It's only taken 18 years...

[neoow]

 

Here it is... photographic proof of Alfie willingly eating a piece of carrot. It might have been the smallest beak sized piece in the world... but he actually willingly bit into a piece of carrot that I offered him and ate it, instead of immediately flinging it back at me. He then went on to eat a few more teeny tiny pieces. AND he was willing to try and pea and a couple of pieces of broccoli too... although he wasn't so keen on either of those.

It is a constant battle to try and get this guy to eat healthier foods. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I wasn't very good at trying him with different foods when he was young so that's probably why he's so picky. There was a lot less information around on keeping parrots back then and not as much information available online as there is now, so he is a bit of a seed junkie. I make sure he doesn't get sunflower seeds or peanuts and I mix dried fruit and veggies and occasionally some nuts into his main food mix. Then I offer up fresh veggies cooked or prepared in various ways. He liked mashed potato and I managed to get him on mashed sweet potato with some veggies finely chopped and mixed in for a while but then he started rejecting that too. I've tried every pellet available over the years too... although he has just started to try his tops and roudy bush pellets recently... after having them served up for months on end. 😂 

One thing that's helped is that he's recently become interested in what I do in the kitchen when I'm preparing dinner. So I set a chair nearby so he can perch on the back of it and see what I'm up to. Then I offer him what I'm preparing- anything that's safe for him to have I'll offer to him. He mostly ignored me for the longest time but I noticed he's getting more and more curious. Sometimes he would poke what was offered and sometimes he'd pick it up and immediately drop it. More recently he has taken a couple of bites... he ate a bit of chilli pepper the other month and seemed to like it. Most veggies were pretty much immediately rejected though- especially things like carrot and broccoli.

Yesterday though he was in his cage and so I offered him some carrot, a pea and some broccoli and to my surprise he took all three, gave them a good poking with his tongue and then actually ate some. He seemed to like the carrot and although the pieces he bit off were very small, he did eat them and come back for more. He did chew up some broccoli but I'm not convinced he ate any and he dropped the next piece I offered. And he ate a bit of the pea but rejected the next one offered. I praised him loads for just trying the foods though, as this is a big step forward.

So... for anyone with a picky eater... keep trying! I'm fairly certain that if I offer him carrot again today it'll probably get flung straight back at me again... but I shall persevere as always!

[SRSeedBurners]

C'mon Alfie, you have to treat your hooman better than this.  I know it's super fun to fling food and act like a spoiled brat but you gotta eat something besides junk food.

[Timbersmom]

You certainly aren't alone in this battle. Timber has yet to try any of the pellets (and I've tried them all) over the last 9 years since I rehomed him. He does eat a bit of carrot (probably because it is sweet, will eat mashed sweet potato, and actually likes peas in the shell. He responds best to the peas if I put them on a skewer and hang them. I guess it's the challenge, ha.  He'll also eat cooked fresh grean beans (a bit). Once in awhile, he will nibble on the broccoli on the skewer.

The battle continues, but you've actually made some progress and that's great!