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The Finster Log
Harley Likes Rice Cakes!
Posted on: 10/02/09, 08:32:00
The Phoenix Landing Blog recently posted an article about using food items in toys to spice up foraging opportunities. They suggested using ice cream cones and rice cakes to add to the shredding appeal. Check out the post for more details and some fun photos.
I'm not so sure about ice cream cones — I haven't had one of those around the house in ages, but I remember them being sweet. However, rice cakes appealed to me right away. Phoenix Landing suggested using a rice cake as a lid for a plastic tub from applesauce. I didn't have any of those around, either, plus I know Harley loves to chew up paper. And while I didn't have a bird-friendly paper cup handy, I did have one of those molded paper packaging pieces:
I cut about a third of the paper packaging, put some dehydrated squash and a couple of snacks inside, strung it on a skewer with the rice cake on top, and hung it on Harley's tree. He was a little wary at first, but he could see there were things inside:
and he quickly realized that rice cakes are pretty fun to chew up:
He's a little shy of the camera when he's playing with toys so I don't have too many more pictures, but he really enjoyed it. He managed to get almost all the snacks out of the packaging, plus he chewed away about one quarter of the packing itself. Rice cakes being what they are, most of it ended up in crumbs on the floor, including one chunk that was almost half of the cake. But the toy was a big hit: several textures to chew, two big things to destroy, plus snacks to find. He was all over it — literally! He's usually very delicate when it comes to toys, but with this one, he held onto it with one foot to steady it while he was destroying it, got at it from both sides, all of it.
Fun!
I'm not so sure about ice cream cones — I haven't had one of those around the house in ages, but I remember them being sweet. However, rice cakes appealed to me right away. Phoenix Landing suggested using a rice cake as a lid for a plastic tub from applesauce. I didn't have any of those around, either, plus I know Harley loves to chew up paper. And while I didn't have a bird-friendly paper cup handy, I did have one of those molded paper packaging pieces:
I cut about a third of the paper packaging, put some dehydrated squash and a couple of snacks inside, strung it on a skewer with the rice cake on top, and hung it on Harley's tree. He was a little wary at first, but he could see there were things inside:
and he quickly realized that rice cakes are pretty fun to chew up:
He's a little shy of the camera when he's playing with toys so I don't have too many more pictures, but he really enjoyed it. He managed to get almost all the snacks out of the packaging, plus he chewed away about one quarter of the packing itself. Rice cakes being what they are, most of it ended up in crumbs on the floor, including one chunk that was almost half of the cake. But the toy was a big hit: several textures to chew, two big things to destroy, plus snacks to find. He was all over it — literally! He's usually very delicate when it comes to toys, but with this one, he held onto it with one foot to steady it while he was destroying it, got at it from both sides, all of it.
Fun!
Comments
10/03/09, 00:13:05
Fun stuff! When Conner eats something like a rice cake, I always wonder if he's actually eating it or shredding it. But he's a good size so I'm happy that he enjoys the food.
12/15/09, 17:19:54
You know, I have heard the icecream cone thing several times now, but I still am not sure it is a good idea. With or without sugar in them, I really don't think they are very healthy. I suppose if your bird doesn't eat any, that is fine, but I would really worry about them filling up on junk food!
The rice cakes I have gotten before as a special treat, Lundenberg Farm organic brown rice. Still, while they are healthier, mine love to eat them, and If I actually made the toy ou of them, instead of putting pieces in the toy for them to hunt for, they would never eat any of their dinner!
The rice cakes I have gotten before as a special treat, Lundenberg Farm organic brown rice. Still, while they are healthier, mine love to eat them, and If I actually made the toy ou of them, instead of putting pieces in the toy for them to hunt for, they would never eat any of their dinner!
12/17/09, 18:34:46
It might work out okay, Meg, since rice cakes break apart pretty easily. Harley has dropped some pretty big chunks on the floor when he plays with them. Of course, there are always those times when a bird ends up eating more than you want. Maybe we should all try using half of a rice cake at a time.