First, you need spring roll wrappers, found in some supermarkets in the ‘ethnic section’ or in Asian supermarkets. There are various kinds, but I buy the kind that has rice flour only as an ingredient (it’s possible my parrot Pepper is sensitive to wheat, and makes her toe tap). I settled on ‘Two Parrots’ brand (how perfect!)

All you need to do is wet the spring roll wrappers, fill with various vegetables, and roll.  First fill with veggies and fruit (I use shredded carrots, sugar snap peas, string beans, pepper strips, pieces of apple, grapes, cranberries, edamame beans…whatever I have on hand)

Then roll up.  First fold in each side a little bit, then roll from the bottom, until you have something like this:

Then, give it to your bird! Either just put it in his bowl, or do like I do – put it in a plastic foraging toy, like the Jungle Talk Pyramid Puzzle, or the Metal Nut cage

You need paper baking cups for making muffins or the smaller size for making candy. (I found them in the baking aisle at the supermarket, at the craft store in the candy making aisle, and in the dollar store). You want plain paper or crinkly paper ones – they can be thin and shiny, but not wax covered.

Take the cup and put some treats inside: pellets, popcorn, dried fruit or veg, sesame sticks, nut slivers, you name it. I’ve even put a cranberry inside. Anything ‘dry’ will work:

Next, twist up the end to make a little packet, like so:

Then, make 5 or 10 of these, with different or the same fillings. You can make 5 of these in less than 2 minutes. Then either put them in a foraging box, or put them in a foraging bowl. Here they are in a foraging bowl, with other fun foraging ingredients (in this example, they have stuff to dig for, like nuts, pellets, edamame beans in pods, etc.. and they also have to open these little ‘parrot candy’ packets, too):

Here’s another super quick idea I made up in my head really fast, and MADE really fast – foraging cups:

Fill cup with treats and shredded paper, smash top, punch hole, then thread with ribbon or paulie rope. Viola! Hand in cage. (again, you can poke a ‘starter’ hole in the cup for parrots who give up easily. If your parrot is new to foraging, the first few times you might have to cut a big hole in the cup for the parrot to see there are treats inside. Now, my parrots have been doing this so long they know instantly that any object like this probably contains food.

You need paper baking cups for making muffins or the smaller size for making candy. (I found them in the baking aisle at the supermarket, at the craft store in the candy making aisle, and in the dollar store). You want plain paper or crinkly paper ones – they can be thin and shiny, but not wax covered.

Take the cup and put some treats inside: pellets, popcorn, dried fruit or veg, sesame sticks, nut slivers, you name it. I’ve even put a cranberry inside. Anything ‘dry’ will work:

Next, twist up the end to make a little packet, like so:

Then, make 5 or 10 of these, with different or the same fillings. You can make 5 of these in less than 2 minutes. Then either put them in a foraging box, or put them in a foraging bowl. Here they are in a foraging bowl, with other fun foraging ingredients (in this example, they have stuff to dig for, like nuts, pellets, edamame beans in pods, etc..  and they also have to open these little ‘parrot candy’ packets, too):

Here’s another super quick idea I made up in my head really fast, and MADE really fast – foraging cups:

Fill cup with treats and shredded paper, smash top, punch hole, then thread with ribbon or paulie rope. Viola! Hand in cage. (again, you can poke a ‘starter’ hole in the cup for parrots who give up easily. If your parrot is new to foraging, the first few times you might have to cut a big hole in the cup for the parrot to see there are treats inside. Now, my parrots have been doing this so long they know instantly that any object like this probably contains food.

Step one: Open the nut, a little bit. If using a walnut, use a butter  knife right in the seam. Hold the nut tight in your hand, and insert the butter knife right in the seam, not very deep, and pry up while holding the nut tight. Hopefully you’ll end up with something like this:

Remove some of the nut meat with the knife to make room for the stuffing. You can reserve the nut pieces for another foraging toy.

Then, get some paper – crinkle paper from the gift shop/dollar store; shreds from your shredder; or even newspaper/plain paper towel (up to you, and what you feel is safe for your bird!) and stuff it into the hole. Like so:

You should end up with something like this:

THEN, I take it a step further and put the stuffed nut into a small cardboard box (regular readers will know that will know that my birds already know how to rip open cardboard boxes, and do so regularly).

Finally, and this step is optional, I put the box into my metal hanging nut cage. (You can just hang the box in the bird’s cage if you don’t have a metal nut cage):

• Wooden beads and sticks
• Shredded paper (bought, or from my shredder of junk mail)
• Popcorn
• Dried food such as pellets and other treats. Phoenix Foraging’s Green Chunks and Purple Corn and Crispy Rice Snacks are a favorite
• Edamame beans in the pod, cooked and dried
• Dried fruit
• millet
• nuts, including almond slivers and pistachios in shell (one or 2 per day! we don’t want any fat birds!)
• sesame sticks
• greens, like collards and kale
• cooked corn kernels
• crumbled rice cakes
• pine nuts in shell
• small foot toys
• Wooden shapes, from the craft store, such as the thin wooden stars in this pic
• cranberries

Here’s an example of 2 I made for my birds, in 5 minutes, before work. This will engage them for at least an hour, and they will keep coming back to dig, again and again (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

This toy can be, and will be, used every day! It’s  the metal nut/treat cage:

Dr Fosters and Smith Metal Nut/Treat Cage

This toy can be filled with so many different things.  For example, on the day I took the photo, I filled the nut cage with a piece of corn on the cob,pomegranate, apple, a pinecone, and a walnut.

Another thing I fill it with is a small foraging box, instead of hanging it in the cage with string.

The possibilities with this toy are endless and it is truly economical, considering how much use my parrots have gotten out of it!

In the wild, parakeets and many other small birds are ‘ground foragers’, basically meaning that they walk around on the ground searching for food. Many other little birds are ground foragers, too – cockatiels and budgies also  ground forage.

In addition to being a ground forager, my little Leo is handicapped. He can’t fly due to a slightly twisted neck, among other problems. He just isn’t as ‘cerebral’ as my Eclectus parrots. Most of the toys on this site are for my very intelligent and easily-bored Eclectus. But this one is for the little guy. Not only is it natural for him, it is easy for him to do.

This toy is a Ground Foraging Mat.

Leo ground foraging

All you need is a grass doormat, which you then cut into whichever shape you prefer

Then sprinkle food on it. I use millet, small pellets, and crunched up stick treats for birds.

In the stick form, they are no challenge for my little guy. Crushed up and sprinkled onto the mat, he has to work harder, and is doing the job he was born to do.

Leo was a little apprehensive at first, but now he absolutely loves this toy! And while his big siblings are doing more complicated foraging, he is doing the foraging he was born to do.

Note: I have found out that when these doormats are new, sometimes they have a chemical odor. I certainly would at LEAST air them outside for several days, or probably not use it at all if it smelled like chemicals. The one I bought did not smell, so I did not consider this before I posted this idea. Please use your discretion before copying this idea. Also, I have seen this toy sold at a large parrot/pet bird store after I made one myself. It was from a very tiny manufacturer. But they were packaged so I didn’t get to ‘sniff’ them.

Jude says,
“This toy is made with string (I used raffia), a needle, pasta, bottle caps
and paddle wheels (available for $.40 cents each  from ParrotAsylum.com)
pony beads and a wooden spool or other item as a stopper at the bottom.” Here is a photo of the completed toy:

Here are Jude’s instructions for making this toy:Items go on in the following order;  string stopper, pasta, bottle cap, paddle wheel, pony bead, bottle cap, pasta, plastic bottle cap,  paddle wheel, etcetc.  The bottle caps need holes drilled in them for threading.

Over paddle wheel, put pony bead then wrap string around and thread itthrough again to anchor the pony bead in place.  You will want the pony beadto be about even with the top of the paddle wheel

Put treat in paddle wheel (I used cheerios) then string bottle cap over it.
repeat steps as desired. on the top of the last bottle cap, set another pony bead to help keep things in place

When the bird eats or breaks off enough of the pasta, the bottom cap and
paddle wheel fall, revealing the treat inside.  The top cap is held in place
by the secured pony bead when the bottom cap and paddle wheel fall.

Here’s what it should look like ready to hang in the cage or playstand

• Cut roll in half (this will make 2 foraging toys. Use toiled paper to make one toy)
• Punch hole in top of roll(s)
• fold over bottom of roll about 1/2 inch and tape closed
• Flatten roll against hard surface
• Fill with paper shreds, dry food, treats, popcorn, etc
• Thread hole through with ribbon or Paulie rope, and tape top closed if necessary (depending on your bird’s skill level in ripping things open)
• Hang in cage!It should look like this:

Skill level: Easy for humans to make; difficult to medium for birds to open. To make it easier for your  bird to open, cut a triangle shaped cut out of each side of the packet.

SAFETY NOTICE! Some people do not like to give their birds kitchen paper towel/toilet paper rolls because of the glue possibly inside. I give them to my birds, but it is up to you to decide if they are safe for your birds.

Most of the toys on this website are made for my big parrots – 2 eclectus. But I also have a little guy – Leo, my handicapped little Princess Parrot. He is not very bright, but he is the sweetest, most lovely little bird – and he is devoted to us, particularly to my husband.  Here they are, doing what they do every night: snuggling

When my husband is at work, I know Leo pines for him. I also know from experience that Leo can’t do too much in the way of foraging. But Nutri-forage has been great for him!

Anyway, I have put Nutri-forage food in lots of my own little objects for Leo – large beads, plastic shapes, etc. They have been a HUGE hit that keeps him busy while he waits for my husband to get home. Here are some of the things I’ve stuffed  these treats in for Leo. These include: pasta shells and ziti, large beads, plastic objects from other toys, etc. As you can see, I have also included ribbon to hang the toys in the cage. (You don’t need to do that – these toys also work at the bottom of the cage. Some might not want to use ribbon – if not, Paulie Rope is generally acceptable for parrot toy hanging safety) Here’s my toys filled with Nutri Forage or Avi-Cake:

Now, here are my tweaks and tricks for this product. Firstly, the Lafeber company, who makes Nutri-forage, also makes Avi-Cakes, and as far as I can tell this is the same product with a greater quantity for less money. Also, it says on the pack of Nutri-forage to heat in the oven – don’t microwave. I find that microwaving is fine – quicker and easier. Just be SURE to cool the product completely before giving it to your bird.  If you have a little bird who is not up for a challenge, or a handi-capped bird,  like I do, this is a foraging toy that will engage him and keep him busy!

Jude was kind enough to send me our first ‘reader submission” foraging idea. And it’s a great one! Even though a male eclectus is our ‘model’ here, this is a fantastic foraging toy for small and very small birds, such as budgies and cockatiels.

Here’s Paco with the toy. Instructions below.

Jude explained to me in email that she bought a papier mache star at  a craft store (Michael’s , for 99 cents!), very cheaply. She turned it into a foraging toy using the following instructions:

1.) With x-acto knife or other cutting tool, make holes (slits) in the paper mache form.

2.) Insert seeds or treats into holes (she used sunflower seeds and corn kernels, which were very popular with my little Princess Parrot, Leo)

It is important to make sure that the holes are not too close together, and that they are the right size for whatever you are loading them with. You want the seed or treat to be snuggly seated in the hole, and you don’t want the paper mache to be crushed by putting them too close together.

Also, it can get hard on the finger tips, so a thimble or other pushing tool can be used to push the seeds in. The deeper they are pushed, and the smaller the holes, the more difficult the toy is for the bird to retrieve the treat. Use your own bird’s skill interest level to decide how tough to make the toy.  Pellets would also work well in this toy, and make it healthier.  Here’s Jude’s photo of the toy making in progress:

Even when the seeds are very snug in the holes, it is still a great toy for my handicapped parrot, Leo. He is a bit simple, too, so can’t do complex foraging tasks, but he took to this one like a duck to water.  (Pics to follow!)

If you can’t find the paper mache stars, and you want a very easy toy for a beginning forager, you can use a piece of cardboard or a cardboard roll. The paper mache works better to make it a little more difficult, because the thickness holds the treats in well.

I found a similar star to Jude’s online, that would also work well:

Thanks so much Jude, for the submission! Anyone else have any great ideas?

Difficulty for humans to make: easy

Difficulty for parrots to use: easy to medium, depending on parrot,depth/width of holes, and choice of treats

Here’s all you need:

• A small book or booklet that you don’t want. Crappy little recipe books, manuals from appliances you don’t need, stuff people put through your door. Reader’s Digest size is ideal – Old Reader’s Digest magazines themselves are ideal!
• Ribbon, Paulie Rope , shoelace, or string for hanging

Here’s Pepper with one I made for her (directions follow below). For Pepper’s toy, I used an old cooking booklet, about potatoes. It was about to go in the trash when I decided to use it.

To make the toy, all you need to do is hang the book up. There are 2 was to do this. I got my husband to use his drill to drill a hole through the book, and I threaded the string through that. An easier way is to lay the string in the open book, like a bookmark, close the book, then tie it to the cage bars.

Difficulty for humans to make: easy

Difficulty for birds to use: easy

Here’s what you need.

• Pieces of balsa wood. I get mine at the hardware store (where they will cut them to my size specifications) or at craft stores such as Michael’s. There you can buy a bag full of pieces of balsa wood in various sizes. It’s good to get a block of balsa wood at least an inch thick.
• A pointed stick, such as a screwdriver or  metal skewer
• Ribbon, Paulie Rope, or a shoe lace for hanging
• Almond slivers or similar (let me know if you find another good food for this toy)

Here’s what you do:

1.) Make a hole at the top of the piece of balsa wood, going all the way through.

2.) Thread ribbon or string through the hole. Tie to secure.

3.) Poke holes all over the piece of balsa wood, about 1/4 inch deep

4.) Insert an almond sliver in each hole, as far as it will go, then break off the end. That way, the bird has to chew the wood to get to the treat, not simply pull it out by the end. (Use as many almond slivers as you feel it’s ok for your bird to eat at one sitting)

Here’s Ollie enjoying this toy:

Here’s the mess Pepper made from one of these toys:

And here is the little avian carpenter at work on the toy:

What you need:

• pieces of (untreated!) wood – soft or hard, depending on your bird’s chewing abilities
• Table Saw or Jigsaw
• Drill

All you need is to cut grooves into the wood, not going all the way through. Drill a hole all the way through for hanging.  Then, in the grooves, push in almond slivers, pellets, pieces of ripped up paper, etc. Almond slivers work very well – push in the sliver, then break off so there is no almond sliver sticking out.  Thread something (a shoelace?) through the drilled hole, and hang in the cage. Here is one that my mother’s husband made for my birds:

They love it. If you are interested in purchasing the Brainiac Block for your birds, Star Bird Bird Toys are a great company. But if you can make your own, your birds will love that, too.

Difficulty for humans to make: advanced

Difficulty for birds to use: easy to medium, depending on food used and size of pieces.

Here’s what you need:

• Wiffle balls (I got mine at the dollar store – 5 in a pack for a dollar)
• Something to hang the ball with – a shoelace works. (Please note: use cotton shoelace only, as nylon can fray. The BEST choice for hanging bird toys is Paulie Rope, available many places.)                                                                                    Thread this between 2 holes of the ball and knot.

• Food to put in the treat. The food needs to be small enough to be able to be pushed into the holes, but not so big that it will fall out of the holes when the parrot moves the toy. I have found that pistachio nuts work well – you have to shove them in; they won’t fall out, but the parrot has to work to get them out. Also, healthy, sodium free multigrain crispbreads and crackers, cut into long pieces work well; and finally, as shown, sugar snap peas and long pieces of cut apple. To start, you can have pieces sticking out, as in my example above, and as your birds get better at it, use smaller pieces that are harder to get out, but not so small that they will fall out of the holes.

Difficulty for humans to make: easy

Difficulty for birds to use: medium to challenging, depending on fillings.

Pepper enjoying a filled foraging box, made from a paper clip box

Difficulty for humans to make: easy

Difficulty for birds to use: medium

Here is my most simple, cheap, and easy idea – foraging boxes. The idea is a cardboard box, hanging in the cage, stuffed with shredded paper and dry food and treats, ready to be ripped open by your birds. It is also well loved by my parrots. Foraging boxes can be foot toys or hanging toys – I usually use them as hanging toys. My birds get a few foraging boxes almost every day.

There are only a few supplies you’ll need to make these toys. I got all the supplies at the dollar store, except sometimes the first, and most important – the boxes. You need small boxes, and you can either buy these or save them from things you buy. The ideal box is about the size of a deck of cards, but you can go larger or smaller, depending on your parrot’s preferences, availability of boxes, and your desire to make a variety of foraging boxes. My mother, who works in an office, saved loads of boxes that once contained paperclips and staples – these were perfect. I have used little bridal favor gift boxes from the dollar store, and the boxes my coffee filters and toothpaste came in.

Other supplies you need are:

STEP ONE: Punch hole in box

STEP TWO :Add shredded paper. You can buy this from the dollar store, or use old mail out of your own paper shredder!

STEP THREE: Add treats of your choice – pellets, nuts, popcorn, dried fruit – whatever healthy treats your bird likes!

Inside the box will look something like this (this is a different box, obviously)

STEP FOUR: Thread ribbon through hole (for hanging) close box sides,and tape up ends of box

STEP FIVE: Hang in cage! And let parrots enjoy! (or, you can omit the hole punch and hanging, and give as a foot toy. I recommend doing it as a hanging toy first while your bird learns.) If your parrot does not know what to do with a foraging toy, you might need to rip it open, exposing the treats, before hanging it the first few times. After a while, your bird will get the message that when new box appears in the cage, it means there is food inside! Here is Pepper enjoying her foraging box as soon as I put it in the cage:

Here are few other types of boxes that I have used for this idea.  Both of these are small gift boxes from the dollar store, in the wedding/party favor section. These boxes are about 3 inches by 3 inches. :

HINTS AND TIPS:

These boxes are great for birds who already like to chew stuff or parrots who are already accomplished foragers.  If you are just starting with your bird, you can cut a big hole in the box so he can see what is inside the first few times.

To make them easier (as I do for my parrot, Ollie, because he gets frustrated easily) -cut a small piece off the corners of the box so that your bird will have something to ‘start’ his ripping and shredding. Like so:

To make them more difficult (as I do for my parrot, Pepper, who uses brute force to open tings): Try putting a box inside a box. Anything that will fit, will work. That way the bird has 2 layers to chew through before getting to the food.  Here is what they look like ‘used’ after a bird has chewed them up and gotten the treat (I believe this is the work of my female eclectus, Pepper):

And another (Ollie’s work)

So, start saving those boxes! Types of boxes I’ve used are boxes that used to contain: toothpaste, coffee filters, staples, paperclips, medication samples (only if they are in a bottle inside a box – take the bottle out and use the box only), razor blade boxes, etc.  Or, your dollar store might sell 20 tiny gift boxes for a dollar, and they work well.  Here are other types of boxes I’ve used, to get you thinking (sardine box and razor blade box):

Oh! And this one – from a makeup pen:

And some more examples (one is a party gift bag, another is a gift box)

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