PICKY Grey

[Moddy]

So my african grey is completely and utterly picky. He was raised by a family in california that most likely gave into his ever wish and well gave him whatever he wanted. I've been giving him well lemme check the label. Nutriphase parrot formula.. It say's parrots like cokatoos and mcaws, but I don't know who the hell they're kidding with that stuff it's mostly seed no large peices.. anyways he only eats about 1/3 of it not cause he knocks it everywhere, he only picks out what he likes.. we've tried so many different parrot formulas.. the one's that look like trix now sure what they are called, he won't touch thoes AT ALL. We ran out of his yesterday but he still has a full bowl of it and i've only given him two cherries and a peice of cheese since then he wouldn't eat thoes either and he hasn't ate any of his food, he ate a noodle cause he loves them but that's it.. Any suggestions on what to do? I can't force it down his throat.. And well the kind he was eating when he got here.. I'm not sure what it was some cheap crap but I can't find it anywhere in town!!! and i've had him for 7 months and I just can't deal with his wasting anymore. He won't eat many other things either. He doesn't like mangos, bananas, apples, oranges, mandrins.. He likes grapes sort of and peaches but he only eats them sometimes.. and he only get's fruit when we go to the store which is once a month weekly he will get some of our dinner and such. He also doesn't like veggies.. tomatos.. carrots, cucumbers.. He likes Ranch, mayo, lunch meat, steak, mashed potatos and loves macoroni.. I know it's just his tastes but is there anyway I can get him more hyped about veggies and stuff?!

[Guest Monique]

Just keep giving it to him over and over and over. He may turn his nose up at first (or even for months at a time) and then all of a sudden accept it. Also try feeding him bits of what you are eating by hand (again be persistent). There is an article on Harrison's bird food web site about the recommended way to try to convert a birds' diet. It can be a tough and uphill battle. You just have to keep with it. If he was eating a seed mix I would hope you can find something similar enough to it that he will eat it. Otherwise, I would call where you got him and find out exactly what it was and order it until you have him safely converted to something else.

[deedee]

hi had the same problem with my grey she wont eat any fruit of veg so what i have done is cut it up put it in blender so it looks like lumpy baby food and mixed it with her seed and she cant pick it out so she has to eat some of it at least and some s better than none and i have another bowl what i put fruit and veg in hoping she will eat it herself, dont know if this helps at all good luck

[spookyhurst]

Here is a list of things I've compiled to help with a picky eater. Hope something from on here will help:

 

• Include your bird in the preparation process of chopping your fruits and vegetables. Feel free to offer them a piece. You soon will see how excited they become in anticipation of the good things to come.

 

• The see-it’s-not-poison-approach: Eat fruits and veggies in front of the bird. Show it how tasty the stuff is (even if it isn’t). Keep doing this until the bird looks curious, if not green with envy. Then try the finger-food technique below.

 

• The finger-food technique: Offer bits of veggies in your fingers. Or, if you can do it without getting yucky human saliva on it, have one end of the food in your mouth and the other by your bird’s beak, thereby proving to your paranoid bird that it’s not poisonous. Also try giving hot wet foods fed from your fingers. Oatmeal is excellent for this purpose, as are cream of wheat, grits, any hot cereal, polenta, warm pieces of fruit, mashed sweet potato, and whole grain bread mixed with baby food veggies or fruits.

 

• The green paper approach: Weave leafy veggies, like romaine lettuce, in the cage bars (or stand some on the cage). If your bird likes to chew holes in paper, then it might just mistake it for green paper. You can try spinach, kale, and other dark leafy greens, too. Also try weaving millet sprays and other pliable fruits and veggies into the bars of the cage near the perch.

 

• The fake green seeds approach: Put broccoli heads out where the bird can nibble on it (or offer some in your fingers). Broccoli heads, in particular, tend to look like a collection of green seeds. I give my birds entire broccoli stalks (with all but one of the floret sets cut off for the humans’ dinner), and they sometimes rip off all the flowers and strip the stalk. If you leave the stalk on the cage-top, the birds can play with it there (and you’ll probably have to go retrieve it from the floor when they push it off).

 

• Feed other foods too: Like plain spaghetti, bread, boiled egg, and low-fat crackers. Though not veggies, encouraging your bird to be adventurous with other foods will encourage it to be adventurous with crisp green and orange things, too. Try spaghetti dangling from fingers, set on a shoulder, sitting on a plate, or curled on top of a bird cage.

 

• The play-thing approach: Make veggies look interesting. Use a knife to make a thick piece thin enough for a small beak, and give it interesting projections and things that could tempt a birdie to nibble on it and generally treat it like a toy. Maybe some of it will wind up in the bird.

 

• Shish-ka-bob skewers: Skewering veggies and fruit onto a metal pole, and hanging it in the cage, may entice a bird to nibble foods good for it. Use things like wheels of corn, apple and orange quarters, and bell pepper chunks. If the bird wants to remove a shish-kabobed veggie from the cage, it will need to rip it up into pieces to drop it to the cage bottom, and in the process, it will be likely to taste the veggie, and may even ingest a bit. The same goes for food that is tied to a perch. Also try hiding bits of food inside a leaf of romaine lettuce secured with a tooth pick to tempt a bird into interacting with toys, and perhaps into trying the hidden food.

 

• Unshelled nuts, such as whole almonds, can serve as food toys.

 

• Whole foods are inexpensive entertainment that offer nutrition as well. Try suspending whole apples, squash, sweet potatoes and coconut halves in the cage to stimulate interest and to keep your busy beaks happy.

 

• Take a carrot or a beet, preferably with the top (greens) still on, and make a hole about ¾ of an inch from the thick end. Put a short piece of sisal through it. Take a carrot peeler and peel down the side of the carrot without removing the peels. Do this all around the carrot or beet and you will have a carrot mop that your bird will hopefully play with and sample.

 

• Take a thick woody carrot, preferably with the greens still attached, and place it high up in the cage. Notch or wedge the end without the greens between the bars until it is secure, or secure with screw and washers. If it’s the highest perch in the cage, your bird is sure to investigate it. Eventually, they usually rub their beaks on their new perch and then bite and chew on it. Chances are, once they start chewing on it, they will learn to eat carrots.

 

• Brussell sprouts on the stalk hung in the cage usually winds up as a half eaten swing. In the case of very timid birds, try hanging a fruit or veggie outside of the cage, almost out of the parrot’s reach. What parrot do you know that won’t reach for something it thinks that you don’t want it to have?

 

• Warm vs. Cold: If your feathered friend does not enjoy a particular vegetable, try offering it steamed. You can also puree it in the food processor till it is a “pudding” consistency. Often times, parrots will enjoy a specific produce item served warm on a spoon.

 

• Try different shapes and forms of food. If you want a bird to eat carrots, offer them both raw and cooked, as well as mashed, diced, sliced, julienned, grated, peeled, and even whole. Young weaning parrots can learn a lot about food and how to manipulate it if given a whole carrot with the nutritious green tops intact. Some birds really relish corn wheels (corn on the cob, cut into round pieces) and others prefer corn cut into long pieces. Other birds prefer the corn cut off the cob.

 

• Is the fruit ripened? Some birds do prefer some fruits just before they ripen. Some like them sweet and juicy.

 

• Is the fruit expired? Parrots know if the fruit is good or not

 

• Is the fruit out of season? Some birds won’t eat it if it is.

 

• Is your bird a “clean beaky” bird? Your bird might be dying to try that sweet piece of Cantaloupe, but he sees the juice is dripping down and is thinking, “Too messy for my taste.”

 

• Instead of putting veggies and other nutritious foods into a separate dish, it may be beneficial to mix it into the seed mix, so that the bird runs into it while fishing for the seeds. If your finicky eater likes one particular food, such as corn, mix it with whatever food you want the bird to eat. In order to get the corn, he must taste the other foods that you want him to try.

 

• A bird may prefer to eat bits of carrot mixed into special birdie muffins or bread, baked just for your pet, even though it won’t go near grated carrot in its bowl.

 

• Try plumping up dry foods, such as shelled sunflower seeds, millet sprays, shelled almonds, and corn. Most birds cannot resist plumped corn which can be made with whole shelled corn or popcorn, soaked overnight and cooked until it is triple the normal size. Millet sprays can be simmered for fifteen to thirty minutes to change the millet grains from dry to moist and chewy, which is more like fresh millet.

 

• Try adding a little almond butter or quality peanut butter to other nutritious foods that you want to introduce. By placing nut butter in the hollow of a celery stalk, and then slicing it into short sections to prevent choking on the celery strings, a bird that likes nut butter often discovers that the crunch of celery is enjoyable too.

 

• Show me the bird that can turn down a “nut butter/applesauce/whole wheat bread” sandwich. Use almond butter or peanut butter with the lowest sugar content, and unsweetened applesauce on Brownberry Whole-wheat or Brownberry Nut bread. Any wholegrain bread is suitable. One sandwich can be cut into eighths for manageable-sized pieces.

 

• If a bird will not try sprouts, try soaking the sprouts in a favorite flavor of juice, such as peach or pineapple, or squeeze sections of pomegranate fruit onto the sprouts. The color can sometimes get them interested, and the taste of pomegranate is irresistible to most parrots.

 

• Hot and Spicy: Does your bird love chili peppers? Try adding dried chili peppers to cooked sweet potatoes. This may encourage your feathered companion to taste test a healthy vegetable.

 

• Sweet and Tangy: Does your bird love tart apples? Shred up some Granny Smith Apples and sprinkle them over another fruit you want them to try. They will love to find the surprise underneath the apples.

 

• For the Garlic Lover: Mince up some garlic and add it to your broccoli. Stand back and watch your bird ravage it.

 

• Crushed ice added to ground up fruit: makes for a refreshing fruit shake. Try it with Papaya, Mango, or Pineapple.

 

• Broccoli or Carrots: Steam it with some fresh lemon juice and serve.

 

• Fruity Oatmeal: Add a teaspoon of ground up papaya or apple to some warm oatmeal. Your bird will love to try it. (Note: Replace milk with either water or Soy Milk. Also measure the temperature, a bird’s crop can be burned if the temperature is too high. Keep it under 105 degrees.)

 

• Aloe Detox by Natureade can sometimes restore the appetite of a picky eater in only one or two doses. It can be ordered online and added to formula or soft foods.

 

• As a last resort, B-complex vitamins can stimulate the appetite. One would need the advice of an experienced breeder or an avian vet to determine the dosage. If used properly, the B-complex vitamins can make a noticeable difference in appetite.

[littlehawk]

Thanks!