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I wonder how many are in the UK. It doesn't seem as common to keep birds over here. In fact, the pet shop I used to work at stopped selling all birds. They used to sell finches, canaries, budgies, rosellas, cockatiels.., and the occasional african grey (which is how I first came across them and gained interest in them). We also had an eclectus in once... though that was from another store who hadn't cared for him properly so we looked after him, fed him properly and then sold him once he was in a better condition and was ready to move to his (hopefully) forever home. I still have a soft spot for electus parrots to this day because of him. Years ago they decided that birds weren't as popular as other pets so stopped selling them and drastically reduced their bird products. They only sell a few bits and pieces for small birds nowadays. None of my friends or family keep birds of any variety and I don't often hear about people keeping birds in my local area.

Yes I kept reducing seeds and adding more pellets. I tried offering pellets as a treat. I tried adding them to his foraging wheel once he got the hang of how to get the food out. He ignored the foraging wheel until I put his regular food/treats back in. He managed to pick his bowl up and dump the entire contents of it whenever it had pellets in. 😂 If there were any seeds present he would dig them out and eat those. I tried crumbling the pellets over his seed/veg/fruit but he wasn't having any of it. I pretended to eat them myself whilst making excited and happy sounds. He just stared blankly at me. I have tried every brand, every shape, every colour and quite possibly every trick. I've removed all other foods except the pellets for short periods at a time (around the time he normally dives into his food bowl or foraging wheel) but he was having none of it. Either dumped the contents or sat there rattling his bowl (his sign for 'FEED ME NOW!'). I couldn't bring myself to leave the pellets in there for nothing else for a whole day as I honestly believe he would starve himself before eating them. 🙄 So I keep offering fruit and veg- whether fresh, cooked or dried. He doesn't eat a lot of it (apart from dried fruit/veg like I mentioned earlier) but at least he picks at some of it. I think I'd rather he ate actual fruit and veg over pellets anyway. Not too keen on the whole processed/man made food idea.

I considered rehoming Alfie for a while so I understand how difficult it must have been for you. At the time I wasn't providing Alfie with the time and attention he needed and I felt like I wasn't good enough for him and he deserved much better. The latter is definitely true. I was putting in lots of hours at work and trying to study at the same time so Alfie wasn't getting as much out of cage time as he should and not enough social interaction for a while. I looked up a few recuse centres and even contacted one but they never got back to me. I came to the conclusion that Alfie didn't ask to be put int his situation so I needed to make some drastic changes. I figured I would try my best to adapt and get into a better routine to I had more time to spend with him (and work less whilst I was at it). It took me many months of making little changes here and there- like rearranging the rooms in the house, relocating Alfie's cage, getting him a new cage, changing my routines etc etc. When I bought my house I went into it looking at layouts which suited Alfie best. I'm forever learning and adapting to suit Alfie's needs and I am happy that I have made enough changes along the way that I no longer consider rehoming him. He seems so much happier since moving to this house 6 years ago and being the centre of attention in our living space. Plus he gets so much more time out of the cage and with me. It's always a tough decision and not one to take lightly. It reduced me to tears on a number of occasions as I tried to work out what to do for the best. Thankfully I was able to make the required changes to improve things though.

@neoow Above and beyond -- your bird is too smart! I loved you pretending to eat his food yourself while making excited happy sounds! Greys are smart enough to rule the world -- they must laugh at us sometimes! I do find if I am eating a meal (one I can share) it is the greatest joy to my grey to eat from my plate. Esp if he thinks he's stealing food by 'grabbing' an item (when really, I was sharing anyway). I know, I know -- human germs -- so I usually just push some 'clean' items to the edge of the plate for him to 'steal.' Although these days, I often just slide some of my meal into his dish and he is happy that we're eating together (flocking, I suppose); parrots always think human food is superior to their own food. (If we humans would just eat more healthy in the first place, ours are really the same diet in many cases).

The skewer works every day for us. I put his fresh peas in the pod, broccoli and cauliflower on it. He will at least nibble on some of it. If I put them in a bowl they will be untouched all day.