We delivered the first version of the Spider Monkey computerized testing apparatus to  Dr. Darby Proctor & Dr. Kate Talbot at the Brevard Zoo.    They will test this version to further develop mechanical and software designs.   Don already made one revision to the area where the “reward pellets” dispense.  He cut a piece of PVC, bent the ends and made a “tray” so the monkeys can pick up the pellets.  The Spider Monkeys were a part of the testing yesterday and were very interested! Scroll through the photos below

As you may have heard, Amazon Smiles ended their program months ago.  
GREAT NEWS “SHOP RAISE” comes to the rescue

CLICK HERE ShopRaise Landing Page for Animal Enrichment Systems https://shopraise.com/support/animalenrichmentsystems

We found a great replacement, Shop Raise which is free to use that donates a portion of every purchase to our nonprofit (you can just type in Animal Enrichment Systems, or any charity name in the search area) . Shop Raise has a list of 100’s of popular merchants (Walmart, Home Depot, Chewy, Lowes, etc)

You set up an account (you will be a “supporter”), download the ap on your phone or deskop and choose from the list of merchants.    Animal Enrichment systems will get a check each time the percentage of donations hit $50.  You get an email saying thank you for supporting your cause.

How ShopRaise works video link – https://vimeo.com/740503015

BONUS::;;From Shop Raise: Take advantage of the NEW PROMOTION this fall to help your organization raise more! ShopRaise will make a $5.00 Bonus Donation* to your organization when your supporters shop using the ShopRaise app for their first or next order of $50.00 or more. This is in addition to the retailer contribution (one per supporter). This is a limited time offer. 

Remember to use Shop Raise each time you make an online purchase!

Demonstrating the water feature

Demonstrating the bird chirps and sound feature

Demonstrating the feeder features.

May 15, 2023 – Critter Cart Delivery to Zoo Tampa

We had a very successful trip to ZooTampa on Monday. Everyone was eager to watch the demonstration and learn how to operate the features of the cart. The cart perches will be covered in an epoxy that will harden to look like tree bark. ZooTampa will use this cart with some of their ambassador birds and possibly their prehensile-tailed porcupine ambassador animal. The Critter Cart has four enrichment options: Water, Food dispenser, Bird Chirp sounds/music and a water spray. The animals can learn to push the buttons on the perches, or the zookeepers can push a remote to start the enrichment features.

We tested the Critter Cart using the remote that zookeepers can control.

Here’s the latest photos. We will test it tomorrow, check back for the video

We will deliver the critter cart to ZooTampa early next week. We will update our posts with photos soon.

On Tuesday, 4/25, we met with Dr. Darby Proctor, FIT at Brevard Zoo’s at the Cognitive Research Center to fit test the primate EED chassis.  

More to come soon.

Update: Upon completion of the dual feeder the cart was ready for testing. When the pump for the shower was activated, it caused the feeder to dispense. The root cause of this issue was electromagnetic magnetic interference from the brushes in the pump. In order to correct this issue, the power system was split into two systems one for the controller electronics and the other for the enrichment devices. After splitting the power system, the erroneous triggering was much improved, however, every once in a while, the feeder would trigger (about once every ten minutes). Capacitive noise suppression was added to the pump circuit and that fixed the issue. The cart is now ready to be brought outside for testing (4-20-23)

We tested the ZooTampa Critter Cart today. This has four features: fan, music/bird sounds, food/seed dispenser and water shower/spray