Amazon Feeding Frustration!

[forbey]

OK, I'm sure this is all fixable, but it is frustrating.

I read all the material I can on Zons, "they love fruit", they love hot peppers", they love "chicken & chicken bones" ... yea, yea, yea ...

Skittles likes parrot seed mixes and thats about it... (not totally, he likes nuts and cheese curls, so do I, LOL)

I am working on switching him over to organic pellets, most of which end up on the bottom of his cage or fed, by Skittles, to the dogs. I even tried taking all food away, except pellets and then adding in healthy foods at night.

What has worked for other Amazon caregivers to get a finicky eating Amazon to try new foods?

Thanks,

Forbey

 

[SandyBee]

I feel your frustration, Bosley is the same way.
Bosley thinks fruit is the devil, so I have given up on fruit.He doesn't like hot peppers.

What I have done to get his diet healthier though is go to a seed mixture with no sunflower seeds in it, no peanuts either. He gets very little of this.
I make him a fresh breaky every morning with some things he does like.
Whole grain pasta's, brocolli, corn, peas, eggs, brussel sprouts, squash.Then I try and mash in other healthy veggies.

Not all at one time, just a few mixed together.
Some people will suggest a chop mix or sprouted seeds, try those but Bosley won't eat it.

Bosley likes beef and salmon, I give these sparingly mixed with vegetables as we have dinner together.

Pellets, well I've tried almost everything on the market. Bosley will not eat most he'd rather starve. He is now eating nutriberries only original or garden Veggie flavour.
I give them to him as treats. Now he is a funny boy he will only eat them on the kitchen counter handed to him as a treat, he will not eat them in his cage. LOL

I don't give him junk food, or rarely. If you let him eat junk food your amazon will fill up on that and he will not eat other things.
Bosley is weird, he doesn't even like nuts, he gets a cashew at bedtime, he won't touch any other type.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Have you tried eating together with Skittles? It may sound funny, but I can get all my fids to try ANTYHING as long as they see me eat it first.

And here's a GREAT thread for you:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

 

[SandyBee]

I also forget to mention, I can hide almost any veggie in pasta sauce.
I also make homemade birdie bread and use pellets in it.
Also I have been making a 13 bean soup with all kinds of veggies that Bosley is starting to eat and I give a small amount of red palm oil, 3-4 times a week.

 

[SandyBee]

Have you tried eating together with Skittles? It may sound funny, but I can get all my fids to try ANTYHING as long as they see me eat it first.

And here's a GREAT thread for you:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

I can get Bosley to try anything, but if its fruit he will shake his head and make a real funny face LOL

 

[forbey]

Have you tried eating together with Skittles? It may sound funny, but I can get all my fids to try ANTYHING as long as they see me eat it first.

And here's a GREAT thread for you:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Having just moved, a 12 days ago, we're still trying to organize ourselves. I need to begin working with Skittles to get him to step up and interct with me. Right now he says "come here" and "step up", but he doesn't do either, LOL.

I would let him eat off my plate if it meant getting him to eat better, but I couldn't get him near my plate. We do snack together, I give him treats and I eat his treats! But, when I try fruits, vegetables, etc, he runs away. I will prevail, but we may both get very hungry in the process.

 

[aliray]

Maybe you should read the parrot books to Bosley so he know what he is supposed to love.. just a suggestion. Other than that just keep offering different things ,different sizes of food make a birdy bread and put different veggies in it or a grain or brown rice dish with bits of fruit or veggies or nuts. I have also ground up almonds and sprinkled them over veggies and fruits. In birdy bread besides the cornbread mix I also grind up in the food processor a cup of pellets with a little water till isit is a fine mash and then add that also to the birdy bread mix . that way they get some pellets but they don't know it

 

[SandyBee]

Maybe you should read the parrot books to Bosley so he know what he is supposed to love.. just a suggestion. Other than that just keep offering different things ,different sizes of food make a birdy bread and put different veggies in it or a grain or brown rice dish with bits of fruit or veggies or nuts. I have also ground up almonds and sprinkled them over veggies and fruits. In birdy bread besides the cornbread mix I also grind up in the food processor a cup of pellets with a little water till isit is a fine mash and then add that also to the birdy bread mix . that way they get some pellets but they don't know it

I know, no one told him he's a parrot and he's 35 so convincing him now is oh so much fun LOL
He truly is a silly boy, when I make birdie bread I can hide pellets, veggies nuts in it etc... but he'll only eat it fresh, if I freeze it, he won't touch it when it comes out.
All I can say is thank goodness for pasta sauce, it hides everything and he likes bean soups so I can stuff all kinds of things in there.
And Nutriberries, I know not the best one but he does it it, better than no pellet.

 

[lpolliard]

Does he like sunflower seeds?

Try Harrison's Hi-Potentcy pellets. The first ingredient is sunflower seed. I think that is why Chico will eat these. He also likes corn so he likes Roudy Bush as well. I am going to switch him to Harrison's Life Time as there is less sunflower seed and less fat (5% rather than 15%). I am going to start mixing the two to wean him off the Hi-Potency and onto Life Time. An all pellet diet is not good for Ekkies. I only feed pellets as a supplement. I like the fine granules as there is less waste.

Contact Harrison's for a free sample.

 

[MikeyTN]

Here's some process you can try to switch him over. I switched over several 20+ years old stubborn parrots.

You place pellets in one bowl and fruits and veggies in the other bowl, that's all he gets for breakfast. Dinner time feed very minimal seeds like a table spoon full and leave that in for the night. Next day repeat the process. Within a few days I catch him eating Pellets and I stopped feeding seeds at night. They also start eating the fruits and veggies pretty good. I don't even give nuts for treats for the time being until they were well adjusted to the new diet. I give them about a month to 2 month before I start adding nuts back in as treats. Once they learn to eat both items pretty good, it's easy to add the stuffs you cook to their bowl and they gladly accept it.

 

[MikeyTN]

Does he like sunflower seeds?

Try Harrison's Hi-Potentcy pellets. The first ingredient is sunflower seed. I think that is why Chico will eat these. He also likes corn so he likes Roudy Bush as well. I am going to switch him to Harrison's Life Time as there is less sunflower seed and less fat (5% rather than 15%). I am going to start mixing the two to wean him off the Hi-Potency and onto Life Time. An all pellet diet is not good for Ekkies. I only feed pellets as a supplement. I like the fine granules as there is less waste.

Contact Harrison's for a free sample.

I give very few to mine just as treats. Like few pieces of pellets a day. I feed mine fruits and veggies as their main diet and minimal seeds at night.

 

[aliray]

Maybe he was an Italion amazon in a past life

 

[getwozzy]

Ive discovered that if I try to introduce new foods to Jackie he won't have anything to do with it...but if he sees me eating it, theennnnn he wants it. I've started to let him eat meals with us, as long as its bird-safe he gets all the samples he wants some go on the floor, and some he gobbles up. The other morning I made scrambled eggs for breakfast with a tiny bit of cheese, and he gobbled it right up!!! I think that was the first time he's had eggs too! I'm working on finishing my first batch of chop mix, so we'll see how/if he likes it. I'm also going to steal all his sunflower seeds because that's the ONLY thing he eats from his seed mix, well and pumpkin seeds too.

 

[forbey]

I guess I've waited long enough. I have to get into the BirdTricks video and start working on training, trust & step up. I've come up with plenty of excuses to put it off, maybe I can come up with a few to actually get started, LOL.

Once I can get him to interact more with me, maybe he will become interested in what I'm eating.

He will have to compete with the Yorkie & the Chorkie for bits & bites!

 

[getwozzy]

I guess I've waited long enough. I have to get into the BirdTricks video and start working on training, trust & step up. I've come up with plenty of excuses to put it off, maybe I can come up with a few to actually get started, LOL.

Once I can get him to interact more with me, maybe he will become interested in what I'm eating.

He will have to compete with the Yorkie & the Chorkie for bits & bites!

Or you could just eat while standing in front of him lol. Jackie's a turd about stepping up, but will do annything for certain foods. He goes CRAZY if he hears me opening string cheese..zzzzziiiippp EHHH?!!!? You want some?? YEAHH!!!! lol ....and then I proceed to make him work for his precious cheese