Yes, I admit it. I've been spoiling Nani lately. I ordered a toy from a new shop I found through facebook and Nani loves it! They even sent a free toy which she has since happily dismantled. We sent in a photo for the "customer's pets" page and they put it up! See it here, that's my beautiful birdie all the way at the bottom!

As some of you already know I have a shop on Etsy.com. I absolutely love Etsy, not only as a shop owner but also as a purchasing connoisseur (see how fancy that sounds?).
Nani has been in desperate need of toys lately. On one miserable day she was getting into everything; chewing on cords, flying to my head only to poop there, screaming constantly, and generally being a little menace. I had had enough! I happened to be working on my shop and decided to take a quick look to see if anyone made affordable handmade parrot toys. Sure enough there were several shops to choose from. I placed an order with Zeek's Beak and within days I received my order. Nani loves her new toys:

They were packaged so adorably with pink tissue paper and little bows. Not only that but I got 2 (count them) TWO free gifts with my order!

I have also ordered from Wysper Creations and was equally impressed. She's a Caique owner and fellow Minnesotan as well.

Nani is a fun bird to watch. Her antics while playing are so entertaining, I never get bored when she's around. Bird toys can be expensive especially because she gets bored with them after about 1 day! I'm still in shock, Watson my Quaker never got bored with his favs. That's what I get for falling in love with a Caique. Anyway, I check out garage sales and second hand stores for baby toys that are appropriate for her size. NOTE: I do not choose toys with exposed metal screws or those that can be easily broken and taken apart for safety reasons. Here's a quick video of her playing around:

Well, maybe not luxury but she's sure upgraded. Last summer when we took her home I wanted to have a nice play gym for her to enjoy but couldn't afford to buy one. Caiques are quite expensive and I bought the largest cage I could find so my funds were pretty much wiped out. I decided to make my own out of tree branches. So I did some research to be sure I'd be giving her branches that weren't poisonous and ended up choosing Sumac (not Poison Sumac mind you, Rhus typhina which is not poisonous at all and it's flowers can even be consumed). It didn't turn out too bad but it definitely looked home made. Another problem was since the branches sprawled out so much I had to lay newspaper all over the surrounding floor which looked bad and never stayed in place so I had bird bombs all over the place anyway.

This toy was a great suggestion I found on a forum. Get a phonebook, drill a hole, and hang it from the cage. That simple! At first I thought a regular sized phonebook would be way to large for Nani. But the local smaller ones are perfect! We live in an apartment and tons of phonebooks are left at the front entrance. Well being nobody uses phonebooks anymore (they just sit there for weeks) I took a stack of the smaller ones for toys. I wasn't sure how she'd react...it was a HUGE hit! You can see her initial reaction below.

Hello to all my new readers! Nani and I would like to thank you for stopping by. Please note that on the right side of the page, just below "Categories" is a link to "Follow This Blog". Once you click on the link you will be able to choose to follow publicly or privately. By choosing to follow The Doodle Bird Blog you can stay updated with this blog's posts on your Blogger Dashboard.

Supplies:

• 1 unfinished wooden cup with loose fitting lid (can be found at most craft stores)


• 1 wooden flower cutout


• 1 quick link clasp


• 12" section of nickel plated chain


• 1 bird safe bell

1. Start by drilling a small hole in the center of the flower cutout, wooden box, and lid. You may also want to dye the pieces different colors using food grade coloring.




2. Attach the bell at one end, and thread the other end through the holes starting at the bottom of the box. Finally, attach the quick link clasp at the top and hang.

3. Put one of your birds favorite treats in the cup. At first you may want to show him what you're putting in. For some you may need to demonstrate how to get the treat out. Give it some time, eventually he will get it.

I just wanted to share a new toy company with everyone. Koo-Ba-Lee Zoo offers a handful of affordable, unique, bird safe toys. I first came across this company a few weeks ago before they had a website up. Today I received an email with the new site. They are just starting up so there is only a small quantity of toys available, but I think they definitely have the potential to grow.

While at a local second hand store (where I frequently go to find possible toys for Nani) I came across this roll of black honeycomb type plastic ribbon for a dollar. I'm really not sure what it's used for, but I thought it might make a good foraging toy because the holes were the perfect size. I suppose this material wouldn't work for larger parrots, but small to medium sized birds would be fine. At the dollar store I picked up a roll of red ribbon and went home to start my creation. I wasn't sure if Nani would try it out, but it ended up being a hit! So for only $2 I can make multiple foraging toys...not bad.

One of Nani's first (and now favorite) foraging toys is the Tiki Takeout by Nature's Instinct Foragewise toys. I removed the first set of larger wood sticks due to the fact that she's a smaller bird and initially lost interest because it was too hard for her to get at the goods. She still has to work for it though, and seems to really enjoy this toy! Below are a few photos and video:

This was the first foraging idea I tried on Nani, and it was an immediate success! I think her "natural instinct" to attack and destroy paper of any kind helped too. This is a very, very inexpensive way to incorporate foraging into your birds daily feedings.

First, take several sheets of paper (in this case I used printer paper) and cut them into 4" x 4" squares.

Next, place various food items in the center of each piece of paper such as nuts, dried fruit, and pellets. Make sure you only put a few morsels in each wrapper or your bird will fill up after just one "candy".

Then fold two facing sides toward the center, covering the food treat.

Finally, twist the remaining two sides just like the plastic on a piece of hard candy and give it to your bird. I also place these candies in and around her cage to discover. You can hang them in the chain on toys, inside play huts, in between the bars on the cage, etc.

Once your bird gets the hang of opening up the paper, try using several sheets folded instead of one or a thicker paper like construction paper to make things more challenging.

How important is foraging? In the wild parrots exhibit four main behaviors: socializing, grooming, sleeping, and foraging. Most of the day, over two thirds, is spent foraging for food. In captivity, however, our pets rarely spend time foraging. Why? Because we serve them their food on a silver platter. What's the result? A fat bird! A bored bird! A perch potato! Many birds whose minds are not stimulated with toys and foraging opportunities become feather pluckers, self mutilating themselves. A little known fact is feather plucking can be "treated" with foraging toys and activities. It may or may not "cure" the bird, but either way the destructive behaviors should improve. So how can we as parrot owners provide foraging fun for our pets? Here are some suggestions:

• First, the bird may be a little rusty on his foraging skills, so it is our job to teach him. You'll probably have to show him where the treats/food is.
  
• Second, for the "lazy" bird, why would he bother working for food if he has a full bowl of goodies? I'm not saying its always a good idea to remove the food bowl entirely, at least not at first. But limit the amount of food you put in and save treats for foraging. You can also try covering the food bowl with a paper towel and rubber band (at first make a little hole so he can see whats inside, once he gets it you can stop making holes).
  
• Hide food. I cut up small portions of paper and put a few nuts or dried fruit in the center. Then I roll it up like a candy wrapper and hide these throughout Nani's cage, rarely in the same spots. To make her work a bit harder I will use paper cups (the cone kind) to wrap up the treats because its a little tougher to chew open.
  
• Buy little cardboard boxes (or wooden boxes with no metal hardware) from the craft store to fill. For added entertainment, fill it with shredded paper so he has to dig for the food.
  
• Find pine cones outside (only where you are absolutely positive there has been no pesticides used) and stuff nuts, pellets, and other goodies inside. You can hang these from a string (see video below) so the bird has to figure out how to get at it.
  
• Once he learns how to forage, don't always put a food item inside. This will keep him guessing.
  
• Get some natural branches to stick in or around his cage and skewer some grapes or other favorites in various spots so they have to climb around to get them. WARNING: Make sure you choose branches that are bird safe. Here's a list of safe/unsafe plants.
  
• Other possible foraging containers are: egg cartons, brown paper bags, cereal boxes, coffee filters, corn husks/tamale wrapping, plastic colored eggs (you can make holes in them), natural wicker baskets (no paint or stains), small plastic containers.

Here are a few videos of Nani with some handmade foraging toys I made. One is a pinecone with bits of nuts and dried fruit stuck inside, and the other is a paper cup with a treat in it. In the first video you can see she is interested but doesn't know how to get at the treat. She gets frustrated and climbs away to play for awhile. In the second video, taken a few hours later, she decides to give it another try and this time she's rewarded for her efforts!

Below are some commercially available foraging toys to try:

Barrel Of Fun

Learn 'n Turn Logs

Birdie Plunk

Quaker Jack Pizza

More foraging resources:

• Captive Foraging DVD
• Captive Foraging Foot Toys (video)
• Parrot Toys and Play Areas
• Teach Your Bird To Forage & Avoid Destructive Behaviors
• Foraging: It's For The Birds (video)
• Captive Foraging For Parrots Blog
• The Parrot Enrichment Activity Book (free download)
• Birds Just Wanna Have Fun Toys