Bonita, my Umbrella Cockatoo...

[BirdmanDon]

Hello again everyone.

Now it's time to ask some advice on my Bonita, please.

I acquired him from Craigslist on July 1, 2021.

He was definitely abused.
the poor baby is totally afraid of me,,
Maybe because I'm a Male.

The only thing he eats is two scrambles in the morning,,
And the same for dinner.
Nothing else.
I can hear his stomach growle When he doesn't get his eggs.

Is this a breeder,,
And will never like me?

For the 1st time in 20 yrs,
I'm not sure how to proceed.

Can anybody give help
Without being mean.

Thank you in advance.



I

 

[Laurasea]

Some quick ideas as I'm off to bed soon.

Buy some quality pellets, grind some up moisten with a little warm water and mix in with your eggs before you scramble. And / or mince some veggies very fine and mix in your eggs before you make. Yellow bell pepper, some pre cooked butternut squash, and others.( I mentioned those first because color will match and hide, plus loaded with vitamin A a much needed nutrients.)

Try serving cooked warm sweet potatoes. Mine love them and many parrots are willing to try.

Make a healthy salad and share, or pretend to keep away , parrots often want to eat what they see us eating. My quaker stealing some if my salad, has beets, cucumber, bell pepper, butternut squash, radish, broccoli, Romaine, carrots, Brussels sprouts Shredded

 

[BirdmanDon]

Some quick ideas as I'm off to bed soon.

Buy some quality pellets, grind some up moisten with a little warm water and mix in with your eggs before you scramble. And / or mince some veggies very fine and mix in your eggs before you make. Yellow bell pepper, some pre cooked butternut squash, and others.( I mentioned those first because color will match and hide, plus loaded with vitamin A a much needed nutrients.)

Try serving cooked warm sweet potatoes. Mine love them and many parrots are willing to try.

Hello Laurasea,
Thank you for your reply.
I will try everything you suggested.

Thanks again.
I will let you know tomorrow.

 

[wrench13]

Hi Don. Laura didn't say it but you really need to get him off a daily egg only diet. Its going to be tough and you definitely want to go slow, but it should be done You probably know this already. Besides an excess of protien, he is not getting a lot of vitamins, present in veggies and fruits. Lil bit at a time, so he doesn't get stressed, because he looks in fine feather despite maybe having been abused in the past and you don't want him to start the long slide down the plucking ramp.

 

[Laurasea]

Edit: yes definitely as Wrench said!
I didn't have to take away or limit my birds seedmix ( and pellets) to have them start eating veggies and leafy greens, cooked legume ect. I just kept offering in different ways and over and over. Once they started tasting and experience of eating some they got better and better at eating more.. placing my veggies in shallow dishes outside the cage for them to find, or hanging them up with bird skewers , offering by hand worked best for me.
some people swear by chop as well. For me its just so easy to offer a few hunks of different stuff fresh twice a day. This is link to tips for getting them to eat veggies.

Tips for Getting Your Parrot to Eat Vegetables or Unfamiliar Foods.

So you know the three essential, but ultimately simple, skills for feeding your pet birds – chop, grain bakes, and sprouts. You feed a pellet base (or maybe not, depending on your views), and…

threebirdsandacloud.wordpress.com

Using target training ( this one day miracle so most training takes longer, but it breaks down the steps and explains everything so well)

 

[Scott]

Large cockatoos among the most challenging parrots with enormous upside if you can break through years of unknown experiences aka "baggage." The predicate for everything is building trust and bonding. You're highly experienced but might find useful tips here: https://www.parrotforums.com/threads/tips-for-bonding-and-building-trust.49144/

As others graciously shared, diet crucial to health and mood. Have you tried the "chop challenge" to improve nutrition? Create two bowls of veggies + fruits, offer one to Bonita and begin eating from yours. Bob your head, make "mmmm" sounds! Parrots are flock eaters and you are one of the flock.