Seed & nut mix?

[Leia]

Hi everyone. I'm concerned about what I am feeding my cag. Initially I fed her pellets and a variety of fruit and veg along side the pellets. She used to enjoy her food but still wanted her handrearing porridge at night at the age of 4 & 1/2 months. She stopped the porridge when I introduced a nut and seed mix which I initially wanted to give her occassionally. But she kept nagging everytime I put food into the cage until I gave her the fruit and nut mix and would only eat the nuts and seeds and leave the pellets out. But I'm concerned that it's too high in fat and will lead to weight and liver problems in the long run. I've tried stopping her, this is the 2nd day but she keeps nagging despite the fact that there's softened pellets and nice veges in her cage which she previously used to love? I need some help? Want to know if I'm doing the right thing by stopping her from eating that?

[Dave007]

Greys aren't prone toward obesity. Rarely does a grey get overweight. I really don't understand what you mean by fruit and nut mix. You mix fruit in with a nut mix? Fresh fruit and vggies have to be removed after a couple of hours because it goes bad. I don't think you should worry about pellets though. If she was eating fresh veggies in the past, you'll just have to give them to her alone for a while and then put the nut mix in another bowl afterward. By the way, what's a nut mix?

[judygram]

Dave I think she is talking about dried fruits and nuts you can buy in a bag already mixed up, might contain papaya, pineapple, raisins, peanuts, pecans, almonds and such, I have purchased similar ones for my birds.

[Leia]

I’m talking about a mix that they sell at the pet stores with mostly sunflower seeds and all types of nuts and a few dried fruit and pellets. But the balance is not right because there are too many sunflower seeds and nuts in the mix. I bought it as a treat thinking id give it to her once a week. But she started demanding it and hasn’t stopped crying for 2 days since ive stopped. She tosses all the other food she previously liked. And shes persistant in her demanding the nut mix.

[judygram]

Continue to give her the mix along with the other food she was eating but gradually over time reduce the amount of the mix and more of the other foods to gradually wean her off the mix.

 

How is she demanding you feed her the mix? Is she throwing a hissy fit? Well just ignore it, if you give in to her fits then you are basically telling her she rules the roost. She will not starve herself to death but she needs to learn she cannot "demand" her way and get it.

[lovethatgrey]

As I have already mentioned, I do not purchase any type of premade seed, nut and dried fruit mixture. It is my opinion that it isn't necessary and the nutritional value is very minimal. There was a time when my parrots were offered this type of mixutre because they were used to eating this at the petshop before I brought them home. I continued the trend because this is what they were accustomed to.

 

About 5 months later, I slowly decreased the amount that I offered each day until there was no more to offer. My parrots are very easy going when it comes to eating and are offered a great variety of foods each day so I don't think it bothered them so much when it was no longer offered. Today, they always go for the fresh stuff first. With that being said...

 

If I were in your shoes I would allow your baby parrot to grow up a little bit. I do feel that too much change too soon can cause regression and stress. When she is much older I would start to decrease the amount that I offered very gradually during the course of several weeks. The only reason that I suggest this method is because this mixture seems to fill an emotional need for her rather than a nutritional need. There's no reason to traumatize her. In the meantime, if you haven't already I strongly suggest that you work on introducing her to new varieties of food to get her used to change and to allow her to discover that there is more to eating than just her seed mix.

 

When you say she nags you what exactly do you mean?:unsure:

 

Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/09/12 04:49<br><br>Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/09/12 04:50

[Leia]

in reply to lovethatgrey, I hear what u are saying about gradually reducing the mix. I've tried that previously to this thread. My grey is very used to different types of food. I give her a different veg each day, ranging from boiled carrots to cauliflower to rice to cucumber, chillies, green pepper corn, only but to name a few. Along side that I used to put pellets in her other food bowl and ofcoursr water. 2 weeks ago I bought the mix thinking I'd treat her once in a while. But after just the 1st day she decided she is no longer eating any of her other food and kept making a loud quaking sound (nagging) continuously until I gave it to her. But then I realised she's wasting all her other food and just eats that. Because of that I decided to stop her totally. I went to visit my avian vet today, and he said that is typical grey behaviour. She will go on a hunger strike for 4 days and throw tantrums but he said it's really for the best because of the liver problems that sunflower seeds cause. He said I shouldn't even give her a little because once she gets the taste again, it's back to square one. I think ur greys are probably much more easy going and laid back compared to mine, mine can be quite spoilt. But I'm hanging in there and praying she come right.

[lovethatgrey]

Well if you decide to go that route I'd like to suggest having a scale to weigh your parrot. It's important that she not lose too much weight, then you'll have other problems. Good luck. I hope you find a way that works for the both of you.

 

Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/09/12 22:02<br><br>Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/09/12 22:02