A and E Cage Company Toy Feeder Foraging Cage Review

My 5 year old Blue & Gold Macaw is quite a handful.  He screams, he curses, and sometimes he is really just a jerk.  He learned some horrible habits in the years he spent in his first home.  He's come a long way and doesn't scream like he used to, but if he is feeling bored or ignored, he'll let you (and the whole neighborhood) know about it.  I had been thinking about getting him into foraging for awhile, so I bought the A&E Toy Feeder Foraging Cage. 

This is a small metal "cage" that you can fill with nuts, shredded paper, plastic bits, etc.  In the wild, parrots spend most of their time flying around and trying to find their food.  When we keep them in captivity and just dump loads of nutritious food into their bowls twice a day, they don't know exactly what to do with all of their excess energy and instincts.  When you get your parrots into foraging, it makes them work, keeps them busy, and we all know that a busy parrot is a happy one.

I fill this Foraging Cage with mixed nuts that I buy at BJ's during the holiday season and store in the freezer during the rest of the year.  I load this toy up with unshelled brazil nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, and walnuts.  The almonds and hazelnuts are small enough to slip through the bars of the cage, so I try to line the outside with the big nuts and keep the smaller ones toward the center. 

When I hang this loaded Toy Feeder in the macaw's cage, he gets very excited and eagerly climbs up to it so he can start removing the treats inside.  As I said earlier, the littler nuts are small enough to come out whole for him, but he has to work on the walnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts through the metal bars which is more challenging.  When he has this foraging toy in his cage, he is usually quiet and busy, even if there are just one or two nuts left inside. 

I bought this Toy Feeder Foraging Cage for $15 at Bird Paradise, a NJ bird superstore.  I'd be happy to pay twice that amount for it because it has been so effective in keeping my macaw occupied and entertained.  This product is highly recommended to anyone who has a parrot who is bored, screaming, cage-aggressive, or hormonal.