Evironment Enrichment (Toys for finchys!!)

[saulosirds]

As far as the fruit flies go, I believe Sunbay chills them and feeds the wingless variety which her birds were able to eat better. Maybe she'll chime in and tell you how to feeds them.

Colt

The problem with chilled fruit flies is the same problem you have with ice. They only stay cold for so long. Once they warm up, they are off to do what ever it is fruit flies do (note to self: invent tiny camera to video tape what fruit flies do).

If you have ever fed fruit flies, you know that it takes a ton to feed birds. I have taken to leaving my cups in the flight with either holes in the top or with the top off filled full of excelsior to keep the birds from getting into the media.

With wire cages, it is very hard to keep the flies in and I'm not fond of putting quart sized fly cups into my 30 breeders especially if they already have a bin of dirt in there already

Rob

[Colt]

That picture was very helpful. Thank you.

I just spent 15 minutes going through the forum and can't find the post. Someone was breeding OCW in a walk-in aviary I believe. He had some chilled set-up to offer meal worms and maybe egg food to keep them fresh throughout the day. I can't remember exactly what he used but I think he sat a bowl on/into the lid of a Styrofoam cooler that was filled with ice to keep them chilled. But I could have that wrong. Maybe you could adopt that idea into something smaller that would work better for you. If you can find the post...lol

[Sally]

The doors to the Gren cages are just large enough to allow that size container through the door. I'd like to try this in those cages (40x20x20) to give the birds a foraging experience. I could put some mealworms in there if I didn't make the dirt layer too deep, so the birds would have to hunt for them. Other cages have a door that is too small to admit anything that size. I'll have to check the doors on my HQ cages tomorrow, they are quite large, so this could work in those cages too. Good idea!

[Colt]

You're welcome Sally. I thought you might have missed it. ;)

[Sally]

Colt Yes I did miss it. Thanks!

[saulosirds]

Sally

These are the size containers I use but you an always look for something that fits yours better. I use this size as it's not to tight to keep the birds from wanting to get down in there and the sides are high enough to hold most bugs in. My Peter's seem to love dirt baths as there is always a ton of dust on all the flat spots around their cage. If I used something smaller I don't think I could keep most of the dirt (not dust) in the containers.

I used dirt from a hydroponics store as it had no perlite or any other non-organic additives but they have since stopped carrying it. Now I need to work on a recipe for my own dirt. When I get that done I will post a how to on that also.

Rob

[MiaCarter]

Great thread!
My guys LOVE hay. I get timothy hay, but I always freeze it for 48 hours to help kill off any nasties.
(Probably not necessary, but it makes me feel better! LOL)

I'll put it on a plastic tray in the bottom of the cage and sprinkle some seeds in there and they spend hours "foraging."

My guys also loved silk foliage. After a while, though, they figured out how to pull off the leaves and started obliterating the foliage to use for nesting material (despite hay, paper towels and other goodies). So we just pulled those out for a while and we'll get some new ones once baby is grown and I pull out the nests.

We tried all sorts of other little "toys", with mirrors and rings and so forth, but they couldn't care less about those. (Though we had a male who would sit there pecking at the mirror for hours. I pulled it out as it seemed cruel. He didn't seem to be enjoying himself; he seemed pissed off!)

We had a nice pair of two plastic rings that hung from the ceiling, sort of like this: http://www.petsandpastimesltd.com/media ... d_5490.jpg

But the rings weren't interlinked like the one in the photo; they were each connected by a small silver metal loop.
I have *no idea* how, but one of my girls got a foot stuck in there and she was dangling and fluttering when I got to her.
Thank god I got to her quickly as I heard the commotion and I pulled her out without any trouble. No injuries, thank goodness. But it was a close call. So if you try any of the toys, just beware of anything with small metal loops.

[Rox]

saulosirds

That is a fantastic idea for those who don't have an aviary and want to provide foraging for their birds!

I'm fortunate enough to have my finches and waxbills outdoors in planted aviary's and I can confirm that they spend an incredible amount of time scavenging all over the aviary floor scratching for seeds or bugs. Even up the sides of the aviary walls and along the roof. No corner is left alone.

Mine love to go under and behind logs, rocks and bunches of brush, as well as digging in the dirt. I do believe the more 'exploring' you can give them, the better. Stimulation does wonders to reduce aggression etc

[TheWhiteFinchAviary]

Everyone has such great ideas! saulosirds that is a really neat setup for natural foraging, thank you for sharing! I've considered adding a small plant to each cage for foraging/entertainment but that idea is much cooler and I know my Finches would love it.

I use swings also which they love, and the 3-way mirror toys which takes up about 1/3 of their day. I did have one female who attacked hers for about a week but now she loves it and will coo sweetly at her reflection. What a dork! I also plan to use those small dangling toys from Prevue with bells, my previous pairs loved pecking at them and making them jingle. The whole flock loves music too, mostly classic. They have a blast when people sing for them also. I will occasionally leave a noisemaker set to water sounds in their room (the forest bird setting has some kind of predator that makes them alert & look up as if afraid).