Muse Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I guess it could have ended up as a pie, but this little organic pie pumpkin had a special mission for Thanksgiving. It became the sole focus of two energetic Congo African Grey parrots! First the pumpkin was given a thorough bath. Then I cut open a "lid" so the Greybies could see the tempting insides. I thought we'd put it on a platter on the floor but they did not want to be on the floor with the new scary thing. So I put the platter up in the big stand, kind of wedging it between branches. After a little coaxing, they began to tentatively test the pumpkin. Then they attacked it with great glee! They absolutely LOVED that poor pumpkin to death! I debated on putting this under the bird food forum, but with the exception of stripping a few seeds to get to the beloved "pepitas" there was not much eating going on. A lot of biting, chewing, throwing, shredding, and flinging... but not a lot of eating. There was pumpkin EVERYWHERE, but it was in their playroom, so that's okay! A good time was had by all. The little birds got a crack at the pumpkin, too, but with the exception of Alex, who was mainly in it for the seeds, they were unimpressed. I did wrap the leftover for a rerun tomorrow. You can see the evidence of the Greybies assault on their pumpkin on our flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59819856@N05/sets/72157638166958786/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Neat pictorial there! Timber is still terrified of pumpkin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 LOVED the photos!! Such beautiful fids, and wonderful photography to boot! Pumpkins for all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 (edited) Neat pictorial there! Timber is still terrified of pumpkin... It's amazing how few greys don't love pumpkins. But it seems like most of those are ascaired of them vs don't like to eat them. Have you tried gourds or just the seeds? When I first started feeding them, it was the guts, etc from when I made jack o lanterns. Once the fids were already hooked on the scraps & seeds, they had no fear of a whole one. I have to get the jack o lanterns outside as soon as they're born or my guys would be adding their own creative touches to them. lol Muse, those are beautiful pics of some very happy fids! Thanks for sharing them. Edited November 29, 2013 by birdhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 Neat pictorial there! Timber is still terrified of pumpkin... I found with watermelon, cutting it into wedges made it less scary. Maybe get a small pie pumpkin and cut in quarters, or even smaller wedges. Megan shied away from the whole pumpkin until I coaxed her to eat some of the 'lid', which was much smaller. Mar? His thought process goes like this: "Is that food? Can I eat that? Is that for me to eat?" He wants to taste-test everything that looks like food and isn't shy about doing so. Usually if I am offering a new food item, I offer it to him first, then Meg sees him eat it and is okay with it. (Megan taste-tests the non-food items like furniture.. >.< hehehe). I suspect once Timber gets over the fright of the big scary orange ball, there will be much pumpkin destruction to follow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 LOVED the photos!! Such beautiful fids, and wonderful photography to boot! Pumpkins for all! Thank you! My husband is the photographer. He's got a very nice (read: expensive) camera outfit, and is thus expected to perform as family photographer. I have a little point and shoot and my cellphone, and am pretty pathetic with either. Heh. I definitely think we will be buying more organic pie pumpkins, and planning a pumpkin patch for the garden! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I've tried big, small, skewered, in food bowl, baked, etc. etc. I just can't interest him! It surprises me a bit, since one of the things he will always eat is cooked sweet potato, which is about the same color. I'll keep trying, but don't have much hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 I've tried big, small, skewered, in food bowl, baked, etc. etc. I just can't interest him! It surprises me a bit, since one of the things he will always eat is cooked sweet potato, which is about the same color. I'll keep trying, but don't have much hope! Wow. Maybe he just doesn't like pumpkin. Everyone in my family loves it, but my niece. She just has her own tastes, I guess. So perhaps Timber is the same way. Has he tried Butternut squash? We cut that up in our chop sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Marco does the same thing feasts on it but eats none :rolleyes: but LOVES to destroy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Timber has had squash in his chop as well. How much he eat (or if he ate it) is hard to tell of course. I did try baking a butternut squash for him one time and he wanted none of that. He is a very picky eater though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 Megan is the picky one of the Greybies. She can be very hit and miss on trying new foods. Mar just loves food, period, and all the more so if it is MY food. He "helped" me make cornbread tonight (the mixing part - he had to go in the playroom when it went in the oven). We won't mention that not all of the almond milk (I don't use cows' milk) that went in the batter made it directly from the carton... he had to add several drops from the cup he got. He also wanted to taste-test the oil. I put a tiny bit on the end of my finger. One lick and he made a face I have never seen on a bird before. You could almost hear him thinking "Eww! That was nasty." Of all the birds, Little Budgie is the WORST. Maks, the cockatiel, was a stinker, too. I think breeders of these birds wean to seed because it's so cheap and they know that for a 'cheap' bird, that's likely all they will be eating anyway. Maks took forever to eat anything but millet but now ADORES birdy breakfast, and even took a crack at the remnants of the pumpkin today! The budgie just does not want to try anything. I am currently mixing quinoa, millet and the tiny Harrisons that looks like tiny grey grains of something. So far he's done a GREAT job of picking the real grains from the fake ones. I can only hope he accidentally ingests a pellet of the Harrisons once in a while. He won't touch birdie breakfast unless there is something grain-based (like cooked quinoa) in them. Alex and the Green Cheeks love breakfast and eat just about anything I offer them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Phenix was wild caught w/parents who taught him what was safe to eat. The only thing that translated in captivity was apparently seeds & peanuts. He originally acted like he was being offered hemlock any time he got anything else. He'd literally get furious & immediately fling every bit. But I was dogged & tried every trick I could think of over & over & over. Drinking out of a cup was Phenix' Achilles heel. It was fun AND like Muse said, anything anyone else had always tasted better. So first he learned to drink fruit juices. Even w/the sugar "overload" it was a start. Then I made juice combos w/veggies, worked up to some nasty smoothies, then nastier chunky smoothies. W/Phenix, if there was peanut butter in/on it, it might be worth a try at least. I'm a big fan of fruits & veggies. But I've always hated peanut butter! And fids have a very different definition of what tastes good. And bad. I had to really push those healthy greens for a while. Sometimes while I was pretending to drink these concoctions I'd be trying not to gag just from the smell! lol I have to figure the food foraging rules parents imprint on their young have to be pret-ty strong. Otherwise, they'd be poisoning themselves left & right. So I'm not all that surprised that it took a couple of years before it really & truly took & for him to develop a "palate" for the new cuisine. But Phenix eventually learned there were other safe foods. Before I started reading on the internet, I had no idea what a greyt eater he became. I have to think if a wild caught grey can learn, most domestic greys should be able to... eventually. It's most definitely a process. Guess it's pretty obvious from Muse's pics, the more fun you can make it for everyone, the better! Turns out, it can be some sweet bonding time as well. Even after 20 yrs, Phenix & I still enjoy having our juice together (see avatar ). Especially now that I don't need to add any dandelions to it. Damn! those things are nasty!!! Edited November 30, 2013 by birdhouse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 LOL to the hemlock and "nastier chunky smoothies!" It was great that you found Phenix's Achilles heel. Timber is very picky though he was not wild caught. He will also except peanut butter well so I use it in my bag of tricks as well. Seems I spend a lot more time trying to get healthy stuff past his beak than I did my kids' mouths, who were also picky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 LOVED the pics! I'm gonna try the pumpkin. I think Sophie will go for it.She isn't afraid of most anything. Her mama sometimes struggles to be inventive! Thanks! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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