Dunking pellets in water

[ramsabi]

I have read that many AGs dip their pellets in water, and Rishi has been doing it for some time. How do they get this behaviour? It seems to be instinctive. Do they know that water softens the pellets? It is truly amazing.

[particle77]

This behavior is not specific to greys, as I've seen all kinds of parrots do this.

 

The rest of this is just speculation on my part.

 

I doubt they are born with an instinct to dip food in water, as it seems unlikely to me that they are presented with a scenerio where such an instinct would be particularly useful in the wild. (what would they be soaking in the wild, and how often would it be conveniently next to a water source?)

 

I suspect instead that they are just born with a preference for soft moist food, and having easy access to pellets and water 24/7 they are bound to eventually drop a pellet in there water dish and discover how to make soup.

[Codys Mom]

my Qauker eats his food like this all the time , he's my dunker lol

[judygram]

I really don't know why they dunk their food in water, some do it more so than others, I think some just like to make birdie soup.

 

Josey has taken pieces of wood she broke off one of her toys and dunk it into the water coloring the water purple or whatever color it was, I think it gives them something to do is my guess.

[danmcq]

Most parrots and birds do not have saliva. You can observe birds from all walks of life dipping items in water.

 

Pellets are VERY dry and if they don't dip them in water, you will see them drinking water almost immediately afterwards.

 

It would be similar to having a mouth full of dry sand to us, to put it in perspective. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/11/14 19:07

[Luvparrots]

Morning and evening changing water bowls sprinkled with pellets, that's the life of a devoted parront!!!! :laugh: Both my grey and eclectus are pellet dunkers!

[cf737]

Darwin does this as well! What I find most entertaining is that she does 5 at a time, every time. I've been very ill with the flu for the past 4 days and have really had an opportunity to watch her activity in her cage. She always fills her beak up with pellets, one by one, and seems to count 1,2,3,4,5...then she steps onto her perch, onto her water dish and drops all 5 in. She then sits there for a minute, looking around and making noises, then goes fishing for the pellets! :lol: :huh:

[JillyBeanz]

Harvey's the same as Josey - he dunks his coconut shreddings in the water - not his food! Oh the mind of a parrot! :laugh:

[rbpittman]

Beau and Dixie aren't dunkers, but they do drink a lot of water right after eating. Blue the sun conure has his water changed 3 times a day from this dunking. I've watched him make the trek from one side of his bowl to the other dropping in piece after piece until he has sufficient number of pellets in the water and then goes in to retrieve them. It's funny watching the progression and then the enjoyment of dinner "his way".