Link to For our 5th foraging Friday focuses I focused on a simple toy - that being the kabob foraging toy. This toy is very simple in design - it consists of a metal (or wood) rod with a screw on piece at the end. Many come with colorful wood blocks to chew as well, along with the occasional loofah or pine cone.
Now the wood blocks and other chew toys are all well and good, but in my experience rats aren't a huge fan of chewing them. Luckily though that's not the main draw to these foraging toys - the main draw of these is really being able to use them to give your rats fruit and veggies in a less messy way that makes them share more and also adds a bit of a challenge as the kabob swings around. For the metal kabob there really is no downside as it tends to be relatively cheap and a great way to feed fresh foods. Wood ones on the other hand definitely aren't my favorite and I wouldn't recommend them, if simply for the fact that they really can't be used to feed fresh food once the wooden blocks have been chewed. So I'd say skip the wooden ones (unless your rats are huge wood chewers) and instead stick to the metal skewers - they're great to have around when you feed fresh food and really provide the perfect way to encourage your rats to share their spoils and not hoard all of it. Link to this foraging toy (metal): https://amzn.to/395kyyJ Link to this foraging toy (wooden): https://amzn.to/3fI9nQO
Video showcasing this foraging toy:
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For our 4th foraging Friday I'll be reviewing the Super Bird Creations Foraging 4 Way Forager Bird Toy. This foraging toy is pretty simple - it consists of 4 plastic cups mounted on chain with some flower shaped plastic circles placed over each cups entrance to block immediate food access. You place food inside the cups and when the rats (or other pets) go to get them they have to push aside the plastic circles blocking the way first.
Its a very simple concept but this toy executes it very well - the cups are light and well balanced and so there is no way for the rats to simply tip the whole thing over for easy treats, and the plastic piece blocking treat access is light enough for the rats to easily lift yet sturdy enough that it can't be slid off the side of the cup. Overall this foraging toy is super fun for the rats and also easy for their humans to clean, refill, and hang up - its a great foraging toy that is fun to use for treats or just regular food alone and is one of my favorite toys to feed the rats lab blocks in. The ease of access for both humans and rats means you can easily put even larger food inside, and it is overall a great foraging toy for rats of any foraging level. The only downside I can think of is its large size - if you have a smaller cage this toy may take up more room than you'd like. Other than that though its easily one of my favorite foraging toys and I plan to use it for years to come! Link to this foraging toy: https://amzn.to/2wRtgDm Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For our 3rd foraging Friday I'll be reviewing the JW Pet Company 31136 Tip and Treat toy. How it works is the rats need to spin the toy using their paws and nose, and occasionally this will lead to a treat falling out. While this foraging toy is super cute and fun for the rats, with the spinning dispenser seemingly unique to it among foraging toys, it does have a few downsides as well.
One issue with it is just how difficult it is to find treats for it. The hole is small and can't be adjusted and so anything larger than 1/4-1/3 the size of a cheerio they won't be able to get out. So if you want to use a foraging toy to feed normal food this one doesn't work well, and even if you want to just use it for treats like I do you have to either only use super small treats like black sunflower seeds or break up larger treats like cheerios. The other downside is that the toys inside is only accessible through the hold they get the treats out of. So you have to slowly put the treats in order to avoid spilling them and since the bar attaching the dispenser part to the yellow base is so thin you'll want to take the entire toy out each time to refill it. This is definitely a downside when compared to other foraging toys like foraging wheels which are much easier to load and wash. Overall I find this foraging toy to be very cute and fun for the rats. Its the only toy I've found that works this way and so I feel its still worth it due to how much enjoyment and enrichment the rats can get out of it. With that being said the design could definitely be improved on and with some minor improvements like the blue dispenser opening in the middle and the treat hole being adjustable I think it could be one of the best foraging toys. All in all this foraging toy is great for the rats but a bit of a pain on the human end. Its worth a use ever so often to for the rats sake, but its design could definitely be improved. Foraging toy link: https://amzn.to/3cDpC0j Video showcasing this foraging toy:
For the 2nd Foraging Friday review I decided to go with a classic foraging toy - that being the foraging ball! Foraging balls come in all shapes and sizes and can be found for cats, dogs, small animals, birds, and pretty much any animal, but they are essentially all the same thing. All these foraging toys have a slot (or few) that allows you to insert treats, and when the rats (or other animals) push them around the treats inside gradually fall out.
One of my favorite thing about foraging balls is just how versatile they are. You can use them inside the cage, but unlike cage mounted foraging toys they also make perfect free-range toys. I tend to use mine mainly during free-range, especially on days when I am too tired to trick train but still want to give the rats some extra enrichment when feeding them treats. Filling these toys is pretty easy due to their large opening, and when it comes time for the rats to use them many of them have several difficulty settings. Both the yellow and blue foraging balls seen here can be closed in different increments in order to make it harder for the rats to get a treat out - this helps them stay fun even as the rats get more experienced using them and is a nice way to prevent over-feeding any treats. All in all I find foraging balls to be a fun toy for rats of any age, and their versatility and ease of use (both for us when filling them and rats when using them) makes them ideal for use during free-range and inside the cage. Yellow small animal foraging ball link: https://amzn.to/2ybiZ5Q Blue cat foraging ball link: https://amzn.to/2Tl3crD Mouse foraging toy link: https://amzn.to/3acMyBi
Video showcasing these foraging toys:
This post is the first in a series of posts I will be making on some of the commercial foraging toys available for rats. Most of these will be bird or dog toys, as the selection of foraging toys made specifically for rats is quite low.
Anyways I thought I'd start off with one of my rats simpler toys, a PVC pipe bird foraging toy. This toy, which is called the Super Bird Creations PVC Forager Bird Toy, is made up of a elbow PCV pipe, 2 flower covers, and a chain. The flower covers block each end of the pipe, meaning that to get to the food inside the rats must push these aside. This toy is one of my favorites because its perfect for rats of all ages and all foraging levels - if a rat has never foraged before this is a perfect one to get them started due to the simplicity of using it, and even if your rats are accustomed to harder foraging toys you can always up the difficulty by stuffing it with crinkled paper or tissues along with treats/normal food. Its also easy to clean and refill which is a huge plus, and on top of that its not super large meaning that you can use it in all sorts of cages to fill an empty spot or corner where a larger foraging toy just wouldn't fit. Overall I really like this foraging toy due to its simplicity and ease of use and its currently one of my (and the rats) favorites! Foraging Toy link: https://amzn.to/2VbTD0K 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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