Archive for the ‘Chimps’ Choice’ Category

Chimps’ Choice- Spry gum!

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

I just looked in the cabinet and realized the chimps are out of Spry Gum! The chimps actually love to chew gum. Sometimes they just swallow it, but usually they will chew it and sometimes even play with it (check out this adorable video posted in 2010 of Negra enjoying a piece of gum). We don’t give the chimps sugar or artificial flavors so Spry is great because it contains Xylitol, a natural sweetener, which is great for your teeth and gums.

So, I would like to propose a challenge: the first 5 people to send this 5-flavor pack of Spry Gum from our Amazon Wishlist will get something extra special from me in return, along with the joy that you helped enrich the Cle Elum Seven, of course! What could be better?

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Posted in Burrito, Chimps' Choice, enrichment, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Wishlist | 4 Comments »

Chimps’ Choice!

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

It’s been a while since we had a Chimps’ Choice item, and we have an awesome idea!

We love to challenge the chimps with puzzles. Not to cause stress, of course, but to keep them stimulated and enriched. Jamie loves nothing more than a project but she’s so smart that it is difficult to come up with a project for her that actually challenges her. Something that would take me an hour to figure out, Jamie masters in less than 5 minutes. The puzzles that Cari donated the other day are just perfect and we would love to have more. The website has a variety of puzzles, but not all of them will work for us, so I added the specific ones we think will be best to our Amazon Wishlist. They are the PVC Puzzle, the hanging sliding feeder, the Forage Raisin Ball, and the Discovery Food Ball. All of these puzzles have a chain attached to them and hang on the outside of the caging. They encourage tool use and creative problem solving skills, and I suspect they will be just the thing to keep Jamie and the others enriched and occupied for years to come.

***Update: The company that sells these puzzles, AbsolutePrimate.com, has a $75 minimum, so if you would like to participate, instead of ordering them through the website, please send us a donation and we will order them. Be sure to mention Chimps’ Choice or puzzles in the gift note section.

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Posted in Chimps' Choice, enrichment, Jamie, Sanctuary, Volunteers | 9 Comments »

Negra and her night bag

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

Jackie was able to get some close-up footage of Negra enjoying her night bag the other night. It really is her favorite time of the day.

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Posted in Chimps' Choice, Food, Negra, Sanctuary | 13 Comments »

Nuts for chimps

Friday, November 12th, 2010

One of the chimps’ favorite foods is nuts. At the end of each day, we give the chimps “night bags”, which are paper bags of unsalted nuts, seeds, popcorn, unsweetened dried fruit and various other goodies. The ingredients change based on what we have, but one thing is for sure- nuts are always in the mix! All of the chimps get pretty excited over night bags, especially Negra, who LOVES nuts.

For our next Chimps’ Choice, we would like to stock up on unsalted, in shell mixed nuts, jumbo walnuts, and almonds for our night bags and for forages. I have added the specific types we would like to our Amazon wishlist, both because we do not give the chimps much salt, and because we are stocked up on certain other types of nuts (for example: we have plenty of peanuts!).

So take a look at our Amazon wishlist and help us provide a more varied night bag for the chimps, and as always, I’ll send you something special in return.

Here’s a little inspiration:

Annie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Missy:

Negra, the queen of night bags, herself:

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Posted in Annie, Burrito, Chimps' Choice, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary | 7 Comments »

Chimps’ Choice

Monday, September 20th, 2010

As you can probably tell from several of our recent blog posts (including the termite board, the browse feeder, hanging juice bottles outside the caging, and frozen troll dolls), we’ve been working really hard to come up with unique enrichment puzzles for the chimps. Last week, Jessie from the Center for Great Apes visited, and told us about Boomer Balls. Boomer Balls are non-toxic, heavy-duty polyethylene plastic balls. At the Center, they drill holes in the boomer balls and freeze Gatorade or juice inside. She says the apes at the Center love it and we suspect the Cle Elum Seven will too. So, for this month’s Chimps’ Choice item, we’re asking for Boomer Balls. Help us enrich the chimps! Send us a 4 1/2″ ball, a 6″ ball, a 10″ ball, or a 10″ snack-n-trim in the next month, and we’ll send you something special in return.

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Posted in Chimps' Choice, enrichment, Sanctuary | 7 Comments »