A very simple concept, foraging! For parrots, this is a very important process to include in our captive parrots’ lives. However for some of us it seems like a struggle to always have to think of some way to make toys into Foraging options.
Well, when I first got into foraging, I thought to myself, “I have to do this every day?” And to be honest the answer is yes. Some days I just want to give them their food bowls and walk away but what am I doing to them if I do that?
Foraging is extremely important to add into your parrots’ life. Even if you think your bird doesnt need it, trust me they do. Imagine never being stimulated? Entertained? Taught? Challenged? Kept busy? What would happen to your mind? Its never too late to start even if your parrot is 50 yrs old.
The easiest way to provide foraging options is simple and fast. The picture I have above can start with just fruits and veggies hanging on it. The stimulus would be how to eat the food off of the skewer, easy right? To add complexity add the cardboard, paper etc. Just add stuff that can keep the food hidden so they have to work to see and get to the food.
The next option is to put a nutriberry or whatever they like in a water filter paper cup and just crush up the top so they have to RIP up the cup to access the nutriberry.
Another option, which I’m sure you’ve already heard me mention before is covering their food dishes with paper. Now if this is new to them I would rip a huge hole so they can see that there is food behind the paper and everyday the hole gets smaller and smaller until you can completely cover their food bowls with no holes in it and they will know what to do.
So, as you can see it’s easy to start.
Do you make your parrot(s) forage? If so, how did you start? Please let everyone know by putting how you started in the comments.
