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I'm trying to encourage Alfie to forage more for food. It's a natural behaviour of African Grey's (and other parrots of course) and a good one to encourage as it keeps them active and makes them work that bit harder for their food. Tonight I made a foraging tray and put it on Alfie's shelves. I put some fruit and veg and other tasty morsels in the bottom of a tray then filled it up with shredded paper and foot toys. He had to root around and pull the paper and toys out before he could get to the treats. It kept him busy for quite some time. Most of it (including the food) ended up over the sofa but he seemed to enjoy digging through the tray. I have a couple of foraging toys in his cage (a buffet ball and a wheel that he has to spin and line up the holes with the treats in different compartments) and I'm thinking of putting a tray at the bottom of his cage for him to forage in. I'm also toying with the idea of getting some bird safe plants and putting them in his cage (whilst supervised) so he can dig through those and pull them apart. I just need to be a little bit careful because I also have two cats- so I would have to make sure they either can't get at the plants or that they are cat safe as well as bird safe as my two cats get into everything! (they are indoor cats) Do you provide foraging opportunities for your birds? If so, what do you set up for them?

I went to the Think Parrot show yesterday for the first time ever. If you live in the UK then it's hosted annually at Kempton Park Racecourse (off the M25) and is definitely worth a visit. I picked up some good bargains on a few toys and also bought a backpack style carrier (similar to the pak o bird) in the hopes that Alfie likes it so I can take him out for walks (and get him out to the aviary). I also sat through one of the 'masterclasses' which was really interesting. It was about cognitive beahviours/abilities in parrots and enrichment. There were also some free flight sessions where we got to watch macaws and sun conures flying without harnesses. That was pretty spectacular. Here are the goodies I bought: This is a plastic crate stuffed full of leather strips. I'm planning on hiding a few tasty morsels in there... once Alfie accepts it. It's huge and quite heavy. This will either be for his cage or for his shelves- if I can find something strong enough to take the weight of it on the wall/ceiling! Alfie loves rope and swing toys so I grabbed a couple of those. These are huge so will be used in the aviary. Another swing toy- this is HUGE so will be another aviary toy. Here is the backpack carrier. Alfie has been REALLY interested in this. I built it in front of his cage and have been practicing putting it on and off (whilst trying to keep it as steady as possible) in front of him. Today he decided to take a closer look and climbed down to the floor to take a look. He rarely goes on the floor and if he does he normally gets to higher ground as soon as he can- so he must have been really curious! Checking it out form his cage Having a closer look!

Alfie hits the jackpot. Love how he's checking out the new carrier. Won't be long and he'll be hoofing it downtown.

Looks like my carrier. Nice stuff!

Hopefully so! Fingers crossed that he takes to it! He doesn't like his travel cage and actively avoids going in it- he has always hated going in carriers/small cages. So I'm hoping this is a bit more successful.

I'm doing my best not to let it bother me - it just seems strange that it was such a rapid change. Hopefully it's not a permanent change but if it is I'll just have to roll with it and take the good bits where I find them! We had a good time today - no attacks. I removed all the cardboard and magazines from his shelves and put toys for him to fling around up there. I also filled a tray with fruit, veg and treats topped with shredded paper and toys so he had to forage around to find the treats. Once he cottoned on to the fact there might be tasty food at the bottom he was busy for a while.

The behavior you describe is just like Huey is with me. At times he calls for me and wants me in the same room (control issue I assume) but I'm not allowed to touch or play with him or his things unless it's his idea. My wife can get away with anything with him. Occasionally I will do something, or touch something that is his and he will launch across the room and attack me. It doesn't really bother me much because I have other birds that want to stick to me like velcro. I think he likes me a little because lots of times when I try to put him down, he reaches down and bites me and I know he's telling me, not yet, he's still having fun. He likes to play under the covers. When I do it, he bites really hard, out for blood type of biting. But when he does it with my wife he just nibbles gently. There have been times where I've snuck in and she talks to him and I play with him and I get to see how he treats her simply because he doesn't know it's me. 🤣

Thank you, I wish I could read his mind too! He doesn't seem to get angry when I talk to him or go near the cage - but he won't lower his head for scritches. If he doesn't lower his head, he doesn't want them and any intrusive fingers will probably result in a bite - so I never try and force anything with him. I can be really close to his cage whilst talking to him and he's not giving me any signs to say he doesn't want me there. The flying to the back of my head and striking out always comes out of the blue. I can't spot anything that happens before it to trigger it. It could also be hormone related. Maybe he's seeing the shelves as a nesting area seeing as that's where he tears up all his boxes and magazines? I wonder if I should remove the boxes/magazines for a little while and replace them with foot toys to see if the behaviour happens then... I'm just clutching at straws at the moment!