Foraging issues

[Butchsmom]

Hi Guys,
I am having some issues with Bop, my military macaw. I have been trying to get him into foraging more for his food. I only use his food bowl for his chop in the morning and his nuts. His pellets get put into foraging toys. His preferred one is a plastic wheel with compartments you fill and then he has to spin it to get to the part he wants and then get his beak through the hole to get the food. Unfortunately, what Bop does is empty out the toy within 5 minutes, not by eating the pellets, but by throwing them all to the floor. How do I get him to stop it?

Cheryl

 

[TikiMyn]

First thing I would probably try is mixing the pellets with small toy parts and crumbled or sprinkle paper. Now he has to look through those as well, which could make it more interesting for him. He might decide that he does want to eat a pellet than. if he really doesn't want to eat the pellets out of the toy, just fill it with toy parts, beads and paper. Maybe he will eat nuts if you hide them between the non food stuff?

 

[saroj12]

If you give him nuts along with the pellets he is going to prefer filling up on the nuts and not eat the pellets! I only give nuts just before lights out, last thing at night.

 

[TikiMyn]

Saroj is completly right, I meant Put the nuts he normally gets in his food bowl in the foraging toy

 

[Jas]

Saroj is completly right, I meant Put the nuts he normally gets in his food bowl in the foraging toy

That's what I do with my guys, plus they seem to enjoy them more as they have worked hard for it.

 

[Chantilly Lace]

I do nuts in foraging toys, and hard ones. The log toy with 4 compartments is a good one. I have every single foraging toy made, I swear, and most of the allegedly indestructible toys are definitely not! And most are just way too easy for them. Honestly the best thing I found is to take maybe 8 inch pieces of the 2 x 4 and use one of those drillbits were you could make a three-quarter inch hole in the wood and I dig about 10 holes on each side in different spots on each side so that the holes don’t connect, and then you can hammer shelled raw (my birds much prefer raw) almonds in the holes, and it takes them a very long time to dig them out. Hours and hours.