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| Lily Tears Paper Off Munchkin Toy |
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| Kelsey Hostetler shares this tip for introducing a new toy to her African Grey, Lily.
" My Lily, LOVES coffee filters and paper. She was of course, scared when I introduced the Munchkin foraging basket, however after covering it with coffee filters it took her only 10 minutes to climb down to it and check it out. I've done with this with several other toys and I think that I can introduce almost anything to her wrapped up like a gift in coffee filters or plain paper and she would accept it. The filters can also just be laid on it or strung on a toy. My hope is that you may be able to share this idea on your website and it can help other Grey owners if their birds have a certain material they are drawn to as well."
This is an excellent tip for introducing new toys. Kelsey was kind enough to take a video to show us how she used the coffee filters and paper to encourage Lily to explore the new toy.
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| Click Here to watch VIDEO |
Leigh Ann Hartsfield shares this great suggestion for putting the Munchkin Baskets in a cage. She zip tied the basket to a cage shelf. In this way, the whole basket can easily be hooked on the cage door or elsewhere in the cage. She shares photos of her African Grey, Franco, approaching his Munchkin Foraging Basket.
Google “Prevue Pet Patio Sun Deck Platform for Bird Parrot Cages” to find sources for purchasing the cage shelf in the photos below.
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| Terry Wynn shares her tips for freezing pomegranate seeds:
Freezing pomegranate seeds: I've done this for 3 years now - my eclectus female LOVES them. This is the best way I've found: de-seed the pomegranate, put about 12 seeds in an ice cube tray, put just enough water in to hold the seeds down, fast freeze, pull out after they have just set, then cover each cube completely with water, so all seeds are covered. Let freeze solid. After frozen, pop out, put in freezer bags. You can defrost 1 cube or many, depending on your needs but they look and evidently taste very good. I have never seen an eclectus "run" until I placed pomegranate seeds in Zephyr's dish. I am looking forward to exploring many of your foraging ideas.
Thank you,
Terry Wynn
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Hi Kris,
The website looks fabulous! I love all the videos. If you'd ever like to use any of my videos ( http://www.youtube.com/cmoore1608 ), feel free. I'm also happy to take new videos of any behaviors, or of training behaviors. I am happy to do anything I can to encourage people to train their parrots with positive reinforcement and to do foraging with them!
~Caroline
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Caroline Moore sent in this lovely note and a link to her videos, I hope you will enjoy watching them. Many of you are familiar with Caroline and her Caiques, Icarus and Daedulus, from The Parrot Enrichment Activity Book, Version 2. I'm grateful to Caroline for sharing. Caroline will be working on making some videos in the future that demonstrate how she shaped training behaviors. At the "Training Is Fun" page I've added one of my favorite videos of Caroline's training sessions. At the "Foraging Toys" page I added a video of Icarus foraging in a whiffle ball toy that Caroline made.
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Kris,
I am working with a parrot rescue organization to adopt a bird. I’ve been working to learn as much as I can and I found your Enrichment Books to be an incredible resource!! The fact that you are giving these away is truly amazing. I would have paid to have the information; and as such, I would like to make a donation in your name to whatever avian organization you choose. Please let me know. Really nothing would make me happier than to do this! I am truly grateful for your amazing efforts and I’m a strong believer in paying it forward!! Because of you, I am saving all sorts of fun things from going to the garbage or Goodwill – I can look at them now and instantly think, “Wow that would make a GREAT toy! I can stuff nuts in here and here…”
Very best regards,
Kathy Binns
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Reading this e-mail from Kathy was an exceptionally uplifting experience for me. I too, am a strong believer in paying-it-forward. My way is to share my enrichment ideas with all of you. There are a number of organizations across the country working diligently to help parrots in need. It was not easy for me to choose one. I chose Phoenix Landing. The folks at Phoenix Landing have helped me with their many contributions to The Parrot Enrichment Activity Books and continue to encourage and inspire me with ideas and offers of help to add content to ParrotEnrichment.com.
I am especially grateful to Kathy for making a donation to help the parrots of Phoenix Landing and in that way help me to help them.
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