Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Brief description: Brush heads may be given to the chimpanzees as is for a daily enrichment item. You may also insert seeds, nuts, and fruit into them or smear food items like mashed banana over the bristles.
Materials: Rubbermaid brush heads
Assembly instructions: No assembly required
How to use: Either provide the brush as is, or if desired as food enrichment – add seeds, nuts, fruit into bristles and/or smear with food items such as mashed banana or pudding.
Price: ~$15 per brush head
Brief description: PVC caps are stacked on top of each other and able to be manipulated up and down on an eyebolt. Treats can be placed or smeared inside each cup, requiring that the chimps manipulate the PVC caps to access all of the treats inside. These are placed on the outside of the caging to increase difficulty level.
Materials: PVC caps, eyebolt, S-hook, chain, locking nuts and washer.
Assembly instructions: Drill holes in the bottom of each PVC cap. Insert eyebolt through 3 PVC caps, adding a washer and locking nut to the bottom of the eyebolt underneath the 3 PVC caps. Be sure to tighten the locking nut enough that it is secure and unable to be removed, but not restricting the ability of the caps to move up and down along the eyebolt. If desired, longer eyebolts can be purchased to allow for more PVC caps to be added to each puzzle, or to use larger PVC caps. Use the S-hook to attach the eyebolt to chain to allow the device to be hung from the caging. If desired, add firehose over the chain.
How to use: Apply treats to the inside of each PVC cup. Peanut butter, pudding, honey, or other sticky substances can be smeared around all sides of the inside of each cup, but you can also fill with seeds, dried fruit, baked fruit, or other small items. Hang up on the outside of the caging for the chimps to work on.
Price: You can purchase a 4 pack of 2″, schedule 40 PVC caps for $16, and a 1/4″ x 8″ eyebolt for about $6 per eyebolt (which makes it about $18 per hanging PVC cups device, without cost of chain, nuts, and washers).
Brief description: Crushed pineapple, applesauce, tomato soup, pumpkin, jelly, or other food item is smear into the turf, and chimps use their fingers to retrieve it, eliciting natural foraging/grooming behavior.
Materials: cutting board (dollar tree), angle iron, astro turf, carabiner
Assembly instructions: Attach turf to cutting board using angle iron. Use a quick link to attach carabiner to the cutting board to allow for it to easily be hung outside caging.
How to use: Smear food items in the turf. Clip to the outside of the caging for chimps to access. (Cleaning tip – use hose to wash out any remaining food material).
Price: Dependent on cutting board price and angle iron used
Brief description: A larger 2ftx2ft (or whatever size works for
area) piece of plexi-glass or lexan cut with 1-2inch holes. Place on top of caging. At Fauna Foundation, these are placed on top of the front rooms so the chimpanzees can sit and access the food from underneath, but that might not work for all sanctuaries. Place foraging items in and around the holes.
Materials: Clear plexi-glass or Lexan
Tools needed: Drill to cut 1-2 inch holes
Assembly instructions: Drill multiple 1-2 inch holes throughout the clear plexi-glass or Lexan at varying distances from each other.
How to use: Place forage items in and around holes. Could smear peanut butter or similar as well.
Price: ~$30 per square foot
Brief description: A variety of treats can be placed in the bristles of each brush, then the brushes are hung inside the caging using locks. The chimpanzees use their fingers or tools to retrieve the treats. These could be hung outside the caging as well for increased difficulty.
Materials: Brush head, chain, bolts, washers, lock nuts, and firehose if desired to cover the chain. We used 1/4″ x 1.5″ hex bolts, flat washers, and hex lock nuts.
Tools needed to create the device: drill, 1/4″ drill bit, ratchet wrench, socket wrench
Assembly instructions: Mark two spots where you will drill holes into the brush head, on either end of the brush. It is easiest to drill from the top side without the bristles. When determining the placement of your holes, try to place them where they will not go through a pocket of bristles on the other side, as you then have to pull the remaining loose bristles out. Drill each hole as marked. Cut 2 lengths of chain to your desired length. Having 2 chains allows you to secure it more tightly to the caging than just 1, or to attach the brush around larger objects (like a pole inside the enclosure). Insert 1 bolt with a washer into the end of one of the lengths of chain, and then insert through the top of the brush head into one of the pre-drilled holes. And a lock nut to the end of the bolt and tighten using your ratchet wrench and socket wrench. Repeat this process for the other hole.
How to use: Insert/smear treats on or in the bristles of each brush. Some of our favorites to use are mashed banana, peanut butter, raspberries, and blueberries. The easiest for the chimps to retrieve are nuts like peanuts or bigger nuts in the shell like hazelnuts. Smaller seeds like sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds do not stay in the bristles well.
Price: ~$20 per hanging brush
Brief description: PVC crosses are stacked on top of each other and able to twirl around an eyebolt. Treats can be placed or smeared inside each opening, requiring that the chimps manipulate the PVC crosses to access all of the treats inside. These are placed on the outside of the caging to increase difficulty level.
Materials: PVC crosses, eyebolt, S-hook, chain, locking nuts and washer.
Assembly instructions: Drill holes in the top and bottom of each PVC cross in a straight line. Insert eyebolt through the first PVC cross, then add a locking nut underneath the first PVC cross, being sure not to tighten the locking nut too much so that the PVC cross can still freely spin around the eyebolt. A second locking nut can also be added here, to increase the spacing between PVC crosses and ensure each one is able to spin easily and independently of one another. Add the next PVC cross, followed by a washer and locking nut. If desired, longer eyebolts can be purchased to allow for more PVC crosses to be added to each puzzle. Use the S-hook to attach the eyebolt to chain to allow the device to be hung from the caging. If desired, add firehose over the chain.
How to use: Apply treats to the inside of each hole in the PVC crosses. Peanut butter, pudding, honey, or other sticky substances work particularly well. Hang up on the outside of the caging for the chimps to work on. Tools are not required, but could be given if desired.
Price: You can purchase a 10 pack of 2″, schedule 40 PVC crosses for $50, and a 1/4″ x 8″ eyebolt for about $6 per eyebolt (which makes it about $16 per fidget spinner, without cost of chain, nuts, and washers).
Brief description: The chimps have to pull out chop sticks and paper from hanging clear tubes to get the nuts to drop out the bottom.
Materials: To make our puzzle we used pipe and fittings that were 1 1/4″ size. We used clear PVC pipe purchased in 5 ft lengths off of Amazon. To make one puzzle, you will need approximately 12 inches of clear PVC pipe, 1 eye bolt (1/4″x2″), 1 PVC cap, 2 flat washers (1/4″), 1 hex nut (1/4″), 1 Nylon insert lock nut (1/4″), 1 S-Hook (1 1/2″), a length of light duty chain (approximately 6″ long). You also have the option to cover the chain with a piece of fire hose. You will need additional bolts, nuts and washers to secure the chain inside the fire hose.
Other tools and materials needed: PVC glue, power drill with assorted drill bits, ratchet and socket set, set of pliers, bamboo chopsticks
Assembly instructions:
1.) We used round bamboo chopsticks to determine the size of the holes we wanted to drill in our PVC tubes. We matched the skinny tapered end of the chopstick with a drill bit to decide how wide the holes should be. We drilled 4 times all the way through our tubes using the small drill bit. Be sure to leave a couple of inches on one end of the tube that doesn’t have holes in it. This will be the top part where you can put the food when you prepare them. Next, match a second drill bit to the wider end of the chopstick.
We used the wider drill bit to open up only one side of each of the already drilled spots. This way the chimps will only be able to remove the chopsticks from one direction (a little added challenge).
2.) Drill one hole in the center of the PVC cap (1/4″ for the eye bolt to fit). Secure the eye bolt to the PVC cap: put a bolt closest to the “eye,” followed by a washer. Then insert the eye bolt through the hole in the PVC cap and add another washer to the end, followed by the lock nut. Tighten the lock nut using your ratchet.
3.) Attach the PVC cap/eye bolt to the end of the clear PVC tube using PVC glue. The cap should go on the end of the pipe that you chose to be the top of the puzzle (the end without drilled holes).
4.) Attach the chain to the eye bolt by bending the S-hook with your pliers.
How to use: Drop an un-shelled walnut or two into the tube. Poke chopsticks through the drilled holes, add some crumpled paper into the tube above some of the chopsticks. Lock the end of the chain to the caging. The chimps have to pull out all the chopsticks and then use tools to pull out the paper as well. After they have done this, the walnuts should drop down right into their hands!
Price: Approximately $10 per puzzle.
