Brief description: Chimpanzees can drink from straws as well as try and get bits of fruit or other food out of the water.
Materials: Plastic buckets of various sizes with plastic “straws.” Can also use recycled containers such as milk jugs if buckets are unavailable.
Assembly instructions: Plastic tubing can be cut in a variety of lengths (usually over 12 inches) to create the straws.
How to use: There is very little preparation time for these. Fill the buckets about half full of water or a diluted liquid such as fruit juice or tea and add a “straw” to each bucket. For a little extra, you can put small pieces of fruit in the drink. Place buckets outside of caging and provide the primates with the straws.
Price: If using recycled items such as milk jugs, the “buckets” can be free. Purchasing children’s sand pails from the dollar store is a very reasonable option as well. Plastic Tubing can be purchased online or at the local hardware store.
Jamie and Missy take advantage of the juice provided in the buckets outside the caging.
