For our 15th foraging Friday I will be reviewing the Featherland Paradise Creative Foraging Systems, Tilt A Wheel Cage Mount Bird Toy. This bird foraging toy consists of a hollow circular inner tube which can be filled with treats, and 2 fair sized holes on each side which the rats can pull the treats out of. It mounts to the cage at an angle and sideways, so that to get the treats to one of the holes the rats must spin the toy in a horizontal fashion. Its almost the opposite of the bird food tumbler I reviewed before, with that toy needing to be rotated vertically while this one needs to be spun horizontally.
In terms of use my rats seem to really enjoy this toy, quickly catching on to rotating it even faster than they did with the vertical food tumbler. Their paws fit easily into the 2 large holes, allowing for easy access but also preventing them from simply sticking their snoots in by being too small for that. This ensures that they use the toy as intended, and once the holes no longer have any treats in reach the rats must spin the toy in order to shake more into reaching distance from the holes. I really like that this toy includes an action that the rats must perform repeatedly in order to get the treats, especially since the action is fairly unique among foraging toys (so far I've only found a very few foraging toys that use this spinning motions, and all the others include vertical spinning instead of horizontal spinning as seen with this toy.) I also like how sturdy the toy is, because when I first got it I wasn't quite sure how well the bar attachment would hold up, but from my experience so far its actually held up a lot better than some of the smaller foraging toys have. Unfortunately while I do really like this toy I also feel it has a few downsides. My main issue with it is just that it can't be opened. One thing I love about the vertical bird food tumbler is that the food spout comes out, allowing easy access for refilling and cleaning. But in this toys case if you want to open it you would have to unscrew it, an arduous task and not something I want to do for normal refilling. And since the only other access to this toy is through the 2 smaller treat dispensing holes that is how I've had to fill it. The other issue I have with this toy is just its sheer size. If you have a large cage then its not too bad, but if you have a smaller cage then this toy is going to take up a good foot of space, which is no small area. The marbels inside this toy also are worth a mention, as they are quite loud when they clank together and cannot be removed. My rats don't seem to care, and I don't mind them too much, but if you sleep or work in the same room as your rats then them using this toy could be quite annoying just due to that clanking sound when this toy is being used. Overall I really like this foraging toy, and my rats seem to really enjoy having another turning foraging toy to interact with. Like several other foraging toys that I've reviewed I do think there are a few improvements that could make this into a better foraging toy, but all things considered I think its a fairly good foraging toy. Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/3gvGckt Video showcasing this foraging toy:
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For our 14th foraging Friday I will be reviewing the Featherland Paradise 3 Pull Out Drawers Creative Foraging System. This bird toy is pretty much exactly what it looks like - that being a set of 3 hanging drawers that each open in a different direction. (Note that this toy does come with some leather strips hanging from the bottom piece, but these can easily be untied and removed for rat safety, which is what I did before giving it to them.)
This toy is fairly easy for rats to use, as they just have to pull open a drawer to get to the goodies inside. Despite this it still has a bit of challenge for them - for one, the drawers swing back and forth due to being mounted on a free-hanging chain, making the opening of the drawers a bit more difficult. The drawers also each open in a different direction, ensuring the rats can't just open one after another and then chow down on all the treats at once. The drawers are also fairly deep, meaning that even once open the rats have to put some effort into getting the bottom treats out. You can even heighten the challenge here by adding in some crinkled paper or tissues on top of the treats - this ensures that the rats will have to dig some on top of opening up the drawers, and adds more value to this (and many other foraging toys) once the rats have mastered the main idea. Like many of the Featherland Paradise foraging toys this foraging toy is also fairly easy to refill. Cleaning it is also pretty easy, but I'm always wary of water getting stuck behind the drawers and so I've only wiped it off, never fully washed it. Accessing the drawers themselves however is very easy and because of this I have used this toy multiple times to help encourage my rats to forage even for their regular lab blocks. There are very few downsides to this toy otherwise, with the biggest downside for me being that once open, the drawers no longer provide any foraging. So once your rats know how to open up the drawers it is easy for them to just pop one open and empty it then and there. This is somewhat negated by the drawers opening on different sides, and you can further negate it by adding in some crinkled paper, but it does still bring it down a notch compared to some of my other foraging toys that revert back to being closed once the rat lets go of them, thus providing more foraging opportunity. Overall this foraging toy is a fun and creative way to enrich rat lives, and while it is a bit simple the rats seem to enjoy it and that is good enough for me. I mentioned that I use it for lab blocks most of the time, and that is probably my favorite thing about it - I find that quite a few foraging toys just can't fit lab blocks and so when I find one that does I tend to use it quite a bit. Currently this toy is one of the foraging toys giving my rats their lab blocks in the cage, and I'm glad that having a few of these toys allows me to switch them up in order to keep the rats on their toes. Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/2LPfN35 Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 13th foraging Friday I will be reviewing the Super Bird Creations Foraging Bottom'S Up Bird Toy. Like many of my rats foraging toys this one is originally made for birds, but rats can very much use it and enjoy it as well.
This foraging toy has a very simple design, and is also pretty simple to use. It is made up of a bunch of clear acrylic cups stung up on a metal chain with flower shaped tops blocking the rats immediate access to the food. To use it the rats have to push aside the flower piece, giving them access to the cups contents. Now like other Super Bird Creations foraging toys, this one is great for beginner foragers and later foragers alike. Its simple design lets rats who aren't too confident about foraging quickly learn how to use it, and since the lids go back into place when the rats release the toy they have to repeat this action many times, increasing their confidence of foraging through repetition. With that being said if you have rats that go through these sorts of toys really quickly its also pretty easy to make it harder, either by mixing in mostly normal food like lab blocks (what I do), or by adding some pellet bedding or shredded paper/tissues to the mix so they have to sort more. Cleaning and refilling wise this toy is also great. Since you have easy access to each part of the toy refilling it is a breeze, with the only issue being that the cups move around so moving it once full is difficult (as a result I mostly just refill it directly in the cage while its hanging). As for cleaning its dishwasher safe and also easy to just rinse out and dry, which considering some other bird foraging toys is a very big plus. Overall my rats really seem to enjoy this toy. Just like the four cup horizontal version and the PCV Super Birds toy its not a difficult concept, but it still provides them with lots of fun. I've noticed the top cup in particular can provide a challenge, and if you mount it next to the bars they are forced to climb up to use it which can really increase the enrichment value. Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/3fNKDqt Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 12th foraging Friday we will be reviewing the bird See Saw foraging toy by Featherland Paradise. This foraging toy is a fairly large box shaped toy that is used in a way that really fits its name.
The way this toy is used by the rats is that there is a spring inside keeping the toy tipped away from the opening hole. The food rests in the back of the toy but as soon as the rat (or other animal) puts their weight on the front part where the opening is the food will slide forwards and they will be able to reach it. Once they release the toy the remaining food slides back to the other side as the spring returns the toy to its tilted downward position. I really like this "return to place" function because a lot of foraging toys will just stay open once the rat/other animal has performed the needed action, making it easy for them to just eat all the treats in one go. This foraging toy on the other hand helps to make them work for each treat by returning the toy to its initial position as soon as they release it to eat, helping to add to how long they use it and how much enrichment it provides. My main concern when I got this toy was if the rats would be strong enough to push it down and slide the treats over to the access hole. I've had this problem with a few larger bird toys where the rats either needed to apply a lot of force or in some cases couldn't apply enough force even when they really tried to work a toy. Thankfully that isn't the case here, and even my smallest and most timid rats have been able to work the toy without any trouble! This see saw foraging toy isn't the most complex foraging toy by any means, but it does a good job of making the rats work a bit for their food and my girls have really seemed to enjoy their experience with it. I've even been toying around with the idea of making it a bit harder by stuffing some tissue inside that they have to remove before the treats can slide forwards - I haven't yet tried this, but I suspect it will go over well and be a good way to increase the toys difficulty. In terms of human use its also fairly good. Like some of my other foraging toys you have to load food through the access hole up front, however unlike most of those toys it actually has a large enough access hole that this isn't a hassle. I especially like that the access hole is large enough to freely dispense lab blocks from, as this makes it an ideal foraging toy for me (that's how I like to feed the majority of my rats lab blocks). Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/3cgvXOy Video showcasing this foraging toy:For our 11th foraging Friday we will be reviewing the bird food tumbler foraging toy. This toy is very similar to another foraging toy I've reviewed in function, however it executes this function in a superior way.The whole point of this foraging toy is for the rats (or birds, I won't judge if you use it for the intended animal :P) to turn the flower-shaped tumbler, and as they do so food will inevitably get caught in the tube, traveling downwards and becoming accessible to the animals. This toy has several levels of difficulty, which can be changed by how far in you snap the tube. Honestly as soon as the food level gets below half though the difficulty goes up, so I haven't felt the ned to mess with the tube other than for cleaning and refilling purposes. And that brings me to the ease of cleaning and refilling this toy. Unlike some other foraging toys that don't come apart (cough cough JW Pet Company 31136 Tip and Treat for Pets foraging toy!), this food tumbler can be fully disassembled for cleaning (it all unscrews), or if you just want to refill/do a light clean then simply twisting the tube allows for easy removal and easy refilling/cleaning. This tube is then easily inserted once you are finished and locks into place with a simple twist. Usage wise this has easily been one of my rats favorites for the 2 or so years that I've had it. Its up there with the foraging wheel as it can hold and dispense the rats normal lab blocks and so I often use it for dispensing normal food alone. All the rats know how to work it, although only Bean was willing to show off in front of the camera (and even then it took me FOREVER to get those meager clips because Bean kept getting distracted by me being nearby the cage. I've been trying to record these clips for weeks now, seriously I don't know what it is about this foraging toy but the rats did not want me to get clips of them using it!) Overall this is probably one of my favorite rat foraging toys, and I'm so glad I can finally review it. The rats certainly had a blast digging out their favorite treats (and making a mess - see why I usually stick to lab blocks alone?!), and they really enjoy working this toy. Link to this foraging toy: https://www.caitec.com/…/b…/bird-toys-foraging/food-tumbler/ Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 10th foraging Friday we will be looking at the Trixie Poker Box Various 2 Activity Strategy Game for Dogs (but using it for rats of course :P).
This foraging toy consists of two main pieces - the tumbler where rats must paw at the tumbler in order to spin it and release treats, and the see-saws where they are supposed to push down one side and have the treat slide out (but since rats are so small they can also reach inside if they want - mine do both, sometimes pushing the lever so treats slide out and sometimes just reaching in for a treat). Both of these fun pieces make this toy super fun and (at least from my experience so far) pretty unique among foraging toys. I've reviewed a similar toy to the tumbler seen here before (the JW Pet Company 31136 Tip and Treat for Pets) however this toy fixes a lot of issues I had with that toy. The JW toy has issues with the treat dispenser hole being so small that it could only fit things 1/4 the size of a cheerio, and the toy itself didn't open up making for harder refilling and cleaning. The tumbler toy part in the Trixie toy here on the other hand actually comes off the toy and can be fully opened. It just slots together so opening it up or closing it is super easy and convenient. This is easily my favorite thing about this toy, as I really loved the concept seen in the JW toy but just felt like the execution was poor. I do wish there was a way to mount this toy to the cage bars but because it was originally meant as a dog toy I can't hold that against it. And as for the see-saw part I also think that is a fun, unique, and well-executed foraging toy. My rats all took to pushing down on the levers or just taking treats directly out right away and even my most skittish girls showed no fear around it. I was worried the loudish noise when the see-saw hits the floor might scare them off, but they don't seem to be effected (and if they were I'm sure some tape on both pieces would soften the noise). Overall I think this is a solid foraging toy and perfect for rats despite it initially being made for dogs. Honestly this is probably one of the first foraging toys that I can say actually feels more suited for rats than the animal it was made for - its a solid toy, but I feel like dogs could probably find a way to knock the pieces over (they clip into place but still) and the pieces just seem a bit small for all but the smallest dogs. I'm sure dogs still get enjoyment from it because it seems to have good reviews from dog owners, but overall I really like it better as a rat toy. Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/2KwO2f6 Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 9th foraging Friday I'm finally going to review one of my favorite ground foraging toys - that being the Ethical Pet Flip 'N Flap Bone Puzzle! Like many of the foraging toys that I've gone over this foraging toy is technically made for other animals (dogs in this case) however it still works very well for rats.
Now to start off this foraging toy is pretty simple. You have two "door" which can be lifted by switches on the side, or simply by prying them up with your hands (or in the rats case their paws...or do they also have hands? Questions for later!). You also have another component, that being the slide and hide bit where you have 3 indentations where treats can be placed, along with 2 "covers" that can be slid on top of these indentations to cover them. When your rat wants to get to the underlying treats they just have to slide the covers to the other side to unveil their goodies. In terms of complexity this toy isn't too crazy, but I feel that it can still pose a challenge to some rats at first. The "doors" in particular can be a bit hard for some to grasp, while others (especially the more digging motivated like Bean) will get those first and only come back to the slide and hide bits later. Regardless of which your rats have an easier time with both require them to use their dexterity to open them up, and even though they don't shut on their own (probably my only downside as I'd love for them to gently close when the rats aren't actively pushing them open) they still provide lots of enrichment for the rats. Overall I feel like this foraging toy embodies just what I want in a foraging toy of this type. Its sturdy, doesn't require any assembly (making it better than the living world teach n treat in my opinion - I don't really like having to assemble each level there lol), has two different tasks, and can be used to easily entertain your rats during free-range (due to it being chewable I probably wouldn't use this in the cage without supervising, but outside the cage its easy to just pop open the doors and covers and put in some treats, then let the rats get to extracting them). Its just a great toy and despite it being meant for dogs instead of rats I feel like it works just as well for them. Link to the shown foraging toy: https://amzn.to/2KbouUH Link to the blue plastic version: https://amzn.to/3cuqbZ9 Link to the red plastic version: https://amzn.to/2K9aSt1
Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 8th foraging Friday we will be focusing on the living world teach n treat. This toy is pretty typical in use, with the rats having to move parts around to get to the treats. Its main difference from your typical foraging toy however is that is has 3 different levels. The first level uses a flat disk piece that the rats must slide around to get to the treats underneath. The second level has the rats pick up or knock over small cups to get to the underlying treats. And the final and third level has the same cups from level 2 being mounted on the toy via some groove which allows the rats to slide them around in order to get to the underlying treats.
Now in terms of difficulty this toy isn't all that hard. Each step requires a pretty similar action, with the rat having to push something with their nose or paws in order to get to the treats. This makes it an ideal foraging toy for rats that are just starting out foraging, and even for rats that are more foraging experienced it can be a fun way to mix up how they get their treats. Its not a difficult toy to set up on our side either, with each piece being easy to slide right in. Even the last level where you have to change out the center piece in order to slide in the cups isn't hard to setup, taking only a few seconds at most. I find this toy fun and enriching for rats, however I do have a few gripes with it as well. My main issue with it is just how similar the levels are - I like that they tried to add some variability, but I feel like each step is so similar that it doesn't really ramp up the challenge. My other issue is more personal preference than anything serious in that I wish the rats couldn't just knock over/slide a piece and then get all the treats from one cup. This wouldn't be such an issue if they gave you 7-8 cups instead of 4 (at least then almost all the treat holes could be covered) but with just 4 when working on level 1 or 3 you can only put treats in a few cups because otherwise the rats don't have to work at all to get to them. Overall I think this is a fun toy for rats, especially rats that are just starting to forage, however it could definitely be improved. Nonetheless the fact that its specifically made for small animals and actually caters to their intelligence instead if just chewing puts it higher on my list - its nice to find a foraging toy specifically made for small animals like rats that can be used in this way as opposed to having to turn to bird or dog toys. Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/2JWNqPy Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 7th foraging Friday focuses I will be focusing on some of the simpler hanging foraging toys. These hanging foraging toys consist of a hard plastic container with holes of varying sizes hung up by a chain. Depending on the version you have it could be ideal for serving larger items like fruit and veggies or smaller items like nuts and cheerios.
To use them the rats must reach with their hands or teeth between the open slots to gnaw at (for large treats) or retrieve (for small treats) the food. This can help prevent hoarding of larger wet foods like fruits and also is just a good way to make them work a bit more for their treats. You can even stuff these foraging toys with crinkled paper or tissue as well as treats to increase the difficulty as I did with my blue treasure chest version. Overall these hanging foraging toys are all pretty similar in function, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the clear ball. The reason I like that one best is because it opens up fully - its attached magnetically in the center and so its easy to snap apart to clean or refill, and the chain can even be removed easily to make this into a normal foraging ball that can be used on the cage floor. The other foraging toys can also be used like this, but its harder (if not impossible as with the treasure chest) to remove the chain and neither comes apart which can make cleaning and refilling more difficult. Nonetheless my rats seem to enjoy these foraging toys and like with the kabobs they are a great way to offer fruit, veggies, and other large treats without any rat being able to just stash the food! Link to this foraging toy (ball): https://amzn.to/3a74Za6 Link to this foraging toy (chest): https://amzn.to/3aAI08x Link to this foraging toy (mouse, US): https://amzn.to/2X3ZaFX
Video showcasing these foraging toys:
For our 6th foraging Friday I decided to focus on a classic - that being foraging wheels! These fun foraging toys are initially made for birds (as many rat foraging toys are) but work perfectly for rats as well. The way they work is that the top clear plastic piece has 2 decent sized holes that the rats can fit their hands and (depending on the wheel) nose through. You fill the inside compartments with treats and your rats then have to push the top piece around so that the holes line up with the treat they are trying to get. They then have to use their hands and/or nose to get it out of the hole, which successfully completes the process.
Overall its a super fun toy for rats of any age and foraging level and while the initial concept is simple you can ramp up the difficulty pretty easily. One way to do this is to add some crinkled paper or tissue to each compartment, so that the rats have to dig through them to get to the treats. Another idea is to only use normal food inside (what I usually do) and then hide the occasional special treat inside in order to encourage them to root around inside. Even if you just leave it as it is though the rats will still enjoy the challenge - at first some rats might have difficulty understanding how to move the openings around, but with time and experience they will get the idea and this then becomes a great way to offer them food (while also minimizing their want to hoard it :P) Cleaning wise these wheels are also pretty easy to care for - you can unscrew the top plastic sheet from the bottom and this gives you full access to clean and refill the containers pretty easily. As for the main difference between the 2 wheels shown here (different brands) the biggest difference other than the size of the wheel and the size of its access holes is that the larger clear wheel attaches to the cage easier. The larger wheel is attached using one large plastic screw in the center of the wheel, while the blue wheel has two side holes that you need to insert a metal screw through and then attach it to the cage with a washer and wing nut on both sides. Its much easier to move the clear wheel around due to the center attachment and also much harder to break the larger wheels attachment, however considering that it tends to sell for double the price of the smaller wheel I'm not sure if that one small improvement its worth the increase. When it comes down to it both wheels are a super fun foraging toy for rats of all ages and skill levels. You can even create a DIY version of the foraging wheel pretty easily and I've linked a video of me doing just that down below: Link to my DIY version of the foraging wheel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiFWjzCJDDw Link to this foraging toy (larger): https://amzn.to/2xxHGZp Link to this foraging toy (smaller, blue/purple/pink): https://amzn.to/3anvPMh
Video showcasing this foraging toy: |
AboutHey there! Here you will find tips and tricks on rat care and training, along with information not found elsewhere on this site. If you have questions or suggestions for me, feel free to contact me through the contact page. Archives
October 2021
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