convenient toy to fill. Jax and I both love it.
As a side note, Jax is really odd about Nutri-berries. If I put one anywhere within easy access, like on a shelf or in the food bowl, Jax won't touch it. But when they're in this box, he goes after them relentlessly until he's extracted them all, and he even goes to the floor to pick up the scraps when the box has been emptied. Which brings up one other point for those not familiar with Nutri-berries... they break up easily and make a lot of crumbs which fall to the floor. So you want to put down clean paper before feeding them.
Ok, now for the losers:
Creative Foraging SystemsPush & Pull Pet Bird Feeder. I found this one to be fairly useless. Smaller treats such as the Higgins VitaSeed mix, just fall right through to the bottom without any manipulation. Nutri-berries are too big, and won't fall through at all. I just couldn't think of any treat that would work well in this toy. Although, if there was a treat that would work well, I think it would be more challenging to master, and more time consuming for the bird than the others.
Super Bird Creations PVC Forager Toy. OK, to be fair, mine came with one of the covers missing, which made things worse. However, I still found this toy to be too unstable, and Jax was pretty much dumping everything on the floor straight away by tipping it sideways.
That wraps up my experiences with foraging toys. Looking forward to what others have found in the way of effective and convenient foraging toys.
Herman
I would appreciate any feedback, including experiences with these toys others may have, if there are any suggestions for using different treats effectively, or if there are other foraging toys available that come highly recommended.
While I'm interested to hear what different treats others may be using, I should point out that Jax is *very* finicky and stubborn. He likes his Zupreem Fruitblend for a main diet, will eat all the sunflower seeds or seed mixes I give him, and has started taking Nutri-berries, but that is about it. He might retrieve a peanut he's disposed of on the floor, if that's the only thing available. Other than occasionally picking some shredded cheese from my tacos or having a sip of iced tea, there is no other food he is interested in. He turns is nose up at any and all fresh veggies that we've tried, won't even try a taste of other human foods such as peanut butter, yogurt, cereal, chicken, burgers, fish, etc. I usually offer him some of whatever I'm eating. His reply is almost always the same... "no thanks".
On to the toys,
First the winners:
When I give one of these toys to Jax, he can pretty much empty 90%-100% of the treats, and will typically stay on the job until he's done so.
Super Bird Creations Bottoms Up: This one is pretty good. Took Jax a couple days to figure it out. Provides a 20-30 minute distraction when cups are 3/4 filled with Higgins VitaSeed (a mix heavy on Sunflower seeds). Initially, much of the treat ended up on the floor, as Jax would slam the cups violently about out of frustration. Now that he's more adept with it, that doesn't happen as much. This toy gets a good convenience score. It's easy to fill and hang. Being a hanging toy, it doesn't require being installed in a cage, it can also be used on stand alone perches, jungle gyms, etc. I haven't tried anything other than the Higgins VitaSeed in this one. The cups are on the small side, but you could probably get 3 or 4 Nutri-berries or peanuts in each cup. Paradise Toys Bird Creative Foraging System Wheel. The Front spins and has a small knob and a couple of smallish holes to access the five treat compartments. The Higgins VitaSeed works well in this one too, and I haven't tried anything else. This one is also good for 20-30 minutes of activity. Jax has tried his best to bust the front completely off, but so far it has held up. The access holes are too tight for Nutri-berries or peanuts, but if you have an especially tenacious bird, they might be able to get them out in pieces (and spend a lot of time doing so). This one is a little less convenient to fill. After removing it from the cage, you have to remove a screw to take off the front and fill the 5 compartments. It attaches to the cage via a large plastic screw-on cap, which goes on and off a lot faster than the typical metal bolt and wing nut arrangement. However, you have to be careful of not over tightening and cracking the plastic.Niteangel Parrot Creative Foraging Systems, Foraging Wheel. Similar to the one above, but with this one the whole thing spins, and the treats have to be worked passed the obstacles by spinning the wheel round and round. This one attaches to the cage via metal bolt and wing nut. The bolt is on the long side, so it takes a while to get the wing nut tightened down. Also, this ones doesn't come apart, so not as convenient to fill. I use a measuring cup with a spout to pour in the Higgin's Mix, that works fairly well. Can't use treats larger than the access hole. Also no way to clean the insides other than rinsing it out with some water and a good shake, so not good for messy treats.KINTOR Parrot Creative Foraging Toy Feeder. I was on the fence about this one at first. It took me a while to figure out how to use it effectively. This one is no good for sunflower seed sized treats. They would just pour out the larger holes. The larger holes are just about the right size for Nutri-berries. Normal sized berries are slightly larger than the holes. Smaller berries will pass right through. The image shows peanuts, and it would be good with that treat, but our bird has only a very minor passing interest in peanuts. He'll eat one once in a while, but he's not going to work for them. This box hung on Jax's jungle gym full of peanuts for 3 days, and he never touched it. I next tried Nutri-berries, and we were in business! However, the design of the box is not that well thought out. There are only very small holes around the bottom of the box. Too small for an AG to get his beak into. So if filled with Nutri-berries (or peanuts), the bottom inch or so will never be able to be accessed, which I see as a source of frustration for the bird. To avoid that, I tried layering crinkled news paper in the bottom, which worked somewhat but not great. Next I tried individually wrapping the Nutri-berries in newspaper, leaving twisted ends (looks kinda like a bow tie). I would stick the bow tie ends out the holes. This worked, but wrapping the berries is somewhat time consuming, so this process gets a low score for lack of convenience. Finally, I tried inserting a piece of 1.5" PVC cut to just the right length to cover the bottom end to end. This has worked out great. The PVC keeps the Nutri-berries elevated near the larger holes, and, the curve of the pipe directs the berries in the middle towards the sides as it's emptied. Jax is now able to empty the container every time. I put in 9 or 10 Nutri-berries (it can hold a LOT more), and this provides 10-15 minutes of activity. The top of this toy is secured with two plastic bolts and nuts. You have to undo one side to get the top off. I replaced one of the bolts with a metal spring loaded fastener (like this), and now this is a very convenient toy to fill. Jax and I both love it.As a side note, Jax is really odd about Nutri-berries. If I put one anywhere within easy access, like on a shelf or in the food bowl, Jax won't touch it. But when they're in this box, he goes after them relentlessly until he's extracted them all, and he even goes to the floor to pick up the scraps when the box has been emptied. Which brings up one other point for those not familiar with Nutri-berries... they break up easily and make a lot of crumbs which fall to the floor. So you want to put down clean paper before feeding them.
Ok, now for the losers:
Creative Foraging SystemsPush & Pull Pet Bird Feeder. I found this one to be fairly useless. Smaller treats such as the Higgins VitaSeed mix, just fall right through to the bottom without any manipulation. Nutri-berries are too big, and won't fall through at all. I just couldn't think of any treat that would work well in this toy. Although, if there was a treat that would work well, I think it would be more challenging to master, and more time consuming for the bird than the others.Super Bird Creations PVC Forager Toy. OK, to be fair, mine came with one of the covers missing, which made things worse. However, I still found this toy to be too unstable, and Jax was pretty much dumping everything on the floor straight away by tipping it sideways.That wraps up my experiences with foraging toys. Looking forward to what others have found in the way of effective and convenient foraging toys.
Herman
