There are numerous ways to implement captive foraging without spending a lot of money. The draw back for many parrot owners is the time commitment required to create an inexpensive captive foraging environment. However, the rewards of providing your companion parrot with this type of experience has exponential gains for your bird.
First, let me recommend purchasing the video Captive Foraging: The Next Best Thing to Being Free by Dr. Scott Echols, leading avian veterinarian. This video can be purchased at http://www.avianpublications.com/items/behavior/itemDVD10.htm and offers many great ideas.
Second, stop feeding your bird in a bowl. Birds in the wild do not find and consume their diets in one quick sitting. Foraging Ahead offers effective, reusable foraging feeders that require little additional time and reap great rewards for your parrots, these feeders can be purchased at www.foragingahead.com.
Other methods of creating a captive foraging environment can be as simple as wrapping their pellets and seeds in bird-safe paper products and distributing them in several bowls placed around the cage or buying a kitty litter pan from a local pet shop and filling it with some safe foraging materials (corn cob pan litter, sterilized pine straw, shredded newspaper, etc) and mixing their dry foods in with the foraging materials. Additionally, cutting branches from bird-safe trees and shrubs (http://www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html) and sticking small chunks of fruits and veggies on some of the sprigs will also provide hours of fun foraging for your bird.
Captive-foraging is crucial to captive parrot's well-being. By taking just several extra minutes and spending a few extra dollars you can greatly increase the wellbeing and livelihood of your companion parrot.
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