Cooked food: how long in a bowl?

[munch]

Hi-

When I bought the bird, the store owner told me not to leave cooked or soft foods out for over an hour.

 

My Took is a picky eater. Out of the non-cooked food options he doesn't touch the pellets, doesn't any of the fresh vegies, dried and/or fresh fruit. Unless you count throwing on the floor as touching. He only eats red peppers and sunflower seeds for non-cooked foods. He's not gaining weight and seems like he's starving when I get home from work.

 

Cooked food options: he loves eggs, cooked carrots, mashed potatos. Will eat pasta, cooked spinach. I haven't tried more cooked vegetables b/c he seems to be happy with those. He eats a whole egg when I get home work- scrambled or hard boiled. Then snacks on the cooked vegies the rest fo night.

 

What else can I give him that isn;'t cooked while I am at work? Is it ok to leave some cooked food out (not eggs, but the vegetables?)? What does your grey eat while your at work?

 

Thanks,

Michelle

[Barbara2]

Have you tried different types of pellets?

[Guest]

I am so-so on this. I leave cooked food for longer than an hour depending on the weather. (I never use heat in my home.) If it is relatively cool out and the food and the birds are outside, I don't freak out if it's been out there longer than an hour.

 

Also, no matter what, my birds' food dishes are impeccably clean every meal time. I never ever dump out the old food and put in new - the crocks always get cleaned thoroughly with soap and hot water and rinsed well. (That way no yuckies that may have started growing are not left in the dish.)

 

Another matter - for some reason flies are attracted to certain foods and not to others. If my birds are outside in their cages and I give my birds their "greens mix" (a mix of almost entirely green vegs but with a TINY bit of mango and/or banana and/or pear along with some ground hemp seed and ground flax seed), and some of it is left in their bowl, I notice that flies don't bother with it. But if my birds are outside munching on hard-boiled egg or a tiny bit of chicken, the dang flies are there right away. So be careful of what exactly you are feeding if you are going to leave it much past the time the birds are actively eating, because of course with the flies come nasty germs (flies land on garbage and doggy doo, as you know, and will transfer that to the food you have given your bird). Course, the weather isn't as nice as it is here in So Cali this time of year in many parts of the world, but I'm just saying, if your birds are outside and the flies can come, be careful of what is in their food dish.

 

Earlier in the summer when the indoor temp was in the 90s, I didn't leave my birds with oatmeal or eggs or anything that could grow the yuckies. I'd think making a nice healthy birdy bread would probably be ok, though, and there are many recipes on this board for that.

 

Thanks for caring about your birdy and thanks for your question and welcome to the board. :-)

[Birdnut]

I will leave cooked food for a couple of hours, but not much more. The way I think of it is I imagine a family holiday dinner. How long would I leave the food on the table for folks to come back and pick at before I would pick it all up. Or how long would I leave something out and feel comfortable eating it.

 

I will leave raw fruits and veggies longer -- probably most the day, depending on what they are, as long as they stay clean and not contaminated with poop or anything. You can try putting these in some type of foraging toy, like the buffet ball or a kebab, to make them more interesting. But if you do so, be sure that you can thoroughly clean the foraging toy after each use.

 

Stuff like eggs or cooked meat-type things I don't like to leave for more than an hour or so.

 

Like Barbara suggested, try some different types of pellets. Also, try moistening pellets with a little bit of apple juice. You can't leave the moist pellets for long, kind of like cooked food, but it's a good way to get them started on them.

 

Do you offer some nuts? You don't want to overdo them, but nuts are nutritious and a good way to get some weight on the little boogers. Good nuts are almonds, walnuts or cashews. I buy the raw or roasted, unsalted nuts in the bulk bins at the health food store. My birds are offered 1 to 3 almonds and a walnut half (depending on size of bird) along with their seed treat in the evening. They love cashews, so they get cashew bits as treats. They also get pine nuts occasionally as treats. You could also try mixing a tiny bit of natural nut butter in with cooked food; they seem to like the taste.

 

They're more apt to try new things if they see you eating it (or pretending to). My Grey prefers to have his cooked mash from a small plate on the kitchen table while I'm sitting there on the computer or something. (I tell my husband Moussa prefers to have his food served in a civilized manner ) They also seem to be more inclined to eat when you're eating; like a social activity with the flock.

 

Those are just some ideas I had. Just continue to offer a variety of foods and experiment with ways to present them.

[munch]

Thank you! I've tried the pellet and juice trick, it was a no go. Haven't tried other pellets. I'll do a search for tasiest (i read Harrison is the healthiest but what the tastiest via bird feedback). At this point, I don;t care if isn;t the top shelf of pellets as long as he is eating something during the day.

 

I'll continue with the about an hour rule for cooked food. As for nuts, he only eats cashews. And yes, he wants to eat what I am eating or what my dog is eating. But if i give him the same food he ate with me in a bowl during the day, he doesn;t touch it!

 

Going to look up some easy, fast recipes.

 

Thanks again!

[KimKim]

Maybe he does not recognize the pellets as food. Show him by pretending or eating some yourself.. Worked for me.

[Guest]

Another possibility is, maybe he just isn't hungry in the day. I read somewhere (this board, I thought, but heck, might have been a book) that birds seem to eat two main meals a day - as soon as they get up, and again late in the afternoon. And when I watch wild birds, they seem to follow this pattern. My own birds eat a lot as soon as they wake up and then eat another main meal in the late afternoon. I occasionalllllllllly see one or both of them picking at something when it isn't those two main meal times, but rarely, so the pattern seems to apply to my own birds, too.

[Luvparrots]

I buy freeze-dried veggies and fruit for my fids so that they always have good food in their cages to eat. They keep great without spoiling and my fids/zon,grey & ekkie all like them.

[Xtreme575]

I wouldn't recommend staying with such a limited option for the bird as far as veggies go. I make sure I try to rotate through, some things are a hit sometimes, and not others. However, I figure a varied diet will be better in case there is ever any kind of shortage. I've realized that Paco would love if I'd just give him green beans and asparagus, but I make sure I switch it up for him a lot. Even if he's only throwing it, he may get a taste of something new he likes.

 

For a cooked mix that I offer in the morning, Pretty Bird, Birdy Banquet. It's all beans, seeds, pasta, and dry veggies. It looks a little pricey, but a can lasts me over a month (I cook it and freeze it in ice cube trays) and he LOVES it! I heat a cube for 30 seconds in the microwave, put it in with his fresh veggies and then I'm off to work. I come home to the bean mix gone, and a good portion of the veg are as well. He switches himself over to pellets at some time during the day.