You can purchase Popsicle sticks or craft sticks at any craft store or even Target. They make for good forage material because they are natural wood and birds can chew on them! I just put them right into her food dish on top of her food.

I had to hand them too her a few times at first so she knew they weren’t out to get her! The blurry picture of her tossing them shows she wanted them out of her food dish fast!

Today I gave Cricket a lunch bag, stuffed with shredded paper.

I then put some of her food in it (showed her the food was there first, of course.) Then I clipped it to the top of her cage with a clip from one of her toys.

You can also tie the bag up with some sisal rope. Happy Pampering!

It’s really nice out here today in Colorado so in the mood of summer I made Cricket a shish-kabob. I took a bamboo skewer, chopped her food into large chunks and put them on the skewer. I then put the pointy end up into her rope perch.

There are many parrot toy companies that also make stainless steel skewers just for your parrot! Took some baiting to get her up to the skewer but once she figured out there was an apple and sweet potato piece (her favorite) she went to town!

Cricket receives fresh fruit and veggies everyday so I like to change the presentation of her food whenever I can. Today I put a coffee filter under her fruit and veggies.

Since coffee filters are new and possibly scary I wanted to give her the chance to check them out. Later next week I should be able to put the filter on top of her food and hopefully it won’t be too scary! `Happy Pampering`

Today I got some crepe paper from the store for Cricket. Ya, know, they type you decorate with a birthday parties on the roll? I wove them throughout her cage.

Come to find out the paper is TERRIFYING! She kept flying off her cage as soon as I set her down. I even took a little piece over to her so she could see just a little piece. It was still pretty scary. Sometimes this happens. New things can be scary and make your bird nervous.

To desensitize your parrot to a new enrichment item, place the item nearby the cage for a few days, moving it closer as they become more comfortable with it.  In the end, I decided to just put a little bit of the paper in the bottom of the cage for a while until she decides to investigate it on her own. Keep you guys posted on how she comes around to this! 

One of a parrot’s natural abilities is to hide and forage around in the trees. I like to make newspaper forests for Cricket. I shred the newspaper into half inch strips. Newspaper has a grain so if it’s not tearing in strips, tear the other way. Then I hang the strips through the sides and tops of the cage so the paper hangs down into the cage.

Your parrot may even help you with this process! Cricket likes to sit amongst the strips and tear them down.

—Happy Pampering—

OK - so I’m normally talking about DIY parrot toys, but there are some store bought staples in Cricket’s life. Here’s one of them, the push and pull. You put seed mix or small pellets in the top. Your birds has to push or pull the blue levers to makes the food fall to the bottom. This is from Fosters and Smith and is ideal for any sized bird. For the bigger feathered companions, I recommend the treasure chest, also from Fosters and Smith.

To make it more challenging I put bigger pieces or small paper squares, too big to fit through the holes, in the top. This way she has to really shake and pull the toy to get the smaller pieces of food to the bottom.

Happy Pampering :)