Missy has started chucking her food.

[reggieroo]

For the last two days Missy has started chucking her food everywhere. Now I know they are messy by nature & it's normal to find seed etc on the floor but what Missy is doing seems to be a deliberate action of just chucking the food out of her dish.

 

All I hear is the food landing all over the floor (hard floor) I look over & she is sat looking all innocent, as soon as I turn away she gets her beak in & chucks out as much as she can again. I thought right then you want to play silly buggers so I took her dish away & she sat there shouting Oi! I gave it 10 minutes & put it back, soon as I walk away she does it again. This has gone on for two days now & is driving me up the wall. :mad:

[Ray P]

Corky my grey and Cricket my amazon do the same thing with there food and their treats. It`s like they are picking out the bad stuff.

After a short time they stop and eat.

[reggieroo]

She is a little monkey, a fussy eater at the best of times. When we first got her we were told that she wouldn't eat nothing but seed & they were right, nothing but the seed. We give her tidymix which has fruit & lots of other stuff too not just some crappy seed mix but she has always chucked every good bit of food out of the bowl & only eaten the seed.

 

I have just gave her a fresh bowl & so far she hasn't chucked much out, just munching on the seed right now. They are big stainless bowls so a full bowl will normally last more then one day but it seems as she has got even fussier & once her favorite seed has been eaten she is getting a paddy on about what is left.

[Wingy]

Now maybe that big bowl is part of the problem. Try giving her a small bowl or only filling the big bowl just a little bit. You'll have to feed her more often but she'll see less seeds and hopefully take tastes of the other stuff. I'm not suggesting starve her or even waiting until she finishes just offering less for a time to see if that encourages her to try something new.

 

I knew a child that was a stinker at meal times and only picked at the favorite. I started using a small plate, only put 1 or 2 pieces of everything on the plate and the kid ate without a fuss. The child was overwhelmed and just picked his favorites because he had been given enough of those foods to fill up on so there was no need to try anything new.

[Jayd]

Hi old friend, Wingy has made some good points, about 4 months ago.we had to put a smaller amount of seed in his bowel like Wingy said. Some Greys will toss there food if it has to many husks in it, or they don't like other things that are in the mix, pumpkin seed or beans for example. A lot of parrots will toss food because their looking for a certian one. The best seed mix we found is"Volksman safflower", no sunflower seeds.

A seed diet is ok as long as you supplement it with veggies etc. It's taken Joey 2yr's to eat a few pellets, were not pellet people, we use pellets as a supplement. We found out, if we put about a 14/cup of pellets when he goes to bed he'll eat them. The pellets we give Joe is the new "ZuPreem Nut blend".

Thanks Jay, Post more...

[murfchck]

The pellets we give Joe is the new "ZuPreem Nut blend".

Thanks Jay, Post more...

Holy cow! I was about out of the roudybush for the boys and so was the pet store. So I got that Nut Blend and both the boys love it. Smells like peanut butter! Even my macaw, who is hooked on nuts, was eating this as if it were a real nut! It has only been 4 days with it but when Oliver starts demanding his nut i can offer him one of those and he is happy ( even though he has a bowl full of the stuff right beside him!)

Great stuff!

[chezron]

So frustrating when they chuck food. Brutus does it because he likes to get to the "juice" at the bottom of his bowl of fruits and veggies. I end up quickly picking up tossed items and adding them back later. He does end up eating everything, but it is a messy process.

[reggieroo]

OK well I have actually been giving her smaller bowls of food over the months trying to cut down on the waste we are getting but it doesn't seem to be working. Yesterday I said in my post that I gave her a fresh bowl & I made sure that had even less in it being less than half full & this afternoon she is chucking food everywhere again. I have removed the bowl & inspected the contents to see what is actually being eaten. Of the 26 ingredients (Tidymix) in the food she is eating at most three that I can see, one being the safflower seeds, the other the hulled sunflower seed & the odd garlic stick. The rest is either in the bowl still waiting to be chucked, on the floor or the floor of the cage. I can see what is going on, she eats the safflower seed & sunflower & doesn't want the rest. When Missy came to us they told us the only problem they found was she is a seed junkie, I thought with a better low sunflower mix like the Tidymix things would get better but doesn't seem to be the case.

 

We also don't have any luck getting her to eat anything else, anything we offer is snatched & chucked across the cage in a mood & if you insist she beaks you to say "I don't want it" If we fill a bowl with veggies, it gets immediately lifted of the cage & thrown on the floor in disgust. If you fill her stainless bowl that can't be easily removed, the veggies just get removed & chucked down right away. She will then sit there cussing to herself & shouting Oi! at me. I have got her to eat the odd grape & maybe a bit of fresh banana but that is it in all the time I've had her here.

 

Today after removing her bowl for inspection I tipped out the tidymix & filled it with veg. I thought if she is hungry she will eat the veg, seems she nibbled some peas but to be honest it looks as though it is all on the floor.

 

Great to see you back on the forums again Jayd!

Edited April 27, 2012 by reggieroo

[thenabrd]

sometimes i'll "eat" what ever it is i'm trying to get them to try, saying yum, this is good, etc. sometimes while they watch me do this, i turn away like "its mine, you can't have any", then turn back for them to see me "eat" more, then i offer them what i've been "eating". also, they get their "dinner" when we have ours, so i'll "fix it" in front of them by moving my fork around the plate and then banging it around in their bowls. i'll do this a couple of times like i'm really making it "good"! i've already got their dinner in the bowl, i'm not really putting anything in when i do this. the whole time i'm making a big show of "i'm fixing it" and "oh this is really a good dinner", etc. i started doing this because even though they got their "dinner" at the same time we had ours, they wanted "our" dinner more than "theirs". some times i will add a bit of whatever it is we're having though, just to try and introduce new food to them.

 

kallie goes through phases where she flings her food or stands at her bowl and grabs a foot full of food/seed and slowly lets it drop while watching it hit the bottom of the cage (she loves to watch things fall to the bottom of her cage. i think she's a closet scientist or something, hahaha), then there are times she eats her food nice and neat over her bowl. it reminds me of teaching a toddler how to feed themselves sometimes, lol!!! also, every morning, i stir up the seed mix she has so that hopefully, she won't throw as much looking for the ones she wants that are at the bottom of the bowl.

[Wingy]

Does Missy eat bread?

[Wingy]

If you can get Missy to eat bread or toast you can try this recipe

http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=1453

 

To get it to rise properly you'll have to leave in the salt but could probably cut it back to 1/2 tsp. Honey, preferably raw, should be substituted for the sugar using the same amount. Now take the pellets and squash them fine substituting say 1/3 to 1/2 cup for the same amount of flour. Now add any seed she usually eats and let her see you doing it. Make a big production of it actually (just imagine the Swedish Chef from the Muppets and keep calling for her to watch you add pinches of her seeds into the dough).

 

If she goes for it you can slowly cut back on the seeds in the bread and start introducing things like shredded vegies into it, but only when she isn't looking.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Sophie eats toast, veggies and fruits! We went thru food being tossed against the walls. She learned to respect fresh fruits and veggies. Nancy

[Jayd]

I'm sorry to write this post. Some foods are unsafe for our parrots, they can kill, stunt, cause serious illnesses, shorten their lives etc, when they say "No" or "limited", that's what is meet, not, "a little won't hurt", or,"I've feed this to my parrots and nothing happened". Toast, limited amount, Stick with Birdie Bread.. Oil, a little Olive oil or red palm oil, garlic, none, pizza or spaghetti sauce, uncooked white potatoes or beans, raw rice, Salt and Sugar, no extra. etc...This recipe is okay for humans not parrots.. http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=1453

 

parrotdiet.pdf (application/pdf Object)

http://www.quakerparrots.com/diet/food-nutrition-table-for-parrots/

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Parrots-1638/Bread-Water.htm

http://birds.about.com/od/feeding/tp/poisonousfoods.htm

[Jayd]

Here's a really good parrot recipe site...http://www.parrotrecipes.com/recipes/bread.php#.T5tQ19Uf9bw

[Wingy]

1/2 tsp of salt in an entire loaf. How many grains do you think end up in an amount that a grey will eat. I just did the math and checked various websites for the sodium content in fresh (not canned or frozen) vegetables. 1/2 of a slice of that bread, which is quite a large piece but worked nicely for the math, would equal the same amount of sodium that is in 1/2 cup of celery, or 1/2 cup of broccoli, or 1/2 cup of carrots, 1/2 cup of turnips and less sodium than 1/2 cup of beets. It also contains less sodium than 1/2 cup of most dried/fresh beans.

 

I am not suggesting that anyone go crazy with the salt shaker. Leave it out if you want to. Your the cook.

[Jayd]

1/2 tsp of salt in an entire loaf. How many grains do you think end up in an amount that a grey will eat. I just did the math and checked various websites for the sodium content in fresh (not canned or frozen) vegetables. 1/2 of a slice of that bread, which is quite a large piece but worked nicely for the math, would equal the same amount of sodium that is in 1/2 cup of celery, or 1/2 cup of broccoli, or 1/2 cup of carrots, 1/2 cup of turnips and less sodium than 1/2 cup of beets. It also contains less sodium than 1/2 cup of most dried/fresh beans.

I am not suggesting that anyone go crazy with the salt shaker. Leave it out if you want to. Your the cook.

 

You post is correct, it's the reasoning that is wrong! So? the way you wrote it is "1/2 of a slice of that bread, which is quite a large piece but worked nicely for the math, would equal the same amount of sodium that is in 1/2 cup of celery, or 1/2 cup of broccoli, or 1/2 cup of carrots," this explains my point, It adds up, accumulated. [Please don't feed your parrot celery without stringing it.]

You have not added all the other salt a parrot will accumulate in a day/week/month/year/ 10.years etc. A little here a little there is what causes the problem, not the one time! Some people say as you have, "Whats a little more going to hurt?" Wingy, enough to kill your beloved parrot. A human isn't suppose to have more than 3 whole walnuts a day, not much right, a parrot should have no more than 1/10 of a walnut a day! not much, right. Like you said, quote" your the cook'" un-quote, I would rather be a boring cook and have a healthy parrot. This goes for sugar and all the bad things for our beloved parrots. The whole thing adds up to "the final total amount of anything you feed you friend".......The opinion is mine and mine alone, not any other member. The fact are available to any one who wishes to search for them.

Think, why take a chance, just don't feed any excess...Thanks Jay

Edited April 28, 2012 by Jayd
spelling

[Talon]

I have to say, that in everything I have read, it coincides with what Jayd has said. YES there are absolute no-no's in foods that our birds can not have , but there is a lot in OUR diet that over time accumulated in our birds systems and they WILL die from it. Recently it was written in Bird Talk about the deadly effects of salt over time in our parrots. They went so far as to say that 1 potatoe chip had enough salt on it to kill a parrot.

 

In my opinion, I would never feed honey to my birds. You are told not to give it to children under the ages of 1 due to the risk of their fragile immune systems and the risk of salmonella, I feel my birds are more sensitive so in my house, it's a NO.

 

Us humans seem to think that what we eat in moderation, all is okay....of course, that is what is told to us. But that rule is not the same for our birds, and I don't believe that many bird owners realize that.

 

Stop and think, the way we eat and drink when we are younger has no effect on our health. BUT over time, (our lifetime) it accumulates and we develope high blood pressure, diabetes, illness, disease, etc. that IS because it has accumulated over many years and our bodies can no longer fight the effects of it. This IS the same as our parrots.....but they are tiny creatures in comparison, and it is far more severe to them than us.

 

FYI: i am a Certified Fitness Trainer, among many other certifications regarding health, diet and exercise. I am constantly studying, researching, learning and doing classes to learn the latest on diet and the effects of it on the human body. I have

Learned things that would astonish you regarding the foods we eat.

 

All this goes hand in hand with our birds, dogs, cats etc.

[TWIX]

DJ is doing just the same and he drives me crazy. Susu doesn't do that at all, he is not picky when it comes to food. But DJ is a nightmare. He will take out what he does not like and eats the rest.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I will always, give my birds, 1/4 slice of buttered toast each, every morning. They LOVE it, and seem to do fine. Nancy

[Spock]

Maggie here, typing for Jay. Toast and butter are extremely unhealthy for our parrots. The sugar in the bread is equal to 4 tsp! Parrots can't digest the butter, they are "Lactose" intolerant. If you wish to give your parrot toast, give them a quarter slice and spread Red Palm oil or peanut butter or "Pesto"...Thanks Jay [Maggie]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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