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Yeah the pellets were just to try and get him to eat something else that I can leave him during the day. But no joy there. I wouldn't ever move him to a pellet only diet.

Understood. And I don't think an all pellet diet would be healthy. I emphasize fresh foods. But I do like to leave mine a bowl with a few in it, in case he gets the munchies when I'm not home. I view pellets sort of like a cereal -- more of a snack food that's not too unhealthy. (Mine's cage had multiple food bowls, hence one kept specifically for pellets or twice-weekly seed treats).

Can you describe your parrots in a short phrase?? I will start this one. Corky my CAG Part time professor, Part time comedian !!!. Cricket my Amazon (RIP) Class clown. !! Willie my Cockatiel(RIP) The old man. They each are their own.

Pookie is demanding and ready to deconstruct any toy or cardboard she can reach. Smokey Joe lives to taste blood preferably mine, excellent talker of our language and often ready to give verbal corrections to the furred members of the household.

I have been blessed with a CAG who will try most fresh veggies/fruits (esp if he see me eating them first). Have many here had difficulty with 'seed junkies" or "picky eaters?" Been there, done that. I truly feel your pain. My CAG came to me believing only seed and pellets were edible. That said, only certain 'coloured' pellets met his approval (still true -- the orange round 'basketballs' in Zupreem are deemed inedible -- who knows why??) He refuses all other brands of pellet brands and WILL NOT eat non-coloured pellets. (sigh) I am so thankful today to have a CAG who will eat most anything. Granted, I've had him 22 years and I don't pretend that was an easy road. His fave these days are his morning apple/grapes/melon, (whatever fruit I have on hand) etc.. (But apples ARE his favourite -- not red/yellow delicious or rome -- he likes the crisper, sweeter, less mealy types -- the "special" apples). Yeah, he's picky now re: apples. Don't ever offer a special apple to a CAG who gratefully accepts red delicious or romes -- they get SPOILED like us, desiring only the crispest sweetest apples available! His favourite supper is fresh veg (sometimes frozen, sometimes actually fresh, sometimes a mix) with some rice (and sometimes pasta -- whole wheat). I always keep a bowl of Zupreem pellets available for him to snack on, it's like an "all day" available snack. What does YOUR Grey eat and enjoy??? Thanks in advance -- I am always curious.

I like the idea of just swapping the rusty hooks out. Or, take some steel wool or sandpaper and get them clean -- just rinse well so parrot has no access to remnant steel wool strands or something -- leftover bits could be a crop irritant. As far as bugspray and cigarette smoke exposure... I get the impression your Mum isn't very on board with a parrot in the home.

Still a good plan, pin-hole drained may require taking them from her before she's ready -- hence I let mine naturally desiccate. I think they're sort of cool to keep. Since mine sat on her eggs for a few months -- some broke and really stank. The salvageable ones were basically the ones not broken and already nearly dried out. The egg shell is permeable, so they dry out within a matter of months.

Timber is a very picky eater. He will eat cooked sweet potato, cooked mixes like Higgins and soak'n'serve. He won't eat chop or birdie bread, both of which I have tried numerous times. He will eat sweet peas and a bit of broccoli if I put it on a skewer. He is a junk food junkie of course, and will eat anything deemed bad for him (i.e. pizza, cheese, hot dogs, etc.) He does like pasta and meat, which is a little surprising to me. Since he is so thin, the avian vet said to feed him meat if he will eat it and he does. He likes several kinds of cooked beans. He likes to shred artichokes (I cut the ends off, peel off some of the outer leaves, wash it well and open it up then toss it in his cage). I'm not sure how much he actually eats, but he enjoys the process. As for dry items, he eats nutriberries and a quality seed mix. I still give him 3 cc's of juvenile formula morning and night per the vet's instructions. He's a mess!

I think I've mentioned this elsewhere but Alfie is an extremely picky eater. Anything new is either stared at or flung as far away as possible. His absolute favourite treat right now is cedar nuts - so I keep them for training and positive reinforcement purposes. He enjoys dried banana chips. He used to love fresh banana but has gone off that. Grapes are another favourite. His daily meals consist of a seed mix with dried fruit, dried veg and a few nuts. He seems to preferred dried fruit and veg over fresh or cooked - though he does sometimes eat sugar snap peas, mashed potato and cooked peas and sweetcorn. He did try some butternut squash and sweet potato recently as I found a couple of pieces with bite marks. But I don't think he approved because any subsequent attempts to feed him those two veggies ended up on the cage floor. I have tried every pellet that I can get my hands on with no joy. I have tried every trick in the book to get him to eat pellets as part of his diet but he resists every time. I will not entertain the idea of only ever leaving pellets in his bowl with no other food source as I think he would rather starve himself than try them. I persevere and try to present food in different ways to see if I can crack him. He seems to like it when I created a foraging tray for him and hide food in there, so I'm using that method to try and sneak some veggies in. Most still get flung though, with the occasional beak mark! I recently tried sprouting but that went down like a lead balloon. I am toying with the idea of getting a dehydrator but my kitchen is so small I don't currently have the surface space or storage space for one. But if he carries on eating dried veggies then I may have to go back to that idea. Not as good as fresh of course, but I'll take it!

All 3 of my greys are great eaters! Their breakfast consists of power greens, snap peas, sweet potatoes, banana, pomegranate arils, a grape, sprouts, my homemade birdie bread that is baked with all the veggies they turn their beaks up at, a drop of organic red palm oil, and my freeze dried blend of veggies. In the evening they get raw soaked nuts, more birdie bread, and a tsp. or two of large billed deluxe avian cuisine that doesn't contain any sunflower seeds or peanuts. They each love to snack on any steamed vegetable that I'm eating, usually broccoli and/or carrots. Most of my other birds are more selective.

Alfie loves to whistle. He's not a singer. (Not an amazon either, but figured I'd join in the conversation anyway!) He will copy whistles but does enjoy to make up his own tunes. He's never really learned to whistle any actual songs/tunes - despite my best efforts. He does do a good spaghetti western whistle (the good the bad and the ugly) though.

Snickers can do some amazing whistling (beginning part of Bridge Over River Kwai troop whistling) but alas, no singing. I can even remember my cockatiel "making up" his own whistle songs (he didn't really have an 'ear' for it, honestly). But he would whistle while standing on only one foot, with his other foot held dramatically up in the air like a hand, like "wait for it -- here comes the good part!" Um, no 'good part' ever came -- but at least he tried to be creative.

Can you hear me now. You might not hear me but you can read my post. As members we are here to share and tell storied. Don`t forget we are still the best around.

Aw you got there before I did! 😂 Alfie is a quiet observer. He doesn't make much noise... but he watches carefully and takes everything in.

Snickers (CAG): has a strong opinion about everything; Special skills: hanging upside down by one toe while he calls out "be careful"; Attitude: confidant - even if he's slightly scared or worried he puts on a brave front. Hobbies include destroying things with his beak, tossing unwanted foods from his dish, climbing anything, and asking "whatcha doing" a million times a day. He manages to accomplish all this while remaining very handsome!

Timber (TAG) is Lord and Master of all he surveys.