GCC Enrichment/ Foraging

[SMini13]

Hello All!
Looking for some ideas on homemade enrichment foraging boxes.
My little girl amelia is a little skittish with new things but i think she would LOVE digging around in a box or two.. she loved "helping" me wrap christmas gifts..
What can i use for boxes and what should i stay away from?
Should i invest i making treats and putting them in the bottom of the boxes?
What can i fill the boxes with?
.. just want to make sure what I'm going to give her is bird safe, but fun for her !

thanks

-Sam

 

[Calpurnia]

Most containers are fair game: woven baskets, large tupperware, tissue boxes with the top ripped off, shoeboxes, extra food, or small metal pails.

We fill ours with discarded toy parts, large wooden or plastic beads, strips of paper, chunks of veggies, etc.

For the littles we will sprinkle millet over the entire thing and for our Sennie we will add a few nuts in the shell or nutriberry chunks. These boxes don't have to be anything fancy and for us act mostly like garbage bins for whatever odds and ends we might have otherwise thrown away.

 

[Jobot]

This video has some great ideas. Really easy to scale up for any bird a little larger than a parrotlet.
I also use a small bowl for foraging. Fill it with shredded paper or pine shavings and then sprinkle some treats on it. He will spend a good long time foraging this way. I also do what I call "foraging pretzels" where I take a long strip of paper about an inch or so wide, and fold it in half, then open it back up and sprinkle a trail of treats in the center running almost the length of the strip of paper. Carefully, I close it and then twist it up tight and tie it into a little knot. He can spend hours on these. If this doesn't make sense, I can show you with pictures later.

 

[Monica]

There's a lot of great ideas out there! Here's two sites with a lot of great info!


Parrot Enrichment

Foraging for Parrots