I should call this idea ‘parrot crack’, because they love it so much. They can’t get to this foraging dispenser fast enough. Seriously, it is probably their number 1 favorite foraging object. And the funny thing is, I created it in desperation and in a hurry. I was out of supplies and had to leave the house. I didn’t want to leave the parrots with nothing to do. I created these and were they ever a hit!
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.